Control- a special kind of human activity carried out within the framework of collective labor.

Any joint work requires management. This means that management is an obligatory element of any collective activity of people, not only in the sphere of production, but also in the non-productive sphere, covering education, training of specialists in science, healthcare, culture, etc.

Management synthesizes the organization of human activity and the management of this activity, which means that the entire complex of sciences that study man and his activities acquires a very significant role.

Since management includes, as an essential component, the management of people’s activities, its improvement involves relying on knowledge about a person, about the patterns of his activities and behavior, about opportunities and abilities, psychological differences between people, about their interaction in work groups.

In connection with the increasing role of human factors in various spheres of social life, the problem of man becomes one of the central ones in the entire system of modern science. Management psychology plays a special role in its development; studying man as a subject of labor, knowledge and communication, it inevitably becomes a connecting link between the social, natural and technical sciences.

One of the important reserves for increasing the efficiency of any work is human factors, i.e. factors determined by the physiological, psychological and socio-psychological properties of man – the main productive force of society.

In expedient activities, as a rule, reserves associated with human factors are formed and realized.

In the course of this activity, the needs and abilities of a person develop, his creative potential And professional excellence, value orientations and social attitudes.

An essential point in improving management activities is its psychological analysis: identifying the requirements for perception and attention, memory and thinking, emotions and will (i.e., the so-called “mental sphere”) of a person determined by this activity and determining the most effective ways to form significant qualities.

In the process of joint labor activity people, a system of interpersonal relationships (psychological in nature) is formed: likes, dislikes, personal friendship, etc.

A system of mutual demands, a common mood, a common style of work, intellectual, moral and volitional unity are formed in the team, in other words, in the conditions of joint activity, what is commonly called a “psychological climate” develops.

Due to the fact that large interconnected teams of people participate in management processes, for management science the problem of the team appears in two aspects. On the one hand, the labor collective is the object of management. Therefore, the patterns of formation and development of a team, its structure and dynamics need to be known in order to find the most adequate means of influencing it in each specific case. On the other hand, management activity itself in the conditions of modern production is also collective, i.e. the team also acts as a subject of management.

An important task of management psychology is an in-depth study of the structure and mechanisms of management activities.

Structural and management activities include: analysis and assessment of management objects, problem situations, adoption management decisions, organization and implementation decision taken. In the general structure of management activity, the role of “goal-setting”, motivational-attitude, emotional-volitional and other personal factors is great.

The central element of management activity is the solution of management problems. Management decisions are generally characterized by the following features:

• a complex relationship between a strategic, fairly stable decision and variable private decisions associated with changes in the operational situation
• hierarchical decision-making procedure with a certain degree of independence at each level
• conflictual, but, of course, non-antagonistic nature of the process of preparing a decision, reflecting the “struggle” of motives, alternatives, a combination of collective development and individual decision-making with a high level of responsibility, etc.

An important problem in leadership psychology is the analysis of the leader’s personality.

Obviously, a serious problem is identifying the professionally important qualities of a leader and the corresponding criteria.

Three levels of personality structure can be distinguished:

• psychophysiological, including mainly primary cognitive, information processes with their parameters
• actually psychological, including the characteristics of a person’s temperament and character, his intellectual sphere, emotional-volitional sphere, specific personal properties - professional, organizational, psychological and pedagogical
• the highest social level, including ideological, political and moral qualities of a leader

It is important for a leader to have an analytical-synthetic type of perception, the ability to observe facts and explain them without bias; sustained attention combined with the ability to switch attention from one problem to another, developed, especially operational, memory for events, facts, faces, names. One of the most important qualities is deep practical thinking. The practical mind of a leader should be characterized by: speed, determination, the ability to foresee and find new solutions. In the intense activity of a leader, especially in unusual situations, the role of emotional and volitional reserves is great.

The work of a leader is compared to the work of a conductor, who must know who, where and what violin he is conducting, where, how and what instrument he studied, where, who and why is out of tune, who, how and where needs to be transferred to correct dissonance, etc.

The main reasons that shape the psychological climate are: the personality of the leader, the competence of the performers and their compatibility when performing collective work. When these conditions are violated, conflicts arise. The causes of conflicts were experimentally established: in 45% of cases - due to the fault of the manager, in 33% - due to the psychological incompatibility of employees, in 15% - due to improper selection of personnel.

To ensure normal work, it is important to create a good mood. Goodwill, sensitivity, tact, mutual politeness are stimulants of a good mood. On the contrary, hostility, rudeness, and damage to the pride of subordinates - all this damages the nervous system and reduces the efficiency of the team.

By the management process we understand purposeful information interaction between a subject (manager) and an object (team) with the aim of transferring it from one state to another or maintaining a control object in a given state when exposed to various disturbances (both internal and external) by influencing subject to variable parameters of the control object.

Management process- a complex type of activity. And in this regard, it seems relevant to consider mental mechanisms, underlying it.

The control system design can be described as follows. There is some control object. A person sets a task (or other people set a task for him) to transfer an object from state a1 to state a2 (or, on the contrary, to maintain the object in the state, overcoming external disturbances). Based on the information at his disposal (including professional experience), a person forms a certain image of the given (future) state of the object (state a2). Perceiving information, a person evaluates the current state of the object (state a1), analyzes various ways of performing the task, makes a decision and performs a control action (or system of actions), transferring the control object from state a1 to state a2. Information about the changed state reaches the person, and he evaluates whether the problem has been solved by comparing the current state a1 with the given state a2, and depending on the result, performs new control actions: the control cycle is repeated.

