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EXTENDING THE
CATALYTIC AND
TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF GRIDS USING A CONGRUENT TECHNIQUE:
AN EXEMPLAR
STUDY OF MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
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Marie-Louise
Österlind *, Pamela M. Denicolo ** |
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* Department
of Psychology, Kristianstad University, Sweden,
** School of Health and Social Care, University
of Reading, UK |
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Abstract
We present a project where
constructivist techniques (repertory grid interview, focus group and
diary-in-group) were combined in participative, action research. The
process
sustained the development of leadership and praxis through (1)
individual reflection grounded in personal experiences and (2) group
reflection through the shared and
revised construing of pertinent issues. Throughout the project the
participating managers addressed matters important to them in their
professional role. The short extracts of data presented give an insight
in the
managers’ complex work
situation, the dilemmas that they are facing and how they were
stimulated to
address the problems arising.
Keywords: repertory grid
technique,
diary, management development |
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INTRODUCTION
The Swedish universities' third
task, besides higher education teaching and research, is to relate to
and
collaborate with practitioners in the local community in which it is
situated
to support development processes. However a recent report (Westlund,
2004)
shows that the universities fulfil this task only to a minor extent,
and
thereby often play a minor role in regional development processes.
According to
Brulin (2001), this underlines the need for the development of a
participatory
and action-oriented research approach focused on new understandings of
and
enhancement of praxis.
Such an approach aspires to the
cultivation of the ‘reflective practitioner’ discussed by Argyris and
Schön
(1985) and Schön (1983), in contrast to traditional leadership
research, which
has been criticised by Alvesson (1996) for being dominated by
positivistic and
neo-positivistic assumptions and a concentration on rules and
procedures. These
ideas of participation and action-orientation brought together with
constructivist
psychology form the methodological basis of the municipal leadership
development project presented below to illustrate the power of the
combined
methodology and the potential inherent in university-community
partnerships.
The project formed part of a larger research project to explore and
improve
leadership in a Swedish municipality.
Public sector
organisations
and professional development
The characteristics and dilemmas of
work in public sector organisations have been discussed in the
classical works
of Lipsky (1980) and Abbot (1988) and more recently in Swedish public
sector
settings by Wallenberg (1997); Aili (2002)
and Österlind and Denicolo (A) (in manuscript). An increasing part
of the
responsibility for public service production has, according to
Wallenberg,
shifted from the Government to the Swedish municipalities who have
turned into
major producers of care and education. The quality of the services
received are
of major importance for the individuals’ personal wellbeing and the
clients and
pupils are to a large extent dependent on services produced since few,
if any,
private alternatives exist. Wallenberg points out the tensions between
the
municipalities’ general goals: effective service production; local
democracy;
and quality/legal rights of the individual. The demand for cost
efficiency,
given priority out of economic necessity, often conflicts with the
demand for
quality/the legal rights of the individual. Cost control also leads to
a
conflict between, on the one hand, quick decisions and professional
judgements
and, on the other, slower democratic decision-making processes.
Swedish municipal managers often
have a professional background related to the area that they are
charged with
managing. This can, especially in times where demands for increased
quality are
raised as the same time as financial cutbacks, result in further
dilemmas where
the professional is caught in the middle between political decisions
involving
financial restrictions on the one side and professional knowledge and
legislation (giving the citizens the right to certain ‘service level’)
on the
other. (The conflict between professional ideals and administrative
theories is
described in the context of maternity welfare by Aili and in a wider
context by
Österlind and Denicolo (A)).
Suffice it to say here that these
managers, caught between a plethora of dilemmas, find it difficult to
address
their own personal development needs and even harder to instigate and
maintain
group development needs without external support and advice. Yet
individual and
group development, in response to change in the work environment, is
essential
if the system is to be productive and effective.
Individual’s reactions to change
are not inevitably positive. Kelly (1955) found that the constructs treat, fear, anxiety, guilt, aggressiveness and hostility
are related to transition. This anxiety can be reduced by group
learning
processes.
"Once a group has learned to hold common assumptions, the
resulting automatic patterns of perceiving, thinking, feeling and
behaving
provide meaning, stability and comfort; the anxiety that results from
the
inability to understand or predict events happening around the group is
reduced
by the shared learning." (Schein, 1990,
p.111)
From a constructivist orientation,
explicit exploration of professional perspectives could play an
important role
for the organisation members as, according to Kelly’s experience
corollary, “a person’s construction system varies as
he successively construes the replications of events” (Kelly, 1955: p
50). Work
group members need some commonality, that is to share some common
ideals but,
since the sociality corollary extends
the commonality corollary, in order to interact effectively, they need
to be
able to construe issues from the perspective of the diverse views
generated by
the other group members. Furthermore, validation by others of each
person’s own
construct system is important in the development of closer
relationships. The
validation of professional construct systems by colleagues provides a
greater
potential for and, indeed, likelihood of construct similarity within
the
professional group (Denicolo and Pope, 2001).
