Troy Boquette

Final Exam
1. Motivational Theory- Goal Setting
Motivational Goal Setting Theory is a theory that designs how a leader
can motivate a team or a person (follower(s)) by taking 5 steps. The
first step is Clarity. Clarity gives the follower a specific goal that they
are to accomplish. Setting a clear and precise goal is key in this
step. Establishing criteria that will prove that the goal was
accomplished is important in this step. The second step is to make the
goal challenging. By challenging the follower(s), you will try to
motivate them to work harder to achieve a goal. It is important in this
stage to talk to them about the challenge and whether they think they
can reach the goal. Making the goal too challenging is negative to
motivation. If it is unreachable then the motivation turns negative.
The third step is commitment. You must give the follower(s) the
resources they need to meet the goal. The staffs commitment and
leaders commitment is crucial. Once everyone is committed, the goal
is set. The fourth goal is feedback. As a leader, you must listen to
your team by soliciting feedback to assess progress. The fifth step is
task complexity. Watch each of your team members to make sure that
they are not overwhelmed by the complexity of any of the goals.
Reassess the goal if that is necessary. I would give advice to any of my
peers or employees to follow each of these steps and take every step
seriously and assess along the way. I would also remind them that
each project is important but long term relationships and work is more
important than any one project.
2. Organizational communication- Interpersonal communications
Organizational communication is a complex business model that has
many different forms. I dont think there is one form of communication
that can be used for every situation. However, I believe that the best
way to communicate sensitive issues is with interpersonal
communications. Some studies say that up-to 90% of communication
is non-verbal. As a supervisor, it is important to have candid
conversations with employees when issues are sensitive. This affords
the supervisor the ability to have a give and take conversation with the
employee and assess the non-verbal cues that the employee is giving.
In the workplace, I would employ this strategy with teams or
individuals that I am trying to gain trust with. I would also use it to do
evaluations and disciplinary or pre-disciplinary meetings. Email is a
great way to send a group message. It is fast and can reach many
people at the same time. However, feedback is sometimes nongenuine or misinterpreted. Interpersonal communication is the better

way to solicit feedback and gives you a more accurate interpretation

(because of non-verbal) than any other way.
3. Strategies to facilitate employee satisfaction and effectiveness.
Employee satisfaction and effectiveness needs to be as individualized
as the employee is. In broad terms, I have found that employee buyin to a strategy or goal is the best way to motivate and satisfy an
employee. If an employee has a say in the work that they are going to
embark on, they usually take more pride and ownership in that work.
Having input in a project is satisfying because they feel as though they
own the work and have had a valuable say in the outcome or how the
work will be done. Once this work is completed, they are usually
satisfied with the result and it is done in an effective manner.
Another way that I have found to promote employee satisfaction and
effectiveness is to privately and publicly display mutual respect. As
the supervisor, I know that I can make decisions and have all of the
operations run the way I want, when I want and how I want (within
bargaining agreement). However, employees are adults and want to
be treated as such. Most of these adults have a higher education
degree and feel that they are competent and capable. They just need
leadership. Leadership is a privilege that needs to be earned by trust
and mutual respect. By treating staff like educated important people,
they feel satisfaction in their job, the institution and their effectiveness
comes naturally. These two keys are important to employee
satisfaction and effectiveness.
4. Lead Contract Negotiator Advice
The first bit of advice that I would give a friend who is the lead contract
negotiator for and institution is to know as much history as possible.
Some contracts have more than a 40-year history. Even if the
relationship is good between the institution and the bargaining unit,
there will always be sensitive issues because of past negotiations and
past practice. Knowing the history will help to avoid pitfalls in
negotiations or at the least help the lead negotiator in treading lightly
on sensitive issues. We learned in this course that the pendulum of
negotiations have leaned heavy on management side at times and
leaned heavy on the unions side at times. Recent legislation has given
management a little more power than unions. The lead negotiator
must know and understand this history to gain perspective before ever
stepping up to the negotiation table.
The next piece of advice that I would give a friend that is leading a
negotiation is to be as clear and honest as possible. This does not
mean that they should show all of their cards at the first meeting.
However, it does mean that they need to be honest with the other side.

If they are caught in a lie or perceived to be caught in a lie then the

rest of the negotiations will not go well for either side. Professional
trust (to the best extent possible) is an ideal situation. If the
negotiator is asked a question that they do not want to reveal the
answer to at that time then that is what they should say. Lying will
only complicate the relationship.
5. Americans with Disabilities Act- Never perfect
At my college, Mott Community College we value the ADA and ADA
compliance as much as any other organization and we work hard at it.
However, as we learned in a recent Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
complaint that we are not perfect. The ADA is as individualized as
each student that comes through our doors. The ADA says that
institutions must comply with the act by affording the same
opportunity to students with disabilities as students without
disabilities. For example, if a school has a physical education
graduation requirement then students without arms and legs should
have an opportunity to be accommodated (other coursework) so that
they can graduate also. Students with cognitive impairment may need
extra test taking time or a note taker, etc. My institution had a list of
accommodations that students could pick from and then they had to
be approved by an administrator. This is in direct violation of the ADA.
My institution has to get better at assessing each individual and then
provide appropriate accommodations. This is a culture shift for the
institution. The specific area that needs addressed at MCC is the
reading requirement for each of our courses. Some students (blind)
may never be able to take the words off of a page and then translate
them (when braille is not available). Our faculties say that reading
from a page is fundamental because of the state definition of reading.
However, ADA says that accommodations must take place. This is just
one example of where the college needs to work harder and assess
each individual and then decide what an appropriate accommodation
is.