We are interested in management actions as an information process. The input of this process is information about the current state of the object, the output is the expedient transformative impact of the subject of action on the object. The control process begins not with the fact that the object is in some current state, but with the fact that the subject begins, in order to achieve the goal, to accept information about the state of the object to be changed. Similarly, the action ends not with the fact that the object is transformed, but with the fact that the subject receives information about the result of the transformative influence he has exerted on the object.

What is the relationship between the “input” and “output” of an action, how is the transition from input information to output action accomplished? Obviously, the input information itself could not cause the output effect. It was the subject who transformed one thing into another, and the action itself consisted of this transformation.

The most important feature of the control process carried out by a person is the fact that the process of transforming input information about an object into a purposeful impact on the object occurs in the form of mental reflection. The result of the mental reflection of highly controlled systems is an image. Exactly mental reflection, ideal images are the desired “intermediate variable” that carries out the connection between external behavior person and the flow of information coming to him from environmental objects.

From a psychological point of view, the issue of an “intermediate variable” is easily resolved by understanding the control process as a process of expedient transformation of an object based on the information available to the subject and the information coming to him from the object through the feedback channel. With this understanding, the psyche, the subjective image, organically fits into the information cycle occurring in the management process, as a central processing link.

The processing of information, which characterizes the management process from the psychological side, is carried out, according to our idea, in processes of confrontation various types images Some of the images act as material processed in the process of management, others - as means of processing this material. In this sense, it is convenient to call the former correlative (current), the latter – correlative (reference). Correlative images directly reflect current states object. Correlating images act as a more or less stable information reserve organized specifically for the purposes of this type of management. Correlative information flow, on the one hand, correlative information reserve, on the other. These are the two information flows, the active interaction of which ensures this management process.

To solve the problems of management psychology, one should begin by understanding the ideas about the object and subject of management psychology. The object of management psychology is an organization, which is considered as a specialized social institution designed to fulfill certain socially significant goals and, in connection with this, endow it with labor, technical and energy resources, as well as rights and responsibilities that determine the functions of the organization and its place in society and organizational structures Oh.

The organization acts as the main entity within which the role of management in regulating the joint activities of people is most clearly revealed. The structure of the organization, its place in the management system, its functional identity leaves a certain imprint on the activities of both the individual and the team, which form an integral part of the organization's resources.

The subject of management psychology is the diverse activities of the individual and the team aimed at realizing the goals of the organization. In accordance with externally set labor goals, the main type of activity in the organization is functional activity, i.e. actual professional work activity.

The subject of management psychology is not only professional activity, but a system of activities collectively aimed at achieving the goals of the organization, and a person as an actor appears in relations of interaction with various structural and functional links of the organization, designed to fulfill the labor and social goals set for it.

This approach to the activities of the individual and the team in the structure of the organization is extremely important, as it makes it possible to assess the impact of factors of different origin on the effectiveness of the organization.

Activity can be considered as the leading form of social activity of the individual, a kind of subjective activity. A personality does not simply “play” the social role prepared for it, does not dispassionately implement an objectively given activity, but, as it were, modulates the latter, gives it its own “personal profile”, modifies it so much that two people implementing the same activity cannot work in exactly the same way, no matter how hard they strive for it. It is here that the psychological problems of activity are revealed, which differ from the cybernetic, sociological and any other approach.

Psychological science studies organization as a system of activities from a specific angle, figuratively speaking, as an integral living organism with its inherent emotions and feelings, intellect and will.

Such an approach to the question of the object and subject of management psychology allows us to formulate a number of promising directions designed to create scientific and psychological support for tasks, among which special importance is given to the improvement of organizational structures and management methods.

Management psychology, on the one hand, should direct its efforts to the study of organizational factors that activate the professional activities of people, and, on the other hand, explore those aspects of the “human factor” that have a significant impact on the functioning of the organization as a specific social institution.

In the variety of activities that form an organization as an integral system, it is possible to identify the elements of the system and the connections between them. The elements are individual activities, and the role of connections as structural components of the system is played by the methods of their coupling, i.e. specific socio-psychological conditions in which workers performing related tasks interact.

Individual activities as elements of an organization, according to the legal status of the individual, are divided into managerial and executive. The study of leadership activity in management psychology is a central focus.

Social practice is in dire need of scientifically based recommendations for improving the work of a manager, depending on the level in the management system, individual personality traits, socio-psychological characteristics of the work team, the nature and content of the organization’s social functions, etc.

Research on performance activities is no less relevant. Here, it seems promising to study the patterns of social regulation of people’s behavior, effective forms and methods of influencing human consciousness and behavior, ensuring proactive and conscientious implementation of the tasks facing the organization.

In management psychology, unlike general psychology and labor psychology, activity is studied primarily as a socio-psychological category. An organization as a system of activities functions effectively only if a clear coordination of the efforts of interacting workers is sufficiently reliably ensured. The overall effect of joint labor ultimately depends on how individual activities are “connected” with each other. It is important to direct research to uncover the patterns of coordination of activities.

Typical functions of management activities are the functions of information processing and decision making. This activity includes a number of unique aspects that are unique to management. The most characteristic point is that the activity of processing information and making decisions is carried out in the organization as an activity included in functional communication between members of the organization. By it we mean a type of communication subordinated to the goals of professional activity performed by subjects in conditions of interdependence.