This calls for action oriented and
participative approaches where methods appropriate for exploration and
change
are used, and where the researcher’s role is to facilitate motivated
participants’ exploration of and work on problems defined by themselves
on
their own initiative, hereby involving motivated participants in
intensive
self-analysis. (Schein, p. 112).
The project described below started
with the participating managers’ individual explorations of their
professional
role. When sharing their individual experiences in a group session,
they found
that they had a mutual interest in personal and group development hence
improving both professional practice and their work situations.
THE
project - catalysing
transformative Leadership development in a Municipal Care Organisation
The project involved one of three
geographical districts of the department
of community care for older and/or people with disabilities, in
a
municipality where there exist few private care alternatives. The municipal administration was the
second largest in financial turnover and in numbers of personnel. At
the time
of the project, it was involved in organisational changing processes
with the
objective to improve both financial efficiency and quality of service
to the
clients, the latter involving a quality guarantee.
In the 'new'
organisation the care- and healthcare staff were to work in
flexible teams, determined by the clients’ individual needs. New
managerial
posts (district managers and team managers) were created and replaced
the
former managerial levels. The
team manager position involved an increased number of care
staff members and the incorporation of professional
groups (nurses, physiotherapist
and occupational therapists).
None of the
managers from the ‘old’ organisation was guaranteed a new
managerial position. This meant that managers from the ‘old’
organisation had
had, as anyone else interested in a new managerial position in the
‘new’
organisation, to apply in open competition and to undergo the same
tests as the
external candidates. Therefore the context was one in which security
and trust
had recently taken a severe blow.
Participants
In this project all ten municipal
team managers in the district (eight women and two men), wanted to
develop
their leadership role and their managerial group. Each team manager was in charge of 50-70 staff
members.
Together with their superior, the district manager, they formed the
district’s
managerial group. Among them were represented three different
professions (social care, nursing and personnel management).
Methods - Combining Repertory Grid
Interviews and Diary-in-Group Method
The participating managers’
perspectives and their understanding of their work situation and their
leadership role were central to the project. A prime objective was to
facilitate development at a personal and group level and to transform
practice.
Methods were chosen in order to facilitate these processes. The
participating
managers contributed to the planning, realisation and validation of the
project, in the true spirit of a combined constructivist and action
research
enterprise (Pope and Denicolo, 1991).
The first part of the project
involved individual development. For this Repertory
Grid interviews focusing on the exploration of own tasks, including
individual feedback at the end of each interview session, were
conducted in
2003. Feedback on a group level was generated as the aggregated results
from
interviews were analysed and discussed in a focus
group session. At that time all participating managers expressed an
interest in a continued group exploration of their leadership
experiences. This
led to the initiation of a diary-in-group-project that took place
during 2004.
The diary-in-group project focused on
individual and group development. The managers explored their
individual
activities and experiences by keeping a personal diary for a period of
two
days. In the subsequent group sessions the individual experiences noted
in the
diaries were developed and discussed.
The results from the repertory grid
interviews and focus group session are summarised below (extended results are found in Österlind
and
Denicolo (A) in manuscript) and exemplified at the individual level for
each
intervention technique by the results from one participant (Monica). Thereafter
the diary-in-group project is described at greater length, including a
summary
of the theoretical background. A description of the procedure and the
material
gained from the project is followed by a presentation of the first,
preliminary
results (extended results are
found in Österlind and Denicolo (B) in manuscript), again
providing
illustrative material from Monica (one of the participants). The paper
concludes with suggestions for practice derived from this combination
of
methods.
SUMMARY OF PROCEDURE AND
RESULTS OF THE REPERTORY GRID INTERVIEWS
AND FOCUS GROUP
The repertory grid interview explores
the personal constructs of an individual. In this project repertory
grid
interviews were used to explore the managers' experiences of their
leadership
role during their daily work. The theme for these interviews was “my tasks and responsibilities as a team
manager”. In this procedure each manager individually identified
the
tasks/assignments that they perform as team managers (elements)
and then considered them in triads to identify
similarities and differences (constructs)
between them on a range of dimensions.
