Building Personal Capacities as Manager, Research Paper Example

The UJA Federation of New York is a not for profit organization which cares for the needy, encourages interest in Jewish culture and fortifies communities in Israel, New York and around the globe. The function of the UJA Federation of New York is to enable community members to adjust to the stresses of daily life and to overcome personal crises. The mission of the UJA Federation of New York is to provide assistance to impoverished community members, the elderly, Holocaust survivors and their families, physically and emotionally challenged children and adults and to help the individuals who are unemployed. The UJA Federation of New York provides access to important services for all new Yorkers and members of the worldwide Jewish community (UJA, 2014).

The objective of the UJA Federation of New York is to promote Jewish cultural values and to enhance the availability of Jewish culture. In addition the UJA Federation of New York has the objective of improving the quality of life for new Yorkers and members of the Jewish community around the globe (UJA, 2014).

Context of the Meeting Held on September 13^th, 2013

The meeting was described as a meeting for the volunteers in order to prepare for the Pack it Up for Purim initiative. This meeting was designed as an assessment for the volunteer members and interns in order to determine the community organizational skills and the potential interventions which each member might contribute.

Context of the Meeting Held on October 9^th, 2013

The context of the meeting at the UJA Federation of New York had been to conduct icebreaker exercises among the members of the meeting and to review the Call to Action programs with the coordinators who volunteered. The intention of the meeting had been to provide an enhanced understanding of the operations conducted by the UJA Federation of New York and the affiliated network agencies.

Analysis

Social media has participated in a greater role in not for profit organizations. The aspects of social media are perceived as being more effective methods of creating interactive, real time dialogues. The application of Twitter is a method of formulating a virtual client environment (VCE) where the communities which are interested in the particular services which are provided by UJA Federation of New York and the affiliate networks may communicate and dialogue.  The Twitter platform can also be applied in order to provide delivery of electronic commerce methods in order to add value to the services which are performed within a not for profit organization. The members of the not for profit organizations are required to include group structuring and community building programs as a component of the interactions which occur on Twitter (Cuinan et al., 2010; Lovejoy et al.,, 2012).

In order to acquire the optimal value adding benefit from the use of Twitter in the not for profit organizations, three components must be considered. These components are the absorptive ability of the members of the group, the capacity of community structuring and building in the group and the cognitive adoption of the use of the Twitter platform and the linguistic expressions which are applied in organizational communications at the UJA Federation of New York. Research has demonstrated that not for profit organizations have substantial amounts of variation in the application of Twitter in order to encourage enhanced interaction between the organizational personnel. The majority of not for profit organizations have been demonstrated to under apply social networking technology (Lovejoy et al., 2012). Research has demonstrated that a few organizations are applying the comprehensive use of Twitter. Notwithstanding, the majority of not for profit organizations apply Twitter in order to communicate organization messages in a unilateral direction from the administrative personnel to the organizational personnel (Cuinan et al., 2010; Lovejoy et al., 2012).

Critical Self Analysis

I am an intern. It was anticipated that I would have knowledge of group mechanics and the operational parameters of effective groups. Leadership had been established where the members of the group were oriented toward the tasks which had to be performed (Wimpfheimer 46). The strengths of the group were that they had been well prepared in social service organization administration. The program at the meetings which had been held on September 13^th, 2013 and October 9^th, 2013 had been developed with the assumption that the members would be fully versed in the organizational use of Twitter (Wimpfheimer, 2004).

The manner by which I would have operated the group differently would be in the assessment perspective of the volunteers and interns. I would have informed the group members prior to the meeting with regards to the competencies which were required for participation in the meetings. The application of Twitter is an internal relation strategy which is applied to differing extents at not for profit organizations (Wimpfheimer, 2004).

The lack of being prepared for the Twitter communication exercise had been a cause of stress. The time frame in which the preparation was anticipated for the Twitter communication exercise had caused stress which might have affected my performance at the meeting (Rahe et al., 2000). I had been unfamiliar with the organizational structure at UJA Federation of New York. The application of social media as a communication tool between the members of an organization is a transformational manner of modifying the characteristics of communication, transparency and openness between organizational members. The social media can be applied in order to amplify the relationships of a social service agency organization (Kabukin et al., 2010).