In management activities, functional communication serves to transmit information from one member of the organization to another. This information is the starting point for information processing and decision-making activities.

However, this does not exhaust the role of functional communication. Like any communication, it involves the interaction of participants and their mutual influence. In turn, mutual influence makes information flows mutually directed. This aspect of management activity is of greatest interest to psychology. The problem is that in order to optimally organize functional communication, it is necessary to establish psychological patterns that determine the influence of functional communication on information processing and decision-making in the organization. Information processing in an organization is carried out at hierarchical levels of the organization. At each level, selection and transformation of information occurs in accordance with the functions of this level and the next one.

Thus, information is simultaneously relayed and processed. If information flows from lower hierarchical levels, then its transformation occurs in the direction of data integration; when flowing from higher to lower levels, the transformation occurs in the direction of data differentiation. In this situation, the question of the level of integration and differentiation of management information, including information generated again as a solution, becomes relevant.

All this indicates the seriousness and significance of the problem of presenting information in the organization.

The subjective aspect is of great importance in the functioning of the organization. The influence of the subjective factor is manifested in all aspects and conditions of the organization’s activities that are associated with a person as a subject and object of management.

Until recently, management style was studied mainly in terms of relationships that develop in the manager-subordinate system. It should be noted that the influence of style in the manager-subordinate system was considered statically, i.e. as a non-developing system. The problems of style in the manager-team system have not been sufficiently studied. Meanwhile, of great interest is the problem of the development, under the influence of the management style, of relationships that are predominantly functional into collectivist relationships, in other words, the problem of enriching functional relationships with relationships characteristic of a developed team. The management style here fulfills important role, since it forms a certain way of life of the organization and thereby contributes to the development of interests and needs that are characteristic of a developed team.

Until now, we have emphasized the importance of those problems in the study of management style that are associated mainly with the implementation of the personal qualities of a manager, those that inevitably introduce originality into the performance of necessary functions. However, there must be another side to the study of style. Typically, the system of relations between the manager and the organizational function and members of the organization is fixed in the form of an image certain behavior. This image is formed on the basis of the model of a leader that is set by the socio-economic system, and on the basis of experience gleaned from observations of the actual types of behavior of the organization's leaders. The image of a leader’s behavior that has developed in an organization requires a certain adaptation of his individual, personal qualities to this image, including when it comes to their manifestation in the management system. This approach to management style allows us to formulate another problem of management psychology, which can be called the problem of the personality of an authoritative leader. In studying the manager’s mode of activity, one should rely on two criteria related to the performance of two main functions of the organization: production efficiency and social efficiency. This approach allows, in our opinion, to overcome subjectivity in assessing a manager through various kinds expert assessments. Often in this regard, errors arise that arise not from the assessment of activity, but from the assessment of behavior. Undoubtedly, the behavior of a leader is very important means implementation of the goals of management activities, but mixing them in assessing the effectiveness of a manager leads to the fact that the compiled models of qualities come into conflict with reality.

At the same time, it cannot be denied that the leader’s behavior influences the formation of interpersonal relationships in the team, its overall socio-psychological climate and the rate at which the leader establishes himself as an authority in the organization. Research indicates that the discrepancy between a leader’s behavior and role expectations often stems from ignorance of how this or that behavioral act is reflected in the consciousness and activities of people, from ignorance of the basics of psychologically appropriate behavior, which should have a stimulating effect on both relationships and activities members of the organization. In this regard, the problem of the content of psychological education of managers becomes practically important.

The greatest importance for a manager is psychological knowledge designed to ensure comprehensive self-knowledge and development of the manager’s personality in order to increase his professional competence, knowledge of psychological patterns that influence the activities of the team and the individual and, finally, knowledge of methods for managing these patterns, which should be used in everyday work with the staff.

An important aspect of management style is the stimulation of work on the part of the manager.

A management style that combines material and moral incentives in dynamic balance is considered fair. Skillful use of material and moral incentives creates the necessary prerequisites for a comprehensive impact on labor activity. Currently, there is a need to solve the problem of more accurately targeting stimuli through their psychologization. In this case, the psychologization of incentives is understood as their correspondence to the interests, needs, and orientations of a particular group or individual. At the same time, psychologization is necessary in relation to both material and moral incentives.

When implementing control, it is necessary to strive for its optimization, and for this the requirements of optimal control must be met.

The first requirement is that the control mechanism must correspond to the capabilities of the subject and the complexity of the object; second, the presence of well-developed feedback; third, the presence of reserves that provide the possibility of correcting all management functions in order to achieve their optimal implementation in the course of the activity itself; fourth - right choice evaluation criteria. Optimality criteria are always criteria for the final result, they are always related to goals; fifth – taking into account the characteristics of specific people.

When implementing management, it is necessary to search for contradictions, which is part of the analytical activity of the head of the organization, and work to resolve them is part of optimization. By resolving contradictions, the manager identifies points of development of the managed system.

Even the very formulation of the principles of management organization is built on a contradiction: centralization and decentralization, unity of command and collegiality, rights and responsibilities in management. From the interaction of two contradictory parties, optimal organizational management practice is born.

It is possible to optimize management in an organization under any, even the most unfavorable conditions. Of course, the optimum level under these conditions will not be high, but it will be the maximum possible.