The interviews took place in the
participant’s workplace. Each interview was recorded on audio tape. The
interviews were performed with computer-aid (Rep Grid II), which
enabled an
immediate feedback of the graphic representations of the interview
results to
the participant. Thus an opportunity was provided for these
representations to
be used as a basis for discussion, in order to validate and amplify the
results
(Smith, 1995).
The
role of and results from a repertory grid interview have been discussed
by
several authors. Bell (2005) states that
“… the information in a grid
clearly depends on only the elements and constructs that have been
included.” (Bell, 2005 p. 68.)
Here the results from the
repertory
grid interviews are exemplified at individual level by Monica’s grid
and
commentary. In addition to this five examples are presented hereby (1) illustrating
the interview transcript’s potential to provide deepened
or additional information to the grid itself and (2) demonstrating the
catalyst
potential that, according to Denicolo and Pope (2001), lay in the
repertory
grid procedure.
We conclude this section by
presenting a summary of an aggregation of the interview results from
the whole
group.
Results at individual level – Monica’s interview
Figure 1
- Monica's Grid
The analysis of Monica's grid shows
that she identified 18 types of tasks or responsibilities that she
performs as team
manager [elements] (The number in brackets indicates the order in which
these
were generated.). These tasks can be grouped into five categories.
(I) Staff
related matters is by numbers the
largest embracing the six elements: ’Staff management’ (1), ‘Reporting
the
wages’ (4), ’Staff meetings’ (7), ’Helping staff’ [with forms etc]
(10), ’Recruiting
staff’ (11) and ’Crisis management group’ [for staff] (17).
(II) Managerial responsibilities is composed
by the five elements ’Working environment management’ (12), ’Quality
management’ (13), ’Developing the activities and services’ (18),
’Meetings with
the managerial group’ (14) and ’The pentagon’ [collegial support] (15).
(III) Financial matters
consists of the three elements: ’Budget responsibility’ (2);
‘Account-coding
invoices’ (5) and ’Purchases and orders’ (8).
Categories
(IV) and (V) consist of
two elements each:
(IV) Client related
matters: ’Pro Capita’ [implementing awarded home-help service] (3)
and
’House calls’ (6) and
(V) Communication
’Information processing’ (16) and ’Phone calls’ (9).
In total Monica generated the five
construct pairs below (The number in brackets indicates the order in
which
these were generated) :
Working with colleagues – Working
with staff (1)
Economy –
Humans (2)
Takes a
lot of time – Does not take
that much time (3)
Boring –
Enjoyable (4)
Less
important that I perform [as team
manager] - Important that I perform (5)
The grid shows that most of
Monica’s tasks are of a nature that she thinks fits with the role of a
team manager
(11 out of 18). The most important tasks are: ’Staff management’,
’Staff
meetings’, Developing activities and services, ’Budget responsibility’,
’Meetings
with the managerial group’ and ’The pentagon’ [collegial support].
These are
also the tasks that she enjoys the
most. In all she construe all but one
(’Purchases and orders’ that she finds boring)
of her tasks as enjoyable or OK.
The five tasks that consume most of
her time are: ’Staff management’, ’Quality management’ ’Information
processing’,
’Phone calls’, and ’Account-coding invoices’. Monica considers the
first three
to be vital to her role, but the last two, related to communication,
she thinks
are tasks that, to some extent, could be delegated. In particular,
’Account-coding
invoices’ is a task that she considers less
important that she (the team manager) perform.
The interview transcript’s
potential
The analysis of the transcription
of a repertory grid interview provides information, in addition to that
found
in the grid itself, which is useful for a deeper analysis and
interpretation of
the grid on how the participant elicits
her/his elements (in this case
the tasks performed as a team manager) and how
‘easily’ they were generated. It also enables us to see more
of the process of construing elicited elements,
such as what triads were generated which constructs and details of
explorations
of the constructs during, for instance, laddering.
Example
I – the refinement of an
element
When Monica elicited her fourth
element she initially defined it ,Doing the wage statements’ but after
reasoning aloud with herself she
redefined it to ,Reporting the wages’
"…because we send them. I check the wage statements and
sign
them. You have to do that: signing and checking the wage statements.
Example II – the nature
of an
element
In the case of the generation of the
element ‘telephone calls’ the transcripts provided additional
information which
proved useful to an understanding of why this element was construed as a task that takes a lot of my time:
"I get so many phone calls. The last six months I have
had an
awful lot because [in addition to normal assignments] I also have got the personal assistants [workers who give personal
support to disabled people] and because
of that there have been many house calls and staff matters.”
