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Name Akshay Mehta

BCID A00966507
Assignment #2
Date of Submission 29 May 2015
Time of Submission: 5:30 am

Questions:
1. What should Burt say to Maryann about the situation with Paul? With the other staff?
A. Every action leads to an equal and opposite reaction as goes by Newton Law becomes
very much evident in Pauls situation. Paul is the lathe operator who was very
disappointed and angry at the way the downtime reporting was being handled by the plant
superintendents new assistant Maryann. Earlier Harriet, who was the previous assistant
used to enjoy analyzing these reports much with a high level of accuracy, and was
responsible for handling them. Paul before coming to Burt, the plant superintendent, tried
to tackle the situation at his own level by talking to the assistant about it, but got no
positive answer on the matter. When he tried to cross question the accuracy of the data,
Maryann retaliated with the justification that all the facts were correct and that she was in
charge of the report and knew what she was doing. Further on she told him not to bother
Burt about it, which according to Paul was an attempt to hide her mistakes since she must
have thought she made a mistake and Paul would certainly take up the matter to her boss.
Evidently before Paul came to meet Burt about this incident, the other staff had already
told him about her snobbish behavior. Everyone seems to have the opinion that she didnt
care about her job. Most of the people in the office didnt want to deal with her. People
even observed her change in behavior since she started working for Burt. About this
particular situation Paul should call Maryann for a formal meeting to understand if
Maryann is going through a difficult time or what are the obstacles being faced by her in
completing this job. He should ask her to bring in the figures, which she has analyzed,
and review them with her and Paul as well. It is very important that Burt involve both
Paul and Maryann to make sure both of them are at the same page. He should also remind
Maryann that everyone has the right to question reports which might not really fit in with
the data they have provided and its her responsibility to re-analyze or to bring it to Burts
attention rather than turning them away. He should very clearly mention her that it is her
responsibility to make sure than all the data analysis are first shown to him before
finalizing the reports since she is new at the post and it might happen that shes not able
to analyze as required. He should also ask Paul to help Maryann in understanding the
metrics better and both should work as a team rather than snubbing each other. Also as
discussed, Maryann is showing attitude problems for which Burt should caution her and
encourage her to make good rapport with other staff members as well. It is very important
for Burt to step in as her Boss and guide her to steer clear of her mistakes. At the moment
Burt needs Maryann since he doesnt have anyone else taking up the position and rather
that coaching someone else, it is better if he can train Maryann and help her correct her
mistakes and make good bonding with other staff members as well. If Maryann does
pickup after Burts coaching or guidance not only will it boost MaryAnns morale but
also it will help reestablish the efficiency, which Burt used to enjoy from his previous
assistant and it will also ensure the clients, which are very important for the company and
not left unattended. This will also help in lifting up the working relationship of other staff

with Maryann and people wouldnt hesitate in helping her if she ever needs their help,
which as of the current situation people are unwilling to offer.
2. How could Burt have prevented this dilemma?
A. A super-efficient assistant assisted Burt and recently the position was empty since the
person left for a better paying job somewhere else. This was a correct opportunity for
Burt to recognize the abilities he requires in his next assistant. According to me if he had
gone through the following points he would have prevented his present dilemma:
1. Clear Communication: Burt should have been professional and have
communicated with the new hire on his expectations. Instead on considering a third
persons recommendation he should have taken the interview himself for the position
thereby identifying the right person for that job and thereby empowering them with
the tasks that are required to be completed as per the Job description. This helps in
taking out all the ambiguity involved when a new person occupies the position and
isnt aware of his or her expectations and eventually fails as per required standards.
2. Recognized individual differences: Burt should have recognized the individual
differences required for the particular job role. This helps to get to know your staff
personally and understand them when they are having down times and push them
then. Here there is no evidence that Burt made an attempt to understand the
capabilities of Maryann and the problems being faced by her.
3. Matching people to jobs: Burts biggest hurdle seen here is to make Maryann
familiar with what is expected out of her and make her efficient in that. Maybe
Maryann wasnt ready for this position as she clearly isnt able to handle the pressure
of work. It is important that people are matched with their capabilities since in
performance leads to a sense of achievement and pride which was seem lacking here.
People then are further motivated to work harder. So it is important to hire people
who can justify to the skill set required to complete the job rather than have many
problems get accumulated because they are just not ready to handle the job pressure.
4.

Setting challenging goals: Challenging goals make people accept and commit
themselves to it and are a definite sense of motivation. Here Maryann is seen having
lack of motivation, which in turn is affecting her performance as well, causing
problems for Burt in the form of missed meetings and missed customer calls. Burt
needs to sit down with Maryann and jointly set tangible, verifiable and measurable
goals for a specific time period and then create a mechanism by which she can receive
ongoing feedback on her progress toward achieving these goals. This goal setting
process should act to motivate her or any employee Burt hires.

5. Level Playing field: All assistants to managers and superintendents should have the
same level of responsibility and designation so that there is no difference. This should
eliminate any mis-conceptions of positional power. It should also be included in the
Job description to make sure all matters are reported to the managers or
superintendents regardless of their severities so that there are no chances of any
information getting bypassed. All assistants should be made to work in some group
assignments other than their normal tasks to ensure bonding between all.

