Fast Food Environment Issued Management

Reply to A and B
with 150 words a piece

A

Hello everyone!
Giving and receiving orders in the workplace is pretty much a fact of anyone’s
work life. Sometimes work is handed to people gently; other times work is
handed off in a sharp, almost painful fashion. As people get more senior in an
organization, they expect to be the person giving the orders versus the person
receiving the orders. Follett’s (1992) views about the relational and the
functional aspects of giving and receiving orders account for the human nature
factor. Dealing with people in their infinite variety is part of any
supervisor-subordinate work relationship. Most people do not like being given
orders in a directive fashion. Today’s technology-driven workplace offers more
opportunity for communication, collaboration and perhaps even a conversation
about what work tasks a person needs to complete. Delegating work and making
sure people understand what is needed does not have to be a painful process for
the manager or their employee.

When I was in
high school, I worked every summer at the local Wendy’s. This was my first
experience working for a company. The managers in this fast food environment
issued orders for the work that needed to be done, and the employees in turn
performed that work. There was a clear hierarchy, and no one questioned or
challenged the managers about the work that was required. The managers were
adamant that the employees would not stand around with nothing to do. The rule
was to always keep busy, even if you were just cleaning things. It was good
training for future jobs, no doubt about it. Even now, I can’t stand or sit and
do nothing. Being bored is simply not an option, so I always find something to
do.

As my career
progressed after completing my bachelor’s degree, the directive style of
management I experienced as a teenager at Wendy’s faded away. Current
workplaces ask their managers to focus on facilitation and feedback versus
giving orders and being directive (Engel, 1997). The management and leadership
style of a workplace depends on the work that is being done and the nature of
the job. Military commanders issuing orders to the troops is fine while project
managers issuing orders to the team does not work very well. For me, working as
a young member of a team of software engineers required that team members work
together to achieve goals and make things work as part of a larger system.
Working as a member of a team making hamburgers for customers also required
teamwork, but the nature of the job and the people doing the work were both
quite different.

As a manager
and director in several organizations, I learned quickly that my knowledge
workers were resistant to being directed or ordered to do things. My orders
tended to be couched as questions or discussed one-on-one or with a team of
people versus being commands from the person in charge. In the early 1980s many
organizations were beginning to pay attention to the personalities and
preferences of their workers. Organizations asked their managers to take that
into account when delegating or assigning work. Based upon the number of
personality tests available for companies to give to their people, that trend
is still ongoing.

Effective
leaders and managers need to fine tune their interpersonal skills and learn to
be professional when dealing with their subordinates. According to the Canadian
HR Reporter (2009), “neither a tough environment with demanding leaders nor
supportive coaching are effective alone” (p. 12). Every manager or
leader needs to think about the people they are dealing with and what works
best for delegating work and meeting business objectives over time. A balance
between the softer side of giving orders and the realities of getting things
done in the business arena needs to be achieved.

B

Per Follett, M. P. (1996) It is a human phenomenon to give and
receive orders in their places of employment with consequential impact on their
lives and work if they resist. Resisting can lead to dismissal or suspension
from duties depending on the category and employee ranking in the corporation.
Handing down orders to employees creates several challenges for managers s they
apply the OB concepts, Robbins and Judge, (2012) resulting in economic
pressures i.e loss of employment, hiring unqualified workers to replace the
experienced workers, low morale among the remaining employees and outsourcing
of jobs and company assets.

Consequently, giving orders
subjugates and humiliates the person receiving the order, and even more so when
the employer/manager denigrates a senior colleague of higher repute with total
disregard to body language, tone of voice, environment instead of discreet face
to face discussion, or engage in extracting interpersonal intelligence through
the establishment of a relationship Follett, M.P. (1996) the employees

Giving directives to employees or
individuals should not constitute giving orders because of the connotation it
will be ineffective F. John Reh, (2018). Author John Reh and I agree here that
the term order should be applied during an emergency where there are chaos and
confusion and the situation begs for the restoration of order then an order can
be given.To give
orders makes the person you are ordering apprehensive and belligerent which out
rightly inhibits innovation and creativity in the work environment when
managers do it. The negative effect that ordering someone to do something they
would not engage in otherwise leads to grumbling and animosity towards that
person. Per John Reh, the bossy attitude interrupts and interferes in the
personal thinking process and learning the proper way to engage in
problem-solving.

The better way to give directives is to
explain what you want to achieve, tell the employees what you want to be done
and show them the example of how to accomplish it the way you want and leave
room for consultation if necessary. Emergency risk control experts, law
enforcement, security and firemen seem the only exception where orders can be
given and permitted in the work environment because of the nature of their employment.
Groups and Health institutions are exempted from the “no giving order rule”
because they usually find themselves in situations of emergency, chaos and
confusion while on duty. It is more agreeable in a diverse work environment to
have managers respectfully give instructions and employees follow it to get the
company goals achieved.

Conclusively, good managers
develop conscience and attitude that make them relate to each other, and talk
to them with mutual respect Daniel Raymond, (2012) Good managers develop the
creative and motivational intellect of their employees. Critical thinking
employees develop their sense of analysis and tasks implementation that will
enhance efficiency and productivity.

Bad managers link their failing
and dysfunctional style of leading a complex organization of employees’
attitude and insubordination when their orders are rebuffed and ineffective.