Example III
– the nature of a construct
The analysis of the interview
transcript provides additional information about the construct Important that I perform [in my role as team
manager] – Less important that I
perform. Tasks that
Monica placed between these two construct poles she considered to be tasks that
could be done in co-operation with someone else. Those at the
extremes were
either her sole responsibility or could be done by someone else.
Example IV – the
generation of
triads
The first generated triad of
elements consisted of ‘staff meetings’, ‘quality management systems’
and ‘the
pentagon’ [a group of team managers] where Monica construed the first
two as tasks where she worked together with her
staff whilst the latter was construed as "more of a
support for me, one step up, with my colleagues".
Example V - demonstrating the
repertory grid procedure’s catalyst potential - information which is
not at all
found in the grid
The interview transcript can also
provide additional information, which does not appear in the grid, thus
providing
evidence of the repertory grid procedure’s resilience as a
conversational tool.
“The grid is perhaps best seen as a catalyst within
conversation
between investigator and the individual. It can allow insight into some
of the
ways in which the individual construes the particular aspects of his or
her
world which is being investigated.” (Pope
&
Denicolo, 2001 p. 89)
In our exemplar case the
information derived from Monica’s grid could lead to the conclusion
that she
works under considerable stress. This picture is nuanced by the
quotation below
from the transcription of Monica’s interview where she reflects on her
work
situation at the end of her interview:
"I don't really feel stressed in my work. But all spring
I have
had two areas, at least one and a half, and in the one two new team
managers [were
appointed], so clearly it has … but then one have to make up ones
mind for
what you are supposed handle as a human being and keep your head above
the
surface and you know that it is for a limited period of time. But
otherwise I
don't think our work is that stressful. There are so many different
things and
you can hardly have a … full diary because then it can be a bit
stressful,
because there are always acute situations that you have to handle
first. But that's
one thing you've got to learn as you go along, while working."
(Monica)
The picture of Monica as
team manager
In Monica’s grid, as well as in the
transcript from the focus group session (see below), a picture emerges
of a team
manager with a large sphere of operations, embracing a large variety of
tasks
and responsibilities most of which she enjoys performing. She seems to
have
developed and refined personal strategies for handling what might
otherwise be perceived
as a stressful and fragmented work situation, in which the boring routine tasks that could just as
well(or even better) be performed by someone else become providers of
badly
needed breathing space, time to gather one’s thoughts. This picture is
further
elaborated in Monica’s dairy (see the diary in group project below).
An aggregation of the
interview results from the whole group
At an aggregated
level the results showed that the team managers’ tasks
can be divided into two main groups:
(1) A majority of (skilled) tasks that have to be
accomplished by the team
manager. These tasks were construed as stimulating, challenging, demanding and in
line with
their own profession/education.
(2) A minority, but not an insignificant number, of
(mostly unskilled
administrative) tasks that could be done by (or in co-operation with)
someone
else. These were construed as tasks that are not in line
with the team manager's own profession / education and
were considered to be boring and as stealing
time from the tasks that had to be
accomplished by the team manager.
In summary, the
team managers had a complex work situation: a new
organisational structure, quality system and way of working; some
personnel not
dedicated to the new ‘order’; lack of job description; many different
tasks;
little or no ‘organised’ personal development. The
results indicated that the managers’ leadership roles to a great extent
were
developed through their own construal of their tasks.
The aggregated results of these
interviews were discussed in a focus group session with the
participating
managers. They found that the results from the interviews showed a
vivid
picture of the nuances and complexity of their tasks and their role. The exploration and reflection on
their roles and work situations had been a positive experience
for all of
them.
The focus group session
Reflexivity is a central theme in
Kelly’s philosophy (Kelly, 1955; Fransella, 2005; Dalton and Dunnett,
1992). The
focus group interview is a well recognised method for "listening
to people and learning from
them" (Morgan, 1998, p.9). According to Madriz (2000), focus-group
interviews facilitate the creation of multiple lines of communication
and
collective human interaction. They are especially useful in
participative
research since they decrease the researcher's influence over the
interview
process and thereby give more weight to the participants' opinions.
By the time the focus group session
took place, the managerial group had enlarged by two newly recruited
team
managers who took part in the session. At the initial phase of this
session the
participants discussed and analysed the aggregated results from the
repertory
grid interviews and their experiences from participating in these
sessions. The
discussion however soon shifted into a further exploration of the team
manager
role, which filled the greater part of the session, raising and
discussing
important aspects and dilemmas related to the role as such and to the
team
managers’ work situation.
