Perceptions are the ideas we have about certain things, people or situations before we even knoe how they really are. Perceptions can be influenced by internal factors such as personality or previous experiences, and can be influenced by external factors such as the environment and the context.
When we are talking about companies or organisations where people from many different cultures are working together, perceptions are very important. Many times we use to think that people from certain places are in a certain way, that working with them is hard, that they don't work, that they are lazy, etc. Adopting these ideas as true can be very harmful for the organization's working environment as they affect personal relations.
There are several theories that try to explain how individuals perceive what happens around them, the perceptions thay have towards internal and external factors, responsibility, etc.
The Pygmalion effect is a theory that states that "the perceiver's positive expactation anhances the target's performance" (Inamori, T & Analoui, F (2010) Beyond pygmalion effect, Journal of management development Vol 29 No 4). This theory is important because it shows how negative predisposition or perceptions towards a person can affect the realtionships between both as the way the other person reacts is affected by the way I aproach him. This theory can be translated to organizations too. In this way "leaders generate subordinates' motivation and increase work performance for accomplishing a designated goal." (Inamori, T & Analoui, F (2010) Beyond pygmalion effect, Journal of management development Vol 29 No 4). This is the reason why friendly interatcion (derived from positive perceptions) betwen people is so important for an effective organisation.
The Pygmalion effect is a theory that states that "the perceiver's positive expactation anhances the target's performance" (Inamori, T & Analoui, F (2010) Beyond pygmalion effect, Journal of management development Vol 29 No 4). This theory is important because it shows how negative predisposition or perceptions towards a person can affect the realtionships between both as the way the other person reacts is affected by the way I aproach him. This theory can be translated to organizations too. In this way "leaders generate subordinates' motivation and increase work performance for accomplishing a designated goal." (Inamori, T & Analoui, F (2010) Beyond pygmalion effect, Journal of management development Vol 29 No 4). This is the reason why friendly interatcion (derived from positive perceptions) betwen people is so important for an effective organisation.
Maintaining good perceptions about work, environment, expectation and stress is fundamental for successful management of people and operations.
Perceptions create expectations. When you have an idea about somebody's behaviour, you expect him to do certain things.
All the previous can be evidenced through an example. When people expect you to do things well, to accomplish certain goal, because they believe you are capable, because they have good perceptions of you, you make your best effort to don't let them down and when you do your best is very probable that you meet your goals.