OL 125 Module Three
Short Response
Overview: With unstable economies becoming increasingly more
common, businesses look to different aspects of their company to save money,
improve performance, and boost their position amongst their competitors. One of
the most important areas of focus is human relations, which directly influences
productivity, motivation, and employee retention. In order for you to succeed
professionally, you will need to develop a special set of human relations
skills that includes self-awareness, strong leadership qualities, the ability
to motivate, and the ability to facilitate communication.
As you have read, the communication process is vital to
organizations to positively impact organizational culture, ensure employees
have the right information they need to be effective, and enable individuals to
make the right decisions at the right time—sometimes in critical situations.
For this assessment, you will write a short response paper
in which you engage with the primary skills that are necessary for successful
leadership and organizational relations across the business environment. In
this short response, you will address your own knowledge of human relations and
your interpretation of the reading materials and other resources provided to
you in this course.
This assessment addresses the following course outcome:
? Explain how the communications process
in leadership situations affects positive human relations
Prompt: For this short response paper, you will be asked to
outline the communication process and discuss how communication can positively
impact human relations in organizations. In doing this, you will address each
of the elements below in one paragraph each. You may wish to refer to Page 3.3
of your webtext for assistance.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be
addressed:
I. Communication Process: Describe the main elements
involved in the communication process in your own words, including their
importance to organizational culture.
II. Common Barriers to Communication: Define a common
barrier to communication and provide a brief example of how this barrier
impacted the communication process from your own experience in a workplace or
group setting.
III. Communication and Leadership: Describe how you, as a
leader, use the communication process to impact positive human relations.
Provide at least one example of a time when you have used communication
effectively.
OL 125 Module Five
Short Response
Overview: With unstable economies becoming increasingly more
common, businesses look to different aspects of their company to save money,
improve
performance, and boost their position amongst their
competitors. One of the most important areas of focus is human relations, which
directly influences
productivity, motivation, and employee retention. In order
for you to succeed professionally, you will need to develop a special set of
human relations skills that
includes self-awareness, strong leadership qualities, the
ability to motivate, and the ability to facilitate communication.
You have learned about theories of motivation, the
experience of conflict, negotiation processes, and methods for making effective
decisions. This assessment
allows you to engage with the primary skills that are
necessary for successful leadership and organizational relations across the
business environment. Your
short response should address your own knowledge of human
relations and your interpretation of the reading materials and other resources
provided to you in this course.
This assessment addresses the following course outcome:
? Illustrate how the relationship between
motivation, stress, and time management influences workplace dynamics
Prompt: For this short response paper, discuss the ways in
which motivation, stress, and time management can influence workplace dynamics,
using your own experiences as a reference. In doing this, you will address the
elements below in one paragraph each.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be
addressed:
I. Motivation: Describe a way in which organizations can
influence workplace motivation, using an example from your own experience where
this was done effectively or ineffectively. What was the result on workplace
dynamics?
II. Workplace Stress: Describe how an organization, and specifically
organization leaders, can minimize workplace stress. Provide an example from
your own experience here as well, explaining how the organization’s action
reduced stress in the workplace.
III. Time Management: Describe how you, as a leader, can use
effective practices in time management to prioritize your time for critical
issues in the workplace. Why is prioritizing your time important?
OL 125 Milestone One
Overview: In this course, you will have many opportunities
to take self-assessments that will allow you to reflect on yourself as a
person, student, and professional. This first milestone gives you an
opportunity to reflect on your own strengths and opportunities for improvement
as they pertain to leadership.
Prompt: For this milestone assignment, provide an initial
self-reflection that discusses your own strengths as well as areas you feel you
may need to improve.
Consider how these aspects of your personality and
self-concept will allow you to improve your skills in a future leadership role.
This assignment will allow you to receive instructor
feedback on your personality strengths and weaknesses that will be important in
completing Milestone Two:
SWOT Analysis in Module Four and the final project in Module
Seven.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be
addressed:
I. Strengths: Discuss the aspects of your personality and
self-concept that serve as a particular strength as you consider your future
leadership opportunities. Why are these important to you and to others you may
be leading?
II. Areas of Improvement: Conversely, what aspects of your
personality and self-concept may lead to difficulties in your future work as a
leader? What areas of improvement have you identified?
OL 125 Milestone Two
Overview: In this course, you will have many opportunities
to take self-assessments that will allow you to reflect on yourself as a
person, student, and professional. This second milestone gives you an
opportunity to identify your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats for improvement as they pertain to leadership.
Prompt: For this milestone assignment, complete the SWOT
Analysis Template and write a brief reflection on a component of this analysis
that you found most interesting. The SWOT (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats) analysis will help you determine more information
about where your additional strengths and weaknesses lie. In addition, the SWOT
analysis can help you identify opportunities that you may not have otherwise
known about in addition to helping you understand weaknesses and eliminate
threats that could keep you from moving forward.
When completing the SWOT analysis template, create a list of
at least four bullet points, in complete sentences, for each component.