I was new to Twitter. I used my personal data device in order to quickly access the use of hashtags online. Hashtags are a sign which is associated with a specific keyword. The application of hashtags increases the probability of an organizational member agreeing with the tweet by one hundred percent. Hashtags are extremely popular on Twitter. Consequently, I received a brief education on the application of hashtags during the meetings. The lesson which had been received on hashtags was effective (Lovejoy et al., 2012).

The application of Twitter incorporated an abrupt change from the manner by which I am accustomed to receiving and transmitt8ing information. As a member of the generation which was born prior to the widespread use of digital technology, a delaying effect had been caused by my attempts to catch up with the technological communications of the group. I could have been better prepared for the meetings if a manual had been composed on the use of Twitter (Burke, 2006; Lovejoy et al., 2012).

In retrospect what I learned about myself is that my demonstrations of loyalty to the group in calmly accepting the new method of communication. This took place although I did not fully comprehend tweeting. This was another method by which my credibility to the group could have been enhanced. It had been apparent to the members of the meeting that I had not been completely at ease with the application of Twitter as an organizational communication tool. Notwithstanding, I did not demonstrate any hesitation or disagreement (Burke 788; Lovejoy 316). I think that this personal attribute enabled the group to accept me as a member and caused an increase in my credibility in the group.  All of the members of the meeting had been made aware that I was not familiar with the application of Twitter as a communication tool within an organizational environment.  I perceive that under the circumstances, I fared well (Burke, 2006).

The coping style which had been applied enabled a positive response to the stress of being in a new group with new forms of communication. The qualities of all of the members of the meeting taking their time in order to provide explanations with regards to the language and the form of tweeting enabled me to cope with the aspect of stress in a much more effective manner. The group environment which had been created and the leadership of the group caused me to perceive that I had been accepted, valued and respected as a member of the group (Rahe et al., 2000).

The application of the organizational application of Twitter has been clarified by the exercises which had been conducted at the meetings on September 13^th, 2013 and October 9^th, 2013. The application of Twitter by the UJA Federation of New York demonstrated that they care about their clients enough to keep up to date with the latest digital technological communication applications. The aspect of the members of the UJA Federation of New York taking their time in order to educate me with regards to the use of hashtags displays that I am perceived as an organizational member who is valued respected and accepted (Lovejoy et al., 2012; UJA 2014).

Conclusion

The UJA Federation of New York has the mission of caring for the needy, the physically and mentally challenged, Holocaust survivors, members of the global Jewish community and the unemployed. The application of Twitter is a minimal cost method which facilitates the communication with many of the UJA Federation of New York clients across the globe. I feel privileged to have the opportunity of being an intern at a not for profit organization which demonstrates public responsiveness by the application of Twitter. I aspire to continue my educational endeavors at the UJA Federation of New York and to learn more about the language which is applied on Twitter in order to communicate in real time with volunteers, administrators and most of all, the clients.

References

Burke, W. W. (2006). Chapter Thirty four: conflicts in organizations. In M. Deutsch, P. T. Coleman and E. C. Marcus (Eds.), The Handbook of Conflict Resolution, Theory and   Practice. San Francisco CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Cuinan, M.  J., McHugh, P. J., & Zubilaga, J. I. (2010).How large U.S. companies can use Twitter and other social media to gain business value. MIS Executive Quarterly, 9(4): 243- 259.

Kabukin, E., de Vries, S., &  Le Cat, A. (2012). Optimize your organizational culture: use social media. SOMERE Social Media Research.

Lovejoy, K., Richard Waters, R. and Gregory D. Saxton, G.D. (2012). Engaging stakeholders through Twitter: How non-profit organizations are getting more from 140 characters or less. Public Relations Review, 36(2): 313- 318.

Rahe, R. H., Veach, T. L., Tolles, R. L. & Murakami, K. (2000).The stress and coping I inventory: An educational and research instrument.” Stress Medicine, 16: 199- 208.

UJA Federation of New York (2014).Our mission. UJA Federation of New York.

Wimpfheimer, S. (2004). Leadership and management competence defined by practicing social work managers: An overview of the standards developed for social work managers. Administration in Social Work, 28(1): 45- 56.