Organizational Behaviour and People Management: Reflections on Power, Influence, and Communication

MPGM PROJ-6006: Organizational Behaviour and People Management
04: Participation on Discussion Boards

Module 1: Shared Reflection/Discussions:
As a member of communication team, I have seen my leader demonstrate legitimate power and
reward power. For example, in the first case of power, we all developed a strong perception that
our leader could give us orders because of the position that she held of being a communication
director. The fact that our leader ordered us to complete all pending tasks (Davenport & Early
(2010), we ensured that we comply with such orders. Even though she was tough in ordering us,
she was also committed to giving rewards to any member who performed well. Of course, she
could praise some of us or improve work hours. I think the use of power of rewards motivated u
performing our duties. I think project managers can adopt this type of power to ensure they
provide more working hours and giving work of praise to those that perform well.
Module 2: Shared Reflection/Discussions
Having two points of influence play a key role at the place of work. Imagine being a manager
that uses power to reward and power to punish. In case the manager requests employees to
perform a given job, it is definitely that they are likely to perform the job (Wold, 2012). They
might do this even if they understand that the manager might not reward them. Therefore, the
fact that a manager can use two sources of influence is important in making employee complete
roles.
I could use expert power to lead a global team. Krause (2015) explains that such a power comes
from leaders that have skills and knowledge. I can use my knowledge to understand that leading
a global project team requires someone who acknowledge diversity among team members. Of
course, communicating to such a group would require that I have ability to discern their
communication channels and cultural backgrounds in terms of what motivates them.