Read the Northern County Legal Services case (found on pg. 61 in Chapter 3) and

Question

Read the Northern County Legal Services case (found on pg. 61 in Chapter 3) and consider the following questions:

1.       What is it like to work in this environment?

2.       How do you respond to Julie as a leader? Compare Julie as a leader with some of the descriptions of leadership styles provided in Chapter 2.

3.       What organizational, team, and individual problems can you identify?

4.       What opportunities for organization development work do you see?

5.       How do the opportunities you have identified illustrate the values and ethical beliefs of organization development identified in chapter 3?

Explanation / Answer

1. From the case it is clear that the volunteers working in the organization are working in a situation which is stressful and which is uncomfortable. As the organization provides free legal counseling to its clients, it is always full of clients waiting for their turn. The workplace is uncomfortable as the waiting room is small and there is no air conditioning as well. The environment at the organization is unorganized and this makes the environment chaotic. Thus, working in this environment would be stressful.

2. Julie is the director of the firm and is a full time employee. As the leader, Julie should be well organized. This is not the case. Julie clearly does not command the respect of the volunteers working at the firm. As a leader, she should have created a proper process in the firm, which is clearly missing. The clients should visit the office only by taking prior appointments to avoid the chaos. As the leader, Julie should have thought this.

A good leader is someone who has able to lead, guide and delegate effectively. Julie should adopt the style and approach of an affiliative leader and a coaching leader. As an affiliative leader she will create emotional bonds with volunteers, increasing the level of trust. As a coaching leader, she would guide and motivate the volunteers.

3. At the organizational level, the main problem is the lack of effectiveness and the presence of disharmony. At the team level, there is a clear lack of trust among the volunteers and they are not working as a team and as a unit to create synergy. At the individual level, the volunteers are not too motivated as they are merely working to obtain credits.

4. In terms of organization development, Northern County Legal Services should start with meeting the needs of its staff which consists of students and volunteers. The employees should be developed and empowered.

There is a lack of robust processes in the organization which is resulting in chaos. Proper workflow processes should be developed and put in place so as to enable the volunteers and students to perform their tasks more effectively. Lastly, the leadership should be improved. Julie is not a good leader (as has been discussed earlier). The organization should overhaul the leadership and ensure that the leadership is effective.

5. The above mentioned opportunities illustrates  the values and ethical beliefs of organization development identified in chapter 3. For instance in chapter 3 it has been stated that "speed and productivity are key values of business culture". By developing proper workflow processes employees will be able to perform their tasks more effectively. This will increase their speed and produvtivity. It will underline the values of participation, involvement and empowerment.

By overhauling the leadership to make it more affiliative, the leader will underline the values of the "importance of groups and teams" (by empowering the volunteers and students) and "dialogue and collaboration" (by communicating properly with the volunteers and students).

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