3. How can Burt get Maryann to do things he expects her to do?


A. Harriet Simons was the previous assistant of Burt Jacobs the plant Superintendent. Apart
from being super efficient, he used to take care of Burts meetings, follow up calls and
letters and also use to organize all his activities for him. He left the job for a better paying
one and was replaced by Maryann, who had apparently been highly recommended by
maintenance supervisor Chester. Unlike Harriet, Maryann turned out be less efficient and
used to forget keeping Burt updated about meetings and follow up items. This resulted in
Burt being unprepared for the meetings and saw an increase in calls from irritated
customers who always wanted to know why Burt hadnt got back to them even after
leaving call back messages with his assistant.
All these incidents highlight the lack of skillset and focus in Maryann and should be
tackled by Burt in the eight step rational way:
1. Identify the problem/Job Analysis: Burt is well experienced and should be very
well be able to judge the shortcomings of Maryann and the obstacles being faced by
her in doing her tasks, which are required of her. Burt has a benchmark which was left
by Harriet of the work to be done and expected duties and can be very well be written
in the form of a job description for a position of assistant of a plant superintendent.
Identification of a problem would also not only mean feedback from customers or
colleagues but also personal observation of Burt himself of the tasks allotted to
Maryann as part of her job role.
2. Defining the objective/Creating Job description: Burt needs to describe the
duties in detail up to the minutest detail keeping in mind Maryanns capability and
previous work track record. This is done not to demean anyone but to make sure that
all the tasks, which are expected, are actually written down in black and white and
could also serve as a criteria for a performance review. Objective doesnt only mean
that tasks be done on time or certain checkpoints but serve a guideline for dedication
and focus on the core activities which in many ways are also supporting the daily
activities a plant superintendent as well.
3. Collect relevant information: Once an objective is defined relative information is
required to be collected which can be helpful in determining factors which could
affect performance as well as which could help performance. Information could be
such as how much time is needed in a day to setup the calendar or how much time
will it take to send an email with the upcoming days tasks etc., which are the stepping
stones of many a problem being faced by Burt. This also means that Burt narrow
down certain tasks, which will be deemed urgent, and some requiring lesser priority
than other. This will be possible to judge only once information pertaining to the jobs
assigned or going to be assigned is collected and evaluated.
4. Develop alternatives: Burt needs to look into developing possible scenarios which
could be done to make sure Maryann doesnt forget setting up meetings or calendars
or informing about clients call. The alternatives should be foolproof and serve as a
backup method, decided after careful thought and taking into the capability of
Maryann and any other employees in that position. This tendency to develop
alternatives shouldnt just stop by developing a few but must keep on going with new
alternatives being developed as new tasks are being added and use of technology

should also be integrated. Burt should also looking at alternatives where he can
offload some of the work he seems is not related to Maryann and allot them to some
other person thereby providing her with more time to focus on the tasks in hand.
5. Evaluate each alternative: Each alternative developed or in the thinking process
should be evaluated for time consumed, effectiveness and efficiency and desired end
result. It should be evaluated to see that it doesnt add on to the work already been
done by Maryann and provides solution for improving efficiency and quality in the
already assigned ones. Evaluation will also make Burt aware of some of the
challenges being faced by assistants and might help in either reducing the workload or
some other technique by which it can be done faster and increase the efficiency.
6. Select the Best Alternative: After analyzing the pros and cons of each alternative,
a few good ones should be selected. The decision of selection will depend on the
comprehensive and accuracy of the information gathered, the ingenuity in developing
alternatives, the degree of risk Burt is willing to take and the quality the analysis of
the alternatives results.
7. Implement the decision: Burt should call a formal meeting with Maryann and
discuss with her the observation carried out by himself as well as by other colleagues
in the office regarding her working style, pace of work and her attitude in the office.
He should very clearly lay out the expectation on the table and give her the copy of
the job description or job role which specifies her performance expectation and
should allow her time to go through it and ask any doubts regarding to it. By doing
this Burt is eliminating all ambiguities, which might happen if Maryann is left ton her
own to read and understand. Resources identified during the other stages should be
very clearly mentioned to her and so should the alternatives be discussed too. The
point of having the meeting would to be emphasis that her performance does matter a
lot and Burt is heavily dependent on her accurate work skills to make sure that his
work is done properly. He should be very clear and precise in the other expectations,
which would be categorized as general duties. It is very important that Maryann
understand that the meeting Is neither to blame her or put her at fault but to simply
realize that every team member is important and if someone doesnt perform well
they should be coached and trained for getting the maximum performance from them.
8. Follow up and Evaluate: The last phase is the follow up process and evaluation of
the outcome of the process, which was undertaken to accomplish the desired changes
and correct the shortfalls. Evaluation typically should start right the next day so that
wherever shortfalls are observed follow-up meetings are done that very evening and
later on can be extended to weekly and then monthly as soon as improvement starts
showing. This process is very important both for Burt and Maryann as this helps in
establishing certain job duties which are expected from Maryann and help Burt
understand the job roles so that further if there are any obstacles or inefficiency is
observed it can be identified much more early and rectification can be carried out, so
as to save both time and increase customer service.

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