Technical Services Managers Meeting
June 4, 1998, 1:00-2:00 p.m.
CASE STUDIES
"Stove side chats" for the Technical Services Managers
Please review and discuss in your small group one of these cases for 20 minutes and then tell all of us what action steps you recommend.
One of you will need to be the spokesperson for the small group.
1. Harassing electronically.
You are the supervisor of a small project team, one that works in close proximity. This has been a good group, but one of the newest members is now behaving in disconcerting ways. Since he discovered that you are a first generation American whose family was lost in the Holocaust during the Second World War in Germany, he appears to be displaying what are anti-Semitic traits. Most recently, he has been Net "surfing" during his work break and leaving his computer terminal linked to one of a few Nazi or anti-Holocaust sites. You can see his monitor very easily from where you sit and, given your family history, these are not only hurtful but stress inducing. You have asked that he not leave these pages on display but he persists in doing so. Today's WEB site is a "skin head" one decorated with swastikas and a picture of Hitler. What do you do next?
2. Let me help you OUT (the door)!
One of the library's staff (outside of your work unit) has taken an "active interest" in the disability of a staff member you supervise. The disability is a progressive degenerative condition that needs some accommodation, most recently a computer terminal that allows for large print for reading. In spite of his condition, he is a productive staff member.
The active interest of the other staff member is hardly out of kindness; rather it takes the form of unsolicited advice and comments about taking disability leave, etc. You have spoken once to the advice giver and they deny they have said anything untoward.
Today, the person with the free advice has left a leaflet on the other worker's desk about counseling services available for anyone with a disability . What do you do?
3. Turning the other cheek?
Two staff have a long history of difficult relationships. Most recently, in the course of an open meeting, Y alluded to the fact that the work X does is not necessary and that X's position should be eliminated, freeing up money for salary bonuses for hard working staff like Y.
After the meeting, X expressed her feelings to Y, saying that she would like to better understand Y's position and why he said what he did. Y says he has nothing to say and walks away. X, feeling dumped on even more, follows Y and demands an explanation. Y continues walking while X continues questioning. Eventually, the situation boils over into shouting much to the consternation of a dozen other staff in the area. X comes to see you, her supervisor and begins to complain bitterly about Y and the most recent altercation. What advice do you have for X?
July 9, 1998
One of your unit's staff (Joe) has realized, at long last, a much desired reclassification of his position to a higher level. You are pleased with this, since you had been supportive of Joe's request for a reclassification, and had even encouraged it because Joe was handling new and more complicated responsibilities over the last two years.
It is an organizational understanding that individual staff are to be classified (and paid) at the true level of their responsibilities. Given the changes in Joe's job description, most requiring a high level of technological savvy, a reclass was in order.
When you announce Joe's reclass at one of your regularly scheduled meetings with the 6 staff in your unit, you are surprised by the low-key response to Joe's good fortune. Your surprise turns to dismay, when 3 individual members come to you and complain bitterly in private that Joe is not deserving of the reclass, nor does his work differ that much from what others are doing in the unit. It is, they are convinced, unfair for one to be singled out for advancement, etc.
Joe talks with you in private and says he is now getting the cold shoulder from his colleagues and wishes he had never gotten the reclass!
You are the supervisor, what do you do?
* Coastal Tar Heels will tell you that a crab that just might get over the top of the bucket to freedom is inevitably pulled back by those crabs lower down in the bucket.
Duke University Library Technical Services
Bravo! You've posted yet another record year in your area of processing. The 9-member team has used its resources and technology quite well, improving on turn around times, and reducing errors and backlogs. When you compare notes on work loads with your colleagues at other institutions, you get the impression that your staff is doing much better than average.
Over a five year time span, your team has kept getting better and better in all of the important categories and invariably exceeds the goals you and they set together for the team each year.
However, you are not home free as a manager. Two (Harry and Mary) of your team are sub-standard performers. When you look at the average monthly productivity of the team , Harry and Mary are well below, almost a third off the average. It is true that some of the work they do is specialized, but it is not enough to cause that large a difference. They do spend more time than most on outside activities, however, and this may have an impact.
You meet annually with each member of the team and go over their performance and look at their expectations for next year and to hear their assessment of the past year. While you pride yourself on giving regular and steady feedback throughout the year, at the annual meeting you give them extensive feedback about how you think they are doing, in what areas they excel and in what areas there is need for growth and training.
Some of the team can be characterized as self-starting, super achievers, they work at double or more the unstated "standard", pulling up the average, and in doing so, often suggest ways to streamline the work flow. That benefits the other team members. They are not work-aholics, rather they are remarkable for their ability to focus on what needs doing and to work "smart".
Your individual talks with Mary and Harry about their sub-standard productivity results in your being assured by each that they will try harder and become more productive. However, you note that circumstances always marshall against their doing much more than in previous years. They continue at well below the productivity average.
You wonder if setting up numeric individual goals might not be what is needed to raise the sub standard performance. When you talk with Harry and Mary they both balk at the idea, stating that no one else has quotas and why should they be singled out - if they are the only ones with a quota "that is not fair". You are less concerned about Mary's and Harry's feelings on this, but you are worried about how quotas might be interpreted by the productive team members.
Answer these questions:
Page Author:Margaret Wainwright
Last Update: October 27, 1998
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