Do you experience work engagement as a private or shared process?
To some extent, work engagement is a matter of your personal energy and involvement. But sometimes is seems to be more of a culture shared among team members.
Do you see work engagement as primarily private or shared or a bit of both?
Thanks,
Michael
www.workengagement.com
Good Answers (5)
Matthew J. K.
Sr. Category Development Manager
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Shared. Though I've witnessed varying degrees by team members as well as my own involvement. I see it as more of an "Engagement Ratio" issue.
Privately, each of us must assimilate, dedicate and manage the areas within our control, expertise or responsibility and work through problems, identify opportunities, overcome obstacles and other crucial information.
It's then shared among a larger group for review, scrutiny, embellishment, compromise, refinement and coordination with other "private" efforts. The size of the both the individuals as well as the larger group is (likely) contingent upon the scope and scale of the issue, project or situation.
However, my level of interest, responsibility and project proximity plays a role in "how engaged" I am. This is where the "Engagement Ratio" comes into play. If it's a situation where I have high ownership - but low expertise, I'm likely to have a greater interest in seeing an increased level of team interaction. If the opposite is true, low responsibility but a source of expertise, I'll contribute but only as needed. This ratio can be altered, modified or revised during the life of a project so it's not static by any means. However, if too elastic, I'm (as well as other team members) likely to question the validity of the scope or objectives.
True engagement means recognizing individual roles while acknowledging the collective value of the project objectives. This, in turn, is dependent upon the role of private individuals within the larger group.
I believe work engagement is on a sliding scale from private to shared. Where you slide the indicator depends on the circumstances for each project you work. If your sense of ownership for a project is high and it is something you want to engage in personally (publishing an article for example) then slide the indicator to private.
On the other hand, working with the group has a lot of rewards and can bring out the best in you. When people are depending on you for results, it’s a great motivator. It’s why 12 step programs work so well for some.
Note that you can be passionate about something and be in either end of the spectrum or, move back and forth on the scale as different situations present themselves.
I personally think we need to have a balance of the two types in our lives. Though I know some computer programmers who think they want to stay in the private end of the spectrum, they usually do better when the venture out into the shared working environment on occasion.
At our core, we are a tribal species and we need to connect to other people yet, at times, we need something to call our own so a balanced approach is optimal.
Brian
Mark H.
Changing how people and organizations work together
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Michael:
To me engagement must be shared for it to really work effectively. To the point that you, Matthew and Brian make there is indeed a personal attribute. I believe that the role of executive management is to develop and nuture the culture of the organization. If that is done properly that is what you join and commit your energy to.
I work a lot in the area of engagement and I believe also to your point engagement begins with the interviewing and selection process. There is an expression I believe in- "people join cultures and leave managers".
If you create a culture where people "join up" the efficacy of your culture and the organization is much stronger. True engagement occurs when not only your employees, but your customers and other stakeholders have joined in this process.
There are a couple of pieces on my website you might enjoy-, the first one is titled Moving from Compliance to Commitment, the second is called the Business Case for Compliance to Commitment.
Peppers and Rogers and BlessingWhite also have some awesome stuff in this arena.
Links:
Janaki G.
Business Head at Yog Business Solutions LLP
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Both. There are certain things which may not interest the entire team but personally you might believe in it and want to make it work. So I think work engagement is matter of personal energy as well as involvement. When both are present at the workplace its a beautiful synergy!!
Susan S.
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., financial marketing writer.
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Both, as required. I'd rather teamwork be done sequentially rather than everyone attempting to "work with" people, but as a writer, I prefer to work alone.