At the methodological level, the optimization approach is characterized by three principles: systematicity, specificity and measures. Consistency provides for the development of all management functions in the work of a manager, their interaction and interrelation. The principle of specificity should encourage the manager to look for management options that are optimal for himself, his organization, its traditions, and the characteristics of the team, and not strive to lead the organization according to the principle “like everyone else, so am I.” The philosophical category “measure” allows only such quantitative changes in management characteristics that do not lead to a new (worse) quality, at which optimality is lost.

“Specific conditions” include: social situation in the country, the nature of the region where the organization is located, the traditions of the people, the characteristics of the microenvironment, etc.

It is incorrect to equate the terms “ideal” and “optimal” regardless of the context. The first term presupposes the achievement of generally the highest results corresponding to the ultimate goal of theoretically possible development, the second does not mean the best in general, but the maximum possible in today’s conditions of a certain organization, a specific leader, in a certain period of time.

The selected criteria should serve as the most important indicator of achieving goals. It must be borne in mind that a large number of criteria causes insurmountable difficulties in using them; therefore, one must strive to reduce the number of criteria by reducing them down to one.

Managerial resonance occurs only when the issue is close or close to all participants in the managed process. Thus, it is in the managerial resonance that the mechanism of democratization is hidden as a way to optimize management.

Management methods themselves cannot be optimal or suboptimal outside specific conditions.

Preparing an organization plan is, in essence, making the most important management decision. The plan must reflect the entire managed and control system of the organization; image, model of the organization itself, and, of course, every leader must strive to ensure that the plan is as optimal as possible, i.e. would allow us to recreate the image of the organization with the least number of omissions and in the shortest possible time.

Management that ignores or weakly takes into account the personal principle, the human factor, is the antithesis of optimization of perestroika, which should be based on the humanistic idea of ​​​​turning all spheres of social life, including management, towards the person with his real problems.

The managerial thinking of the head of an organization acts as the intellectual basis of his management activities and represents a set of mental processes(attention, perception, memory, imagination, abstract thinking) both conscious and intuitive, which ensure the perception of significant information and its processing into management decisions and actions.

In connection with the intensification of management activities and the introduction of automated control systems (ACS), the problem of selecting and placing managers is sharply increasing. We are talking about the psychological selection of persons capable of ensuring the greatest efficiency in performing tasks characteristic of a given type of activity; Not only specialists, but also managers of all ranks should be proficient in selection methods to one degree or another when assessing their subordinates, promoting them to a higher position, and when hiring new employees.

There is an urgent need for special training of managers, teaching them the principles of management, taking into account all modern psychological aspects of management activity.

As you can see, resolving a number of ongoing problems in the field of management psychology will allow us to approach improving the organization and management process from a scientific position.

“By studying people, they govern better than by studying books.”

Francois Fenelon.

Management in society always involves the interaction of a certain number of people. A small organized group or a large social entity is a kind of universe, the life of which is influenced by an infinite number of factors, from the nuances of the work process to the most complex interweaving of human relationships. To be a leader means to be a “god”: he directs, organizes, controls, corrects the life of this “universe”. And psychology comes to his aid as one of the universal cosmic laws of human existence.

Management psychology gives the key to the heart of each member of a group or organization and helps to tap into the hidden potential of a person included in the system. Knowledge of the theoretical foundations of this science opens the door to the vast abyss of the human psyche, which manifests itself in the processes of management and production.

What is management

The term “management” has many interpretations. In essence, they, taken together, convey the most complete content of this concept.

For example, Joseph Massey, an 18th-century British political economist, believed: “Management is the process by which an organization, a group, directs actions towards achieving common goals.”

James L. Lundy, an American politician of the 20th century, meant by management the fundamental task of planning, coordinating, motivating and controlling efforts to achieve specific goals.

Father of the classical school of management Henri Fayol stated: “To manage means to predict, plan, organize, command, coordinate and control.”

American scientist Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005), one of the most influential management theorists, understood management as “a multi-purpose body that manages a business, managers, employees and work.”

Some scientists view management as the art of most effectively accumulating human efforts to achieve the goals of a large social group.

The concepts of “management” and “governance” are interpreted differently; the first is used in a narrow sense, the second in a broad sense.

Into the sphere management included theoretical foundation and practical work aimed at outlining and achieving the company’s goals by rationalizing the use of resources, incl. human.

Under the term " control" refers to a more general phenomenon, namely organizing work for other people, including planning, distribution of rights and responsibilities of elements of a given social system, motivation and control of processes to achieve common goals in an optimal way.

Subject and object of control

Subject of management- this is a person (individual or legal) performing a management function. In an organization, this definition includes both one manager and several managers, for example, a board of directors. Management psychology implies that the subject of such influence is, first of all, the personality of the leader with all its features.

It is necessary to distinguish the subject of management from subject of management activity, which can only be a person, an individual.

Personalized control object is the person (individual or legal) in relation to whom the management function is exercised. In an organization, the objects of management can be called employees of various fields of activity and lower or middle managers. Management psychology considers the following objects of influence:

• employee identity;
• formal and informal group;
• social group, team, division;
• management level;
• organization.

Phenomena-objects of control:

• Management processes and other types of human activity;
• Corporate microclimate;
• Corporate morality;
• Leadership style;
• Systems of management, organization, control, regulation, motivation;
• Regulations, rules, norms, plans established in the organization, etc.