The transcript
from this session shows a large range of variation in the
length and frequency of the participants’ contributions. Monica made
few (3)
contributions to the focus group session. In her longest entry she
reflects
over the diversity of her tasks:
“Not being responsible for a large building any longer,
on the one hand
it’s less strenuous and that feels great, but on the other one still
has tough
tasks and easy tasks. To me there’s something positive about carrying
out these
easy tasks while pondering intensively over a problem. I can relive
some of the
pressure by completing these undemanding tasks. Like yesterday when I
was
setting the wage rates. I was walking around harping on the same
string. Then
it was good to have something like that …. I think it’s rather good to
be able
to alternate. It’s a great difference only having one, being
specialised on one
thing. And that’s part of what this team was supposed to be about, that
one
should have larger, more comprehensive. I don’t believe in it that
much. One
can’t be competent in that many
areas.”
(Monica)
Other issues discussed in the focus
group session included: delegating tasks; quality demands vs.
inadequate
resources; role conflicts. The team manager role was a recurring topic.
One of
the participants (Gertrude) described the team manager role as a box, a
framework, within which things happens. “One
way or another you are supposed to stay in the box anyhow, so that it
holds
together.” This metaphor was elaborated by other participants on
what was
in their boxes, what was not and what ought to be there. Among the
things
considered missing was systematic collegial support.
Another participant (Susanna)
reflected on how the two new colleagues in the group had described
their
difficult work situations, and their experiences of lack of support and
how she
had reacted to that and started to reflect about herself and her
colleagues as
a managerial group.
“You can’t say that we offer our help. And I thought: How
could I
actually have been of any help? We haven’t actually got a system for,
as you
called it, supporting one and other. Each one makes their own
happiness, and
good luck to you and hope you feel well next week too. It’s tough! We
don’t
actually take care of one and other. But I’m just like that myself. I
am
fostered within the old system, so I’m not that considerate towards my
colleagues. Now I’ve got Angela [team
manager
colleague], she is kind and nice and says
positive things. I’m not used to things being commented at all. I’m
thinking
maybe one should learn how to do it some time.”
(Susanna)
This was seconded by other
participants who filled in on the importance of getting feedback and
support
from colleagues. The picture was further enhanced by Angela who
reflected on
this theme in relation to the nature of the team manager role and
tasks,
regretting the lack of care for the carers.
“We have got a job that is based on us
being supportive and leaders of
development and often you are so focused on seeing these things that
you can
support and encourage within others. It is necessary that we
get it ourselves from time to time.”
(Angela)
During
the last part of the focus group session the lack of collegial support
was
discussed in conjunction with the potential of a diary-in-group
project. The pros and cons with such a
project were discussed. The team managers’
fears that participation would increase their heavy workloads were
superseded
by the anticipation of a positive outcome for themselves as individuals
and as
a managerial group. Among their expectations were perceived
opportunities to: “get to know each other” within the
managerial
group and to discover new qualities in colleagues; find out “what
one actually does” and to “reflect over and get
feedback on”
that; get help to “unlock and look into” your “box” (see above) and maybe even to “throw
the old box away and get a new one”.
In
all, the participating managers found the focus group process very
useful in
its own right beyond the actual data disclosed. It also turned out to
be of
importance for the initiation of the diary-in-group
project (described below) in which the participating team managers continued to develop their group
construal and re-construal of their professional roles.
The
Diary-in-Group project
In a project that aims at
transforming praxis within organisational settings it is critical that
techniques that explore and support individual development are combined
with
techniques that offer ways for researchers and participants to listen
to the
plural voices of others. An elaboration of the focus group technique,
the
Diary-in-Group method (Lindén, 1996) is especially well suited
for a
constructivist, participatory approach since it combines the
individual,
subjective perspective with the advantages of group interaction and
adds a time dimension. The process includes
individual diary writing and group
sessions in which the participants
read from their personal diaries. The group members, including the
diarist, are
free to reflect on the readings, explore ideas and ask questions.
According to
Lindén:
"The diary-in-group method can be used as in
instrument for bridging the
gap between that which is close to experience (contextual) and that
which is
distal (decontextualised) or which is found at a conceptual level."
(p. 77).
The process thereby sustains both
personal and group development over time.
Procedure
Co-operative inquiry is based on
people examining their own experiences and actions carefully in
collaboration
with others. According to Heron and Reason (2001) groups of up to
twelve
persons can work well while a group of fewer than six would be too
small and
lack variety of experience. This was taken into consideration when the
procedure of the diary project was negotiated. The team managers’
earlier
experiences of dividing the group into two smaller groups in
supervision had
been mostly negative. Now they had a strong reason for working together
as an
entire managerial group (ten people) in the project, in order to
sustain their
mutual development.
