Angela Misko

Leadership Text
Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Setting the Tone:
Due date: within 2 weeks after facilitating a meeting during your food service
management or clinical management rotation. Please read the chapter before
facilitating the meeting. This is NOT your chat facilitation and NOT your food
service in-service. If you are not able to facilitate a meeting during your Food
Service Management rotation, then arrange to do it either during your Patient
Service or Clinical Management rotation.
o Read the chapter and complete the self-assessment (7.1) before facilitating
a meeting during one of your rotations
o Answer 7.3 Action question #1-3, referring specifically to the meeting you
facilitated. That is, INSTEAD OF ANSWERING IN
HYPOTHETICAL TERMS, ANSWER WHAT YOU DID DO. It will
help you if you read and think about these questions before the meeting
o Read the case study and answer the questions at the end of the case
Submit to Barb

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.1 Self Assessment
Although I scored in the high range for providing structure, clarifying norms, building
cohesiveness, and promoting standards of excellence, I could work on promoting
standards of excellence since this score was lowest among the 4 qualities.

Providing structure: 24
Clarifying norms: 25
Building cohesiveness: 23
Promoting standards of excellence: 20

7.3 Action Questions

1. Imagine that you have been chosen to lead a group project for your class and are
preparing for the first meeting. Based on what you have read in this chapter,
identify five important actions you could take to help set a positive tone for the
group. (BASED ON ACTUAL MEETING IN DIETITIAN OFFICE)

Identify unique ways that each dietitian can contribute to raising HCAPS scores.
(i.e. meal rounds and establishing good relation with every patient. Going above
and beyond.) Provide structure by reviewing the agenda for the meeting.
Clarify and establish norms and rules for the dietitian office. Review any policies
that are not being followed. (High risk patients must be followed up within 3
days)
Remind dietitians about scheduling procedures and that there is a deadline for
their PTO.
Ask for feedback from the dietitians about formulary change. Should we continue
to order Glucerna 1.0? Let them share questions, comments, and concerns. Let
them share experiences.
Highlight the accomplishments made over the past month. (i.e. Iris gave a great
nutrition presentation to the girl scout troop. Everyone completed meal rounds
and increased the HCAPS score by 5 points!)


2. This chapter argues that setting the tone demands that the leader be a role model
for how group members should act. What three values are important to you in a
group? How would you demonstrate these values to group members?

Dependability I would ensure that my portion of the project or task is completed
on time, efficiently, and to the best of my abilities with little to no guidance.
Consistently arriving to work on time is also essential and shows dependability.
Work ethic Put forth maximum effort in what ever I do. Show enthusiasm about
completing goals and encourage and remind other members about the importance
of our work.
Flexibility Encourage members to work together to get things done. Everyone
has different schedules and at times I would sacrifice my own time to show my
group members that there will be times you have to stay late at work or come in
on your day off. Some, if not all, will have to sacrifice to meet up and accomplish
the goals of the group.

3. High-performing teams have strong standards of excellence. Discuss your level of
comfort with encouraging others to keep the quality up. What leadership
behaviors could you strengthen to encourage others to work to the best of their
ability?

Keeping the quality up requires that a leader articulate clear, concrete
expectation, provide constructive feedback and resolve performance issues, and
reward group members for achieving results. My level of comfort with
encouraging others to keep the quality up is strong. I think that resolving
performance issues would be the most challenging due to my lack of prior
experience in this area. However by setting the tone in the beginning, you can
earn the trust and respect of your members. By earning their trust and respect,
resolving performance issues may become much easier because members will be
willing to work with you. A good leader will know how to handle different people
in different situations.


Case Study

1. In setting the tone for his or her class, what kind of structure has each professor
put in place?

Professor Steve Gardner provided structure by verbally setting the rules for class
conduct, which was distributed on a handout on the first day of class. Gardners
student said he knows what is expected of him and therefore he is more
comfortable in this class. Professor Jacinta Morgan provided a more synergistic
kind of structure since she did not set any rules and announced that all students
are responsible for their own learning on the first day of class. She assigns papers,
but they are short observational papers that arent given any grades. She
encourages discussion in an unstructured but controlled manner. Professor
Gardner established concrete goals, giving explicit assignments, and making
responsibilities clear. Professor Morgan helps each group member to feel included
and know that he or she can contribute to the overall goals of the group.

2. How would you describe the group norms for each class?

Norms are the rules and behaviors that are established and shared by group
members. Since Professor Gardner is well respected and liked, his rules are
followed. There is no texting or open laptops in his class, and dialogue is very
structured as they must all listen to one another and be fully present. Professr
Morgans class is full of students with phones and laptops since they are used to
this behavior. Because discussions are well controlled and the students are trusted,
the class is able to stay on topic and learn the material.

3. What actions has each professor taken to establish cohesiveness in his or her
class?

Cohesiveness is established by a leader who assists group members in trusting
each other, listening to and respecting one anothers opinions, and accepting each
other as unique people. Professor Gardner has established cohesiveness by getting
a class of 75 to engage with him and listen to one another. There is self-disclosure
by students and the professor alike, and there is often humor and laughter. He
wants his students to think the class is unique and has value and encourages
camaraderie between students. Professor Morgan establishes cohesiveness by
giving students the freedom to discuss topics naturally like a group of friends
gathered together. She trusts that they will learn and stated that students have had
meaningful comments when they have surfed the Internet in class. She has found
that the students add a lot of value to the class under a spontaneous, free, and
unstructured dialogue.

4. What standards of excellence has each professor established for his or her course?

Professor Gardner requires results, reviews results, and rewards results. He
required results by assigning a paper every other week and a midterm and final
exam. The assignments for this class are graded and students have a good idea
what is expected of them and how they are doing in the class. Rewards for
Gardners students would be good grades and appraisal. Professor Morgan
requires results by assigning short, personal observation papers and an
interpersonal communication presentation. She reviews results by giving
constructive feedback and writing thoughtful comments on each of their papers to
guide their learning. In both classes, the reward for following the standards of
excellence would be good grades and constructive feedback. Both styles of
leadership seem to work well.

5. Which class atmosphere would you do best in? Why?

I would do better in Professor Gardners class because I enjoy structure. I know
that I am capable of paying attention to class even if I am allowed to be on my
cell phone or lap top but I find it distracting when other people are on their
electronic devices. I also like to be given a syllabus with clear and concise goals.
Having graded assignments makes it easier to know how well I am doing in the
class and makes me feel that my effort has been valuable. I have noticed that I
have done extremely well in smaller classes (20 people) with Professor Gardners
style of leadership when compared to very large classes (over 100 people) with
Professor Morgans style of leadership. Although class size was not specified in
this case study, size of class can influence a professors style of setting the tone. I
would probably be able to work well under a combination of the two styles as
well. I know that I enjoy more of a structured environment with ground rules and
thrive in a setting where I know what is expected of me and how I am
progressing.