Management psychology as scientific knowledge

This direction is a hybrid of two theoretical bases - psychology as a science about the properties of the human psyche and management as a science about all aspects of organizing a purposefully and optimally functioning social system. The search for the most successful relationship between psychological and non-psychological characteristics in the management process is considered the most topical issue in management psychology.

This science operates with such important procedures for the formation of a methodology of knowledge as generalization and systematization of facts and phenomena, data obtained by experimental and statistical methods in the field of human measurements and management.

The field of knowledge in management psychology is defined by:

• The degree of relevance of a particular problem modern management;
• The need to develop the most effective methods management;
• The spread of the tendency to perceive the employee, first of all, as an individual with his own social rights and responsibilities; this approach requires management to use human resources, taking into account all the psychological characteristics of each group member, but in the most effective ways for the organization;
• Requirements for organizing an optimized management system for a group, enterprise, etc. .

Therefore, we can say that management psychology is a branch of psychology that accumulates the achievements of other sciences to study the psychological side of management, its optimization and increasing the level of efficiency of management activities.

Related psychological disciplines

The border sciences for management psychology are the following.

Social Psychology. Explores the patterns of activity and behavior of people included in social groups, and the psychological characteristics of social groups. Each group has a formal and informal hierarchy, while the second significantly influences the productivity of the entire team. In addition, it is known that a group can influence the opinions of its individual members and their perception of a particular situation.

Management psychology uses the data obtained by this science in order to identify patterns and factors that influence the successful management of a team.

Psychology of Personality. It studies psychological components, qualities, traits, personality traits, their influence on behavior, activity, communication and the individual’s perception of reality. This science has currently accumulated a sufficient amount of theoretical and empirical material. There are many personality theories that decipher and predict various aspects of human behavior in different situations.

Management psychology, based on data obtained in this scientific field, determines for itself a list of precisely those personality traits and qualities, methods of reward and punishment that make the organization’s management system and the professional activities of employees more effective.

Developmental psychology and acmeology. They study the course of development and formation of the human psyche at different stages of life (from newborns to old age).

Management psychology looks at a person as an employee of a certain field of activity and therefore has its own view on the problem of personal development, the formation of professionally significant qualities and the level of competence of a manager.

Subject of study of management psychology

This area of ​​psychology studies the psychological characteristics manifested in organizational management and professional communication.

In a narrow understanding of the subject of study, it is worth highlighting the following objects and phenomena:

Psychological features of management activities:

• Psychological problems of a manager’s work in general, his distinctive features in certain areas of activity;
• Psychological analysis of the role and personality of the leader, requirements for them;
• Psychological subtleties of management decision making;
• Leadership style and ways to adjust it.

Psychological features of the functioning of the organization:

• Possible applications psychological techniques in management;
• Rules for the formation of a favorable and sustainable internal corporate microclimate;
• Factors in creating optimal interpersonal connections in a team, problems of psychological compatibility;
• Features of the coexistence of formal and informal structures in an organization;
• Application of motivational techniques in the work of an organization;
• Values ​​in the team, creating your own corporate culture.

Psychological features of the relationship between a manager and subordinates:

• Factors in the creation and functioning of an organization’s communication system;
• Subtleties of management communication;
• Choosing the best system for interaction between the manager and subordinates;
• Raising awareness as an indicator of management effectiveness.

Goals and objectives of management psychology

Management psychology faces main goals:

• Increasing the psychological literacy of managers in the field of management;
• Creation of the necessary theoretical basis for understanding psychological processes in the field of management, in particular, the characteristics of employee behavior, the development of interpersonal relationships and the patterns that determine the creation of a work team and its internal changes;
• Formation of practical guidance for bosses with the aim of applying it in the psychological sphere of organization management.

This psychological direction is designed to solve the following problems:

• analysis and display of the psychological environment and its characteristics in a particular management system;
• systematization of psychological aspects of management;
• identifying patterns and causal relationships between psychological aspects;
• development of practical methods for use in managing an organization.

Psychological patterns of management activities

Knowledge of the following patterns in management psychology allows us to understand the nuances of many processes in an organization:

Law of Response Uncertainty reads: simultaneously different people or one person (at different periods of time) can act differently in response to the same influence depending on differences in psychological structure of personality.

The law of the inadequacy of the reflection of man by man implies: one person is unable to fully know another in order to make an objective decision regarding him.

The Law of Inadequate Self-Esteem: Most people have either low or high self-esteem.

The law of splitting the meaning of management information. There is a tendency to change the context of directives, orders, regulations, etc. as they move through the levels of the management vertical.

Law of self-preservation means the following statement: maintaining one’s own social status, independence in the manifestation of personal qualities, feelings self-esteem is the dominant motive for the behavior of the subject of management activities.

Law of Compensation. If a person finds himself in a social environment in which the requirements for him are either too high or the level of incentives is high enough, then he compensates for his lack of skills and knowledge for this status with other skills or abilities. However, this principle does not work if the position held is too high level complexity of management activities.

Psychological aspects of basic management functions

To see how all sectors and levels of management are imbued with psychology, it is necessary to consider the following psychological aspects, manifested in such management functions as:

Planning function predicts the perception and behavior of specific people and, thus, makes their joint activities successful and the goals and objectives of the organization achievable.

Psychological aspects of planning can be divided into 3 groups of factors:

Group I - tasks different types, decided during the preparation and implementation of plans;

Group II - features of mechanisms that identify the reasons for the processes of developing plans;

Group III - the process of formalizing meanings in the activities of a leader, creating a personal context depending on his interests.

