solution

Imagine that you are an organizational consultant for the SNHU Pet Supply Company. The director of retail operations has asked you to evaluate the reason for some of the team’s drop in productivity and make recommendations for their improvement. Further conversations with the team members and managers reveal a conflict in the way productivity and efficiency is being measured and handled.

The team members say that their managers micromanage them. Each week, the managers send out a task list for the team and expect them to fill out detailed timesheets every day to cross-reference the task list. Any deviations from the list must be explained in a separate email. Moreover, some team members feel their skill sets are not being used correctly, and that they would be better suited to do tasks that are not being assigned to them. This has led to some resentment within the team, not to mention high levels of stress to meet the managers’ demands.

The managers maintain that they have just been following the process that’s been set out for years in the company. The many unresolved issues are taking a toll on the team’s productivity and efficiency, which then feeds back into the conflict, creating a vicious circle.

Prompt

Write a brief report to the director of retail operations that explains the management skills and practices you feel will improve team productivity and efficiency, using the module reading to support your recommendations.

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:

• Overview: Provide a brief overview of the problem you have been asked to resolve, making sure to note specific areas of conflict between management approaches and employee feedback based on the provided scenario.
• Management Approaches: Describe the general functions of management as well as the purpose and benefits of using established management skills and practices, making sure to use course resources to support your explanation.
• Recommendations: Recommend a new management approach, consisting of a blend of management skills and practices, that you believe will help improve the team’s productivity and efficiency. Explain why you believe these approaches will be effective, and make sure to use course resources