Draw from your Milestone One work and feedback you received
to help you complete this assignment. Remember that both milestone assignments
will be important components to your final project in Module Seven.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be
addressed:
SWOT Analysis: The SWOT analysis will help you determine
more information about where your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats lie and how
these components relate to a role in leadership. Your
answers in the SWOT analysis template must address in complete sentences:
I. Strengths: Address how your personality strengths could
benefit you in a leadership role.
II. Weaknesses: Address potential weaknesses in your
personality as a leader and how your temperament, character, approach to
conflict, and/or attitude about taking on a leadership role may be areas for
improvement or change.
III. Opportunities: Address opportunities you could take
advantage of, based on your strengths you have provided.
IV. Threats: Address the external or unexpected threats that
may impact your leadership, including how you could be using your strengths you
have listed to guard against these threats.
V. Reflect on a section of the SWOT analysis, and include
what you found most interesting about it.
OL 125 Final Project
Overview
With unstable economies becoming increasingly more common,
businesses look to different aspects of their company to save money, improve
performance,
and boost their position amongst their competitors. One of
the most important areas of focus is human relations, which directly influences
productivity,
motivation, and employee retention. In order for you to succeed
professionally, you will need to develop a special set of human relations
skills that includes selfawareness,
strong leadership qualities, the ability to motivate, and
the ability to facilitate communication.
Your final project in this course will be a reflection on
yourself in your organization and at Southern New Hampshire University. You
will analyze your own
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as they
pertain to your own leadership skills as well as identify appropriate skills
that contribute to influencing
workplace productivity, engagement, and motivation. The
final deliverable will be a plan with three goals and action steps that you
have determined are the best
fit for you as a leader.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the
following course outcomes:
? Explain how individual personality,
perception, leadership styles, and self-concept influence human relations in
informing the development of a personal
leadership philosophy
? Explain how the communications process
in leadership situations affects positive human relations
? Illustrate how the relationship between
motivation, stress, and time management influences workplace dynamics
? Identify appropriate human interaction
skills necessary for managers to positively influence productivity
Prompt
Based on your knowledge of human relations, you will write a
paper addressing the different factors that have influenced your leadership
philosophy, including
personality, perception, leadership styles, and
self-concept. In addition, you will examine how your leadership philosophy
impacts your understanding of the
communications process, workplace dynamics, and management
skills.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be
addressed:
I. Personality and Self-Concept: In this section, you will
devote one detailed paragraph to your identified strengths and weaknesses as
you consider future
leadership opportunities. You may draw from your SWOT
analysis in your responses. Please be sure to address the following in the two
sections of your
paragraph:
A. Strengths: Discuss the aspects of your personality and
self-concept that serve as a particular strength as you consider your future
leadership
opportunities. Why are these important to you and to others
you may be leading?
B. Areas of Improvement: Conversely, what aspects of your
personality and self-concept may lead to difficulties in your future work as a
leader?
What areas of improvement have you identified?
II. Human Interaction Skills: In two paragraphs, you will
identify at least two skills—drawing from your course readings and your own
experiences—that can
positively influence workplace productivity, engagement,
and/or motivation. In your discussion of each skill, be sure to address the
following questions underneath the skill:
A. Description of Skill: What is this skill, and how is it
used in personnel management?
B. Engagement and Motivation: How specifically would this
skill positively impact engagement or motivation?
C. Intended Impact: How specifically does this skill
positively influence workplace productivity?
III. Personal Development Plan: Finally, you will bring
together your reflections on personality, self-concept, and human interaction
skills in order to create
actionable steps for your future as a leader. First, include
a final paragraph answering the first prompt below. Then, identify three goals
to enhance your
skills as a leader.
A. First, reflect on how this experience has helped shape
your personal leadership philosophy. Be specific.
B. Next, using the provided plan template, identify relevant
goals to enhance your skills as a leader, action steps to achieving those
goals, potential
obstacles you may face, and a plan to overcome those
obstacles.
Milestones
Milestone One: Personality and Self-Concept
In Module Two, you will provide an initial self-reflection
that discusses your own strengths as well as areas you feel you may need to
improve. You will consider
how these aspects of your personality and self-concept will
allow you to improve your skills in a future leadership role. This milestone
will be graded with the
Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: SWOT Analysis
In Module Four, you will perform a SWOT analysis. The SWOT
(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis will help you
determine more information about where your additional strengths and weaknesses
lie. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Final Submission: Personal Leadership Reflection
In Module Seven, you will describe your personal leadership
philosophy and then examine how that leadership philosophy informs your use of
the communications process, understanding of workplace dynamics, and management
skills. Draw from the feedback you received from your completed assignments
throughout this course, and use the provided Personal Leadership Reflection
Template to complete the final project. This submission will be graded with the
Final Project Rubric.
The Career Connection: Students are also encouraged to share
their reflections with SNHU Career, both throughout the term and once they have
completed their reflections. Our career advisors are aware of this assignment
and are looking forward to working with you in using this plan to help you find
your best career fit. You can reach SNHU Career by emailing
cocecareer@snhu.edu, calling 888-672-1458, or utilizing their extensive online
resources. Be sure to identify yourself as an OL 125 student.