Psychological problems of implementing this function include:

• decision-making problems (problems of managerial thinking);
• motivation problems;
• problems of volitional regulation of activity.
• The organization function creates and maintains a system of roles in the enterprise; Such a system was created under the condition of division of labor and cooperation of actions.

There are three groups of psychological aspects, which are a set of problems, taking into account which the function of the organization is realized:

Group I is the abuse of the established order in the organization, the so-called “petty regulation”, when a higher level of management unreasonably interferes in the affairs of a lower one, when the contours of responsibility are blurred. As a result, the effect of the impact decreases, the staff experiences a lack of motivation and overload.

Group II - excessive rigidity of the organizational structures of most organizations, which runs counter to the needs of work groups and individual workers, hinders the realization of their own present and future goals.

To solve this set of problems of the organization’s function, the following measures have been developed:

• The goals set must be verifiable;
• The contours of responsibilities or areas of activity should be clearly delineated;
• There must be a certain degree of freedom of authority and action; this requirement is especially necessary to correct the second group of psychological problems (excessive rigidity of the organizational structure).
• Information must be complete.

Control function

Psychological aspects that interfere with the optimal implementation of the control function are:

• Inadequate motivation for control is a distortion of the direction of control when narrow group or individual goals are chosen. Here we can give an example of the manifestation of this group of aspects: when control becomes a method of psychological pressure on a subordinate.
• Psychological disagreements of subjects of activity regarding control criteria in a certain situation;
• A combination of an excessive focus on control with low professional self-esteem of primary and middle management levels;
• Insufficient systematicity and depth of control measures and corrective procedures carried out;
• Violation of the effective balance of distribution of control powers between management and control units;
• Assigning responsibility to the manager for a specific situation, assigning the function of monitoring the situation in general, provided that the delegation of authority to make decisions and implement corrections is incomplete. In this case, the manager experiences a feeling of powerlessness and has other Negative consequences such a management model.

G. Schröder, a German management specialist, highlighted the negative aspects of control:

• Having an employee under surveillance forces him to exercise self-control, he begins to think about his automatic actions and therefore loses self-confidence;
• Control indicates a difference in status and interferes with the fulfillment of the human need for self-actualization and recognition;
• Control is most often unpleasant when the employee does not know what exactly is being controlled;
• Legitimizing control does not allow one to somehow protect oneself from it, and this negative feeling can “spill over” in other situations;
• Control is often perceived by the observed as unreasonable nagging;
• Control can be perceived as a manifestation of management’s distrust of the employee, which prevents the establishment of good and constructive relationships between them.

The regulation function ensures the direction of controlled processes in accordance with the specified regulations, program, plan; this is achieved by following a number of impact principles: minimization, complexity, consistency and internal consistency:

• Minimizing the impact requires the timeliness and optimal dosage of intervention, since its redundancy interferes with the normal flow of processes in the organization;
• Systematic influence considers the regulated course of affairs within the system;
• The complexity of the impact is observed provided that in the process of regulating the employee’s activities, the manager uses incentives that are most consistent with the employee’s motivational structure;
• Internal consistency of influence exists when the use of a set of stimuli does not cause mutually exclusive effects.

It is worth noting that there are other control functions:

• Goal setting
• Forecasting
• Decision making
• Motivation
• Communications
• Work with personnel
• Production and technological
• Derivatives (complex).

Scientific approaches in management psychology

Since the 50s last century, thanks to the development of cybernetics, systems theory, computerization of management and other innovations, several approaches in the field of management psychology emerged. These are:

Systems approach. Its supporters consider the focus on only one side of management to be a flaw in previous theories. The use of this approach allows management to see the entire organization in the unity and interdependence of all its elements. It is understood that any organization or other controlled social group is a system that, like a living organism, functions only under the condition of the interdependence of all its “organs.” This means that each such “organ” makes a necessary contribution to the life of the entire “organism”. The organization is open system, interacting with external environment, which greatly influences the survival of the enterprise (division and other social group).

The situational approach (since the early 70s of the 20th century) put forward the theory of the equal use of all management systems - from strictly regulated to those based on relative inner freedom. The choice of system depends on the circumstances that affect the operation of the organization in a given period of time. The essence of the approach comes down to two theses:

• lack of a universal recipe for effective management in all cases;
• a direct relationship between the level of management efficiency, mobility and adaptability to the environment or situation in which the organization is located.

Empirical or pragmatic approach, which was based on the study of the sphere of management of firms and military institutions, began to actively disseminate the acquired knowledge. Proponents of the approach understood that management theory was important and necessary, but they argued that practical management skills were of greater benefit. After analyzing management experience, they developed special management training methodologies based on certain situations. Representatives of this approach, who especially strongly influenced the dissemination of the concepts of “manager” and “management”, promoted the idea of ​​mandatory professionalization of management, i.e. turning it into a separate profession.

Quantitative approach developed management techniques based on mathematical, cybernetic, statistical knowledge obtained as a result of the latest achievements of science and technology, thanks to the development of computerization, which largely freed management work from routine technical procedures.

This approach has made a significant contribution to the development of the following concepts:

• the concept of operational management (about the requirements for a manager not only as a holder of knowledge of management theory, but also as an expert in mathematics, sociology, psychology, economics, systems theory, etc.);
• concept of management decisions (states that a manager, first of all, must be able to make balanced, most effective solutions; management training should be limited to acquiring this quality);
• concept of scientific or mathematical management (believes that current situation affairs in the world suggests that management should be supported by the achievements of science; this is achieved by using mathematical models and theories).