The group met once every second
week (for ten three hour sessions) to explore and develop their
leadership and
spheres of activities. Each team manager committed to writing diary
notations
for two days and sharing her or his writings and experiences with the
group at
a group session. The group agreed to meet for ten diary sessions
thereby
allowing each and every one of the group members to get feedback on
their
personal diary. It was agreed that every one should try to be present
at as
many sessions as possible, leaving it up to the individual to
prioritise. The
managers took turns in hosting the sessions with each session dedicated
to the
diary of that day’s hostess or host. Each session started by the
diarist’s
reading from her/his diary. These reading were interleaved with
questions and
reflections from herself/himself and from the fellow managers. The
sessions
were tape-recorded and Österlind was present at each session as
facilitator.
Material
The material from the
diary-in-group project consists of copious material in the form of (1)
ten
individual two day diaries and (2) transcriptions from ten group
discussion
sessions.
Diary Notations
The individual diary notations show
diversity in writing styles. Most diaries consist of brief notations on
events
and persons related to these while some diaries are elaborated and
embrace not
only what was done and with whom but also an elaboration on feelings,
thoughts
and dilemmas generated. The nature of the diary texts is exemplified
below by
the first day in Monica’s diary.
Today I did not feel so
good. Felt down. When I sat in the car and listened to the radio they
spoke
about Happiness. Least of all what I felt at this moment. What makes
you happy?
Maybe to write it down one day, maybe there are things that make you
happy.
They talked about people who felt happiness in being alone. That was
when I
felt: How does one manage?
When I got
to work I listened to the answering machine. Someone had
reported sick for the next month. She handles the temporary positions
and the
vacations. A lot of thoughts ran through my head. 1 ½ persons on
sick-leave in
the same work group at the start of the planning for the summer
holidays.
Normally it works out. Gave it some more thought.
Logged onto
my PC. Checking my e-mails, when I hear the nurse
thanking Susanne for yesterday afternoon. Had to go and listen.
Development
discussion [with
staff member, related to performance and salary]. Very
good to sit down with each [staff member] but it takes much longer than the estimated 20 minutes.
It takes
approximately 40 minutes.
Both phones
ringing. Prioritize!
Continue to
go thorough the e-mails and reply to those who need an
answer. E-mail to Elizabeth on three staff members’
length of employment.
Gertrude
phoned. She had a person who falls under the Employment
Protection Act who wanted to work nights. Many phone calls to check who
had the
longest period of service.
09.40 Coffee
New
development discussion
scheduled for 10.00. Got time enough to make a phone call to someone
who wanted
a trainee job. The development discussion did not take place. She was
ill.
Went to copy
information on medical examination for the night staff.
Had to exchange toner in the copying machine. Checked yesterday’s mail.
Mobile
telephone battery died. Borrowed the nurse’s charger.
Made some
phone calls.
New
development discussion. Had to make a new appointment since she
arrived unprepared, did not bring her form. We talked about work. She
thinks
it's a tough job.
Lunch
Sorted the
internal mail. Checked the answering machine. Returned
calls.
Someone
called concerning transportation service and a remote
control to a door opener. Wrote down name and address and sent on to
occupational therapist and transportations service administrator.
Did some
tidying in my mailbox. Realised that I ought to phone those
who were going to get a rise in salary and were staying at home for one
reason
or another. Seven people. Got hold of two.
Sent
notification of illness to the regional social insurance
office.
15.00 Meeting with
nights staff in
E-village. Two persons showed up. We talked some and had coffee. Was
able to
have a development discussion with one of them.
Home by
17.00.
(Monica’s diary - Day 1)
Transcripts from the group
sessions
The transcriptions from the group
sessions consist of the diary writer’s
readings of and elaborations over her or
his diary notations (exemplified below by Monica’s readings from the
first
paragraph of her diary, above in bold
face) interspersed with the colleagues’ (and to a
minor
extent the facilitator’s) comments and questions.
”I start with Thursday March 11th. I did not
feel that
good when I sat in my car and was about to drive to work. On the radio
they
started to talk about happiness and I thought: Now then, what’s this
all about?
Why do they talk about happiness? It was the least I could think of at
that moment.
And they went on talking about what makes you happy. And I thought: Hm,
what is
it really that makes people happy. I drove on the highway and thought:
well,
maybe one should write it down after all. Maybe there are things in
life that
make you happy after all. And then they started talking about that
there is a
great number of people in the world and in Sweden who find happiness in
solitude. And this is a terrible threat to me. I thought: How does one
manage?
