 1) You will most likely be employed by one  2) The organization itself can cause problems for you  3) You need to understand organizations in order to plan the implementation of macro changes

Organizations are defined as 1) social entities that 2) are goal directed, 3) are designed as deliberately structured and coordinated activity systems and 4) are linked to the external environment.

 Inspired by the creativity of human creativity  Competent  Forward looking  Insightful  Productive  Take care of themselves  Limited by human weaknesses  Bungling  Shortsighted  Defensive  Wasteful  Neglectful

 The tasks that social workers perform to improve clients health and quality of life…. “helping people to become more self- sufficient, preventing dependency, strengthening family relationships, and restoring individuals, families, groups or communities to successful social functioning.”  Human services is often used interchangeable with social services

 Public versus Private social agency  Nonprofit verses for Profit social agency

 Need to know when working in an organization, evaluating it and/or striving to change it.  Helps us to understand how organizations function and human behavior in the workplace.  Ultimately, affects you as a workers and in turn your ability to serve and help clients effectively.

 Explain: ◦ Expectations for how staff should be treated ◦ The importance placed on profits ◦ The degree to which new ideas are encouraged ◦ Bureaucracy = an administrative structure with well-defined offices or functions and hierarchical relationships among the functions.  Highly specialized units performing clearly specified job tasks  Minimal discretion on the part of employees  Numerous specific rules to maintain control  Examples: the Social Security Administration, the Department of Social Services

 Early organizational theories focused on production results.  Recent organizational theories focus on how people work together in an organizational environment. ◦ Common themes include empowerment, culture and the systems perspective

 The management style of administrators and supervisors in organizations have considerable impact on the productivity and job satisfaction of employees.

Theory X Theory Y  Focus on a hierarchical structure  Employees are incapable of much growth  Employees have an inherent dislike for work and they will attempt to evade work if possible.  Managers view employees as wanting to grow and develop  Believe the promise of internal awards, such as self-respect and personal improvements  Employees are assumed to have ingenuity, creativity and ability to solve the organizations problems.

 Emphasizes how all parts of the organization are interrelated and function together to produce output.  The importance of the environment and the impact of other systems upon the organization are stressed.

 A system of administration marked by officialism, red tape, and proliferation.  Policies and procedures for how to accomplish tasks are clearly specified.  Employees are allowed little if any ability and opportunity to be able to think for themselves and make their own decisions concerning their work.

Orientation of helping professionals Orientation of a Bureaucracy Decision making is democratic. Power is distributed equally among employees Clients have considerable power in the system. The system is flexible and changing. Creativity and growth are emphasized. Communication on a personal level is encouraged.  Decisions are made autocratically.  Power is distributed unequally.  Power is held mainly by top executives.  System is rigid and stable.  Emphasis is on structure and the status quo.  Communication is from level to level.

Orientation of Helping Professionals Orientation of Bureaucratic Systems Decision making and responsibility are shared. Decisions are made by those having the most knowledge. Clients’ and employees’ feelings are highly valued. A hierarchical decision- making structure and a hierarchical responsibility structure are characteristic. Decisions are made according to the decision-making authority assigned each position in the hierarchy. Procedures and processes are highly valued.

1) When needs are not being met use the following problem solving model: a) Precisely identify your needs or the clients, that are in conflict with the bureaucracy, b) generate a list of possible solutions, c) evaluate the merits and shortcomings of the possible solutions, d) select a solution, e) implement the solution, f) evaluate the solution (Essentially the planned change approach)

2) Learn how your bureaucracy is structured and how it functions, including knowledge of your agencies formal and informal structure. 3) Remember that bureaucrats are people with feelings. Use your micro practice skills with colleagues and administrators. 4) If you are at war with the bureaucracy, declare a truce, or the system will find a way to eliminate you. 5) Know your work contract and job expectations. 6) Continue to develop your knowledge and seek professional development opportunities.

7) Identify your professional strengths and limitations. 8) Be aware that you can’t change everything so stop trying. 9) Learn how to control your emotions in your interactions with the bureaucracy. 10) Develop a sense of humor and learn how to accept your mistakes. 11) Take time to enjoy and develop a support system with your colleagues.

12) Leave your work at the office and learn how to deal with the stress (exercise). 13) Make speeches to community groups that accentuate the positives about your agency. 14) No matter how high you rise in a hierarchy maintain some direct service contact. 15) Do not try to change everything in the system at once. 16) Identify your career goals and determine whether they can be met in this system.

 Total Quality Management (TQM) – emphasizes: clients as customers, customer feedback, quality as the primary goal, employee empowerment, the use of teams and teamwork, and establishing a culture of quality.  Servant Leadership – leaders should be attentive to the concerns of their followers and empathize with them; they should take care of them and nurture them.

 = The manner in which an organization divides its labor into specific tasks and achieves coordination among these tasks.  Most agencies have a formal structure.  Most agencies have an organization chart that shows who reports to whom and depicts the lines of authority and communication in an agency.

 Form of Management? Formal or informal  Lines of authority=the specific administrative and supervisory responsibilities of supervisors and supervisees. (usually in writing in an organizational chart)  Channels of communication  Dimensions of power – should follow lines of authority

◦ Legitimate – based on one’s job position, based on status and skills ◦ Reward- based on ability to produce and control outcomes, such as a raise ◦ Coercive – uses punishment and threat ◦ Referent – derived from being liked by others ◦ Expert- based on having special information or expertise that is valued by an organization

High level of interaction among members Professional satisfaction is directly tied to work relationships.  Workers in social agencies see each other every day for hours, working side by side or together to advance the betterment of the community.