The most common approaches became quantitative and statistical.

Throughout the 20th century, management psychology increasingly acquired the features of complex scientific knowledge, and today it has been able to take shape in the form of a rich theoretical base that has included in its arsenal of knowledge the experience of a wide range of other sciences. This direction, like psychology in general, is characterized by such a feature as pluralism of views on the subject being studied, which is clearly seen in the example of the diversity of scientific approaches. However, it is difficult to argue with the statement that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

References:

1. Evtikhov O. V. Psychology of personnel management: theory and practice [electronic edition]. St. Petersburg: Rech, 2010.
2. Karpov A. V. Psychology of management. Tutorial[electronic edition]. M.: Gardariki, 2005.
3. Levchenko E. A. Psychology of management. Text of lectures [electronic edition]. Educational institution "Belarusian Trade and Economic University of Consumer Cooperation". Gomel, 2011.
4. Naumenko E.A. Psychology of management. Educational and methodological complex for distance learning[electronic edition]. - Tyumen: Tyumen State University Publishing House, 2002.
5. Petrov V.V. Schools of management. Textbook for universities [electronic edition], M., 2005.
6. Urbanovich A. A. Psychology of management: Textbook [electronic edition]. Series “Library of Practical Psychology”. Mn.: Harvest, 2003.
7. Cherednichenko I.P., Telnykh N.V. Psychology of management / Series “Textbooks for Higher School” [electronic edition]. Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2004.
8. electronic edition]. Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, New Delhi, 2007.
9. http://studopedia.ru/7_53234_ob-ekti-i-sub-ekti-upravleniya.html

Poet, prose writer
Baltic Federal University. I. Kant

Read 13866 once

Psychology of management

OPD discipline. R.05 “Management Psychology” refers to specialization disciplines curriculum preparation of the national-regional (university) component of higher professional education. The course is designed to train specialists in specialty 020400 “Psychology”. Its structure and content are coordinated with the graduating department.

Goals of the discipline“Psychology of Management”: developing students’ theoretical knowledge and practical skills in applying modern psychological methodology to the study of the mental processes of people involved in management; introduction to the basic theoretical and practical concepts of management psychology; formation of practical skills in solving problems of workforce management.

Objectives of the discipline“Psychology of Management” contributes to the development in students of conscious ideas about the psychological essence of the management process; mastering practical skills in analyzing management activities, socio-psychological analysis of production and management teams and the relationships of people in them; formation of skills to assess the psychological processes of making individual and group decisions. The objective of the course is provided by lectures, seminars and practical parts.

Place of discipline V educational process. The discipline “Management Psychology” is an essential component of the socio-psychological direction of student training. Training of specialists in this course requires students to comprehensively acquire knowledge in psychology, management and related fields, their fundamental theoretical concepts, and applied aspects in relation to the tasks of training these specialists. The course methodology contains lectures and seminars.

Topic 1

Subject and methods of management psychology

Study questions:

1. General overview about management psychology and the subject of modern management psychology.

2. Relationship between management psychology and related sciences

3. Basic methods of management psychology, their brief description.

Modern management psychology is a relatively young and fairly rapidly developing branch of applied psychology. In modern psychological science There are two main directions - theoretical psychology and practical (applied) psychology. Nowadays, both theoretical and practical psychology are not a single whole. Each is a set of disparate theoretical constructs, certain initial principles, views, approaches, languages ​​for describing various phenomena of the psyche and human relationships. Everything that has been said fully applies to the psychology of management. It can be stated that today it represents a set common approaches to understanding problems. On the other hand, modern management psychology has accumulated a colossal amount of factual, statistical and experimental material, which allows one to draw fairly accurate conclusions and develop specific recommendations for specialists in the field of management. Differences in approach in this case do not seem to be a complicating factor; on the contrary, they contribute to new searches in attempts to understand what is called the human dimension in management

What causes the disunity in approaches?

1. Management psychology as a specific branch of practical psychology arose almost simultaneously with the emergence of the profession of manager and professional managers. It appeared in response to a specific social order of industrial society. This social order can be expressed in the form of the following questions:

How to make management effective?

How to make maximum use of human resources in production without coercion and pressure on people?

What is the best way to build and organize a team management system?

We can say that the psychology of management arose in a free society (unfree societies with a harsh system of coercion in the form of carrots and sticks do not need it), for free people striving to fully reveal their own capabilities with maximum benefit for themselves and for the business.

Thus, management psychology from the very beginning was focused not on creating a theory, but on solving specific practical problems. The same can be said another way: modern management psychology is built on the understanding that the use of the human factor in production, the human dimension in management, is economically beneficial. It doesn’t matter how it looks in theory, it is important that it works in practice and is beneficial; such a very pragmatic and, of course, not indisputable view predetermined the development of management psychology as a branch of practical psychology. The joke of professional psychologists: “We have many different means for solving problems - something helps someone from time to time” has acquired real meaning.

2. The very subject of psychology - man and his psyche, inner world, behavior, activity, communication - is an ambiguous and multifaceted phenomenon. Today we hardly understand human nature better (despite attempts to artificially change it) than the ancient Greek philosophers. It remains as much a mystery as the origin of life. Man with his inner world- a very complex creature, roughly speaking, that does not fit into theoretical concepts and constructions. This deprives us of the opportunity to obtain any definitive answers to the questions posed. So the lack of a single view, a single concept of man in psychology is caused by completely objective reasons.