And then I
arrived at work. It was such a strong day, the starting
of the morning. That is when I thought: Now, TODAY I will write my
diary. I
have been thinking of this all the time. What is it that actually makes
you
happy? I think that maybe these are the kind of things that one should
reflect
on."
(Transcript: Monica’s reading of the
first paragraph of her diary – Day 1)
The length and nature of the group
discussions on the different themes varied considerably. This is
illustrated by
a description of the lengthy discussion that followed Monica’s
relatively short
diary notation on a cancelled development discussion (the second
paragraph in bold type
above). This paragraph, which consists of only four sentences,
gave rise to further questions and lengthy discussions (over three
pages single
spaced typed transcript). The facilitator opened the debate by asking
for a
clarification about what was discussed during the development
discussions.
Monica described how she normally goes about it. When she hesitated one
of her
colleagues would fill in.
There was a short question from
Österlind on evaluation of criteria mentioned by Monica. Several
colleagues
described what they themselves do in this type of situation. This then
led to a
discussion on the pros and cons of the different procedures mentioned.
Monica
re-evaluated her own way and thought aloud over ways of improving the
procedure
for the development discussions. She asked for, and got, more detailed
information from one of her colleagues. Another colleague referred to
an
occasion when she had been on a wage setting course, where she had
given this
colleague’s method as a good example. The example had received praise
from the
expert for being “the right way to go about things”.
Then the discussion turned to how
to value and evaluate staff members’ achievements on an individual and
group
level. This part of the group session (initiated by Monica’s four
sentences)
concludes in the participants reflecting about how roles can change
over time
in work groups.
Preliminary
results from the diary-in-group project
A day in a team
manager’s
working life
An ordinary working day for a team
manager can be summarised from the data. It starts at
approximately eight
o’clock, although the managers
have
frequently left the office late in the
evening before. When they arrive at work they start by checking the
answering machine and e-mail inbox; several messages that demand
attention will
have accumulated.
It is not unusual that the
time going to and from work is used
for work related activities such as checking and even responding to
messages
left on their mobile phones or pondering over how to resolve unsolved
problems.
Since their units often are located in the outskirts of the
municipality, they
also spend time going to and from the head office in the city centre.
In order
to save valuable time it often happens that the managers grab some fast
food
and eat it in the car while driving to the next meeting.
Most of the team managers
frequently work on their coffee- and
lunch 'breaks”. They often “use” this time to have coffee and lunch
with
different staff members in order to give information and or feedback,
“solve
problems” that have occurred or to fulfil a kind of container or
support
function for staff members.
On the whole the team managers’
working-days
are characterised by intermittent
interruptions (telephone calls, e-mails, questions from staff
members) with
a relatively high proportion of tasks
that can not be completed owing to factors out of the manager’s control
(for
instance, poorly functioning computer programmes, cancelled meetings or
inability to get in contact with persons).
It is not all that unusual that the
managers perform tasks that are
relatively unskilled, in relation to their professional competence
(picking
up and date-stamping the mail; account-coding invoices; copying
information
brochures, changing the toner in the copying machine – cf. Monica’s
diary
entry, etc.), which supports the results from the individual interviews
with
the team managers (Österlind
and Denicolo (A) in manuscript).
Leadership
dilemmas
A first analysis
of the transcriptions from the group sessions indicates
several leadership dilemmas. They are exemplified here by the spider-in-the-web-, the border patrol- and
the
open-door- dilemmas.
The spider-in-the
web-dilemma was discussed
on several occasions. This dilemma is partly related to the flat
organisational structure, the team
mangers being in charge of 50 – 70 staff members and partly related to
the large quantity of information for which
the team managers are the central conduit, thus forcing them into the
role of
an "information officer" who spends considerable time and energy on
gathering, processing and distributing information from and to
different people
inside and outside the organisation.
The border patrol-dilemma
is related to
their role as municipal managers
“guarding” the borderline to the county council, making and
claiming the
distinctions of their organisation’s area of responsibility towards the
representatives of the county council, the
care of older people being a local
authority responsibility whilst the medical
attendance of the same people is a county council responsibility.
In times
when heavy retrenchment programmes are carried out in both
organisations this
position is a tough one, especially since it also involves the delicate
handling of the clients’ rights and requests as well as the sometimes
very firm
views of their relatives on how “things should be”.
The open door-dilemma is
related to the managers taking pride in “being there” for
staff members, clients
and relatives. At the same time they share the experience of the negative effects that frequent
interruptions’ have on their personal performances. Strategies for
handling
this dilemma, and the outcomes of trying out recommended strategies, were discussed in several sessions.
In one session Gertrude described how she had tried the
recommendation she got in the previous meeting. On that particular day
there
were tasks that she needed to complete before going home, so she
decided to
follow the advice given to close the door to her office when she did
not want
to be disturbed. Behind the closed door, Gertrude sat down at her desk and started
off on her chore. After
a few minutes she was interrupted by a knock on the door and one of her
staff
members entered, asking: “Why have you
closed the door?” Gertrude
explained
the need for some peace and
quiet and got the relieved answer “Oh!
Then everything is all right then. We thought you might have been taken
ill.”
This seemingly
pragmatic focus (door shut or open) is a simple
manifestation of an underlying philosophical dilemma embedded in the
role,
balancing approachability needed to
endorse staff members and seclusion essential
to personal managerial effectiveness equally crucial to organisational
efficacy.
Synopsis
of results: reactive leadership
A brief summary of
the data analysis and interpretation shows an overall
picture of managers’ leadership
strategies, which are often reactive rather than pro-active. Most of
them try to set an
agenda for the day, which generally encompasses a few, presumably
manageable,
tasks and then they see what happens and act according to that. This
could be a
matter of personal approach to work.
It can also be related to factors like the
frequent intermittent
interruptions and tasks
that can not be
completed owing to factors out of the managers' control. These problems, if not dealt with,
can lead to inefficient time management and a feeling
of loss of control.
In this project the managers made
good use of the potential for transformation intrinsic in
constructivist
techniques used by identifying and confronting the problems occurring
in their
work performance.
conclusions
and Suggestions for practice development
Short though the extracts from the
data are in this paper, they serve to illustrate the potential of the
general
approach of combining constructivist techniques in participative,
action
research. For the study of complex issues such as the experiences of
people at
and in their work and for aiding the development of those people,
psychologists
must draw on a range of approaches and methods from across the
discipline and
other disciplines. However, in combining methods it is important to
consider
their congruence and how well they articulate with each other. This
paper has
described one combination that proved productive for professionals
working in
demanding, complex jobs in the community.
The repertory grid interviews
acknowledged the individuality of each participant, while the focus
group
sharing of generalised results allowed for the identification of
commonality
and the development of sociality. The diary-in-group method similarly
allowed
for individual difference then provided both an opportunity for
similarity to
be noted, and constructs shared, and for constructs to be challenged
and
extended in a supportive atmosphere. The introduction to these methods
and the
facilitation of the process thereby fulfilled the university’s task to
support
local development processes by offering individual and group
development.
The process sustained the
development of leadership and praxis through I) individual
reflection
grounded in personal experiences and II) group
reflection through the shared and revised construing of pertinent
issues. Throughout
the project the managers addressed matters important to them in their
professional role. The participants’ evaluations demonstrate that the
process
per se had positive effects on group climate and trust, observable in
the
development over time of the nature and depth of questions addressed
during the
project, and a continued willingness, beyond the project, to share
problems and
confront mutual problems together.
With groups of people who share
similar concerns/interests and who are willing to share experiences
over time
in a long term situation to build up trust, we suggest that the
diary-in-group
method is a valuable constructivist technique that facilitates
processes in
which participants can explore in depth, and enhance, aspects of their
professional
roles in order to achieve sustainable leadership development and
practice
transformation within their organization.
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This study was partly financed by
the Municipality and the Universities of Kristianstad and Reading |
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ABOUT THE
AUTHORS
Marie-Louise Österlind is Juniour
Lecturer at Kristianstad
University, Sweden,
and doctoral student at the Department of
Psychology, Lund
University, Sweden.
E-Mail: marie-louise.osterlind@bet.hkr.se
Pamela Denicolo , Ph. D., is the Professor of
Postgraduate and Professional Education at the University of Reading,
UK and
the Director of the Research Centre for PCP in Education.
E-Mail: p.m.denicolo@rdg.ac.uk
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REFERENCE
Österlind,
M.-L., Denicolo, P.
M. (2006). Extending the catalytic and transformative potential of
grids
using a congruent technique: An exemplar study of management
development. Personal
Construct Theory & Practice, 3, 38-50.
(Retrieved from http://www.pcp-net.org/journal/pctp06/oesterlind06.html)
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Received: 10 October 2005 – Accepted: 19 December
2006 –
Published: 21 December 2006
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