Subject of management psychology

Management psychology is a branch of practical psychology. The subject of practical psychology is a problem of human relationships. Hence, modern management psychology considers problems of human relationships and interactions from the point of view of situations of management, management, and this is the specificity of its subject. Let us reveal this position in more detail and consider which specific problems of the human dimension in management are in the field of view of management psychology. This:

1. The personality of the manager, his self-improvement and self-development.

2. Organization of management activities from the point of view of its psychological effectiveness.

3. Manager's communication skills.

4. Conflicts in the production team and the role of the manager in overcoming them.

Management psychology examines these problems from a practical point of view. Let's get to know them better.

1. Personality of the manager, his self-improvement

and self-development

Two things are important here. Firstly, among the many qualities, traits, and personality characteristics, management psychology identifies those that help to successfully carry out management activities. We can say that this branch of knowledge studies not the personality in general, but the personality of the leader-manager, organizer, manager. It cannot be said that management psychology is not at all interested in personality problems as such and that it focuses only and exclusively on the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the leader’s personality. Ordinary employees also come into the field of view of this branch of science. A manager must know the personality traits of his subordinates in order to interact more effectively with them, and sometimes even to influence them.

Secondly, when considering the personality of a leader, psychology is not limited only to descriptions, comparative analysis and statements of facts. There is a fairly large amount of knowledge in this branch of knowledge. practical advice, recommendations and “recipes” that allow managers of any rank and with any initial level of management abilities to purposefully develop the qualities of a leader. This is where the practical, applied nature of management psychology manifests itself. It teaches the manager, at the very least, how not to make obvious mistakes, and most importantly, how to improve himself in management. What will be adopted - minimum or maximum - is a matter of personal choice.

2. Organization of management activities from the point of view of its psychological effectiveness

Any activity must be organized - without this, it turns into a set of chaotic actions, which, despite all the efforts and sincere desire to achieve something, end in very mediocre (and this is at best) results. Management activities have their own characteristics. This feature lies in the fact that the manager, acting himself, organizes the activities of other people, solves not only production, but also management problems.

Management activities are built according to certain rules, which are studied by management psychology.

We can say that management produces a very important product - order out of chaos. The ability to organize your own activities and the activities of subordinates invariably brings success. Conversely, inept organization of a business can lead a company to collapse even under the most favorable other conditions. “He who produces does not manage, who manages does not produce” - this perhaps too straightforward motto clearly reflects the importance of organizing activities in general and management in particular. An effectively working manager not only knows the basic management actions and knows how to carry them out - he constantly reflexively analyzes his activities and improves them.

Knowledge of the main components of management activity allows, among other things, to compensate for the insufficient development of organizational abilities, which, of course, is of practical importance.

3. Manager’s communication skills

How are communication and management connected and related? What is communication culture and communication skills of a manager? How to organize communication with subordinates in the most effective way? How to negotiate? How to learn to speak in public? This is not a complete list of problems related to the relationship between management and communication. The fact is that the role of communication in effective management is huge, it hardly needs any convincing. But understanding the role of communication and being able to use it are not the same thing. That is why management psychology includes specific practical problems of organizing effective management communication.

Communicative qualities of a person are not given at birth - they, like the ability to ride a bicycle or swim, are developed as a result of special exercises. All you need is desire and time. Specialists in the field of management psychology have long and successfully developed rules and technical methods of communication that make it not just a form, but a factor of management. Everything a manager does should be results-oriented. And the result is solving the problem in the most rational and humane way with minimal expenditure of time, effort and money. The correct organization of management communication in general and each of its types helps to achieve this result.

4. Conflicts in the production team

and the role of the manager in overcoming them

Any collective is a group of people representing a single social organism, whose members pursue their goals, solve their problems, strive to maintain or change their formal and informal status. People in a team are connected to each other by a system of sometimes incredibly complex relationships. Like any organism, a collective can experience both favorable and unfavorable periods in development. A crisis can occur at any time under the influence of a complex of external and internal causes and circumstances. Its consequences can be both positive (a further rise in the development of the team) and negative (the team, which until recently worked like a “clock,” becomes uncontrollable and disintegrates). Conflictology, as a part of modern practical psychology, which is directly related to the psychology of management, is still a young science, but still has a sufficient amount of materials that allow a manager to relatively successfully cope with crises in the development of a team.

1. The level of a leader and the degree of his professionalism are determined not only by how he manages the development of his team during relatively favorable periods of its existence and development, but also by how he acts in difficult moments, in situations of conflict. The job of a leader, his profession, is to manage in any, even the most seemingly uncontrollable situation. And this requires not only knowledge, but also specific skills.

What are conflicts and what are they like? What are psychological mechanisms development of different types and types of conflicts? Is it possible to prevent conflict, and if so, how? What to do and what not to do if conflict is already occurring? How to minimize the consequences of the conflict and preserve the team? What price should I pay so that it does not turn out to be excessive? These very practical questions are the essence of the art of conflict management that a professional manager possesses, or at least strives to master. The art of conflict management is how a professional manager differs from a leader (from “driving with his hands”) - an amateur. Where the second one just throws up his hands, the first one gets down to business and acts with maximum benefit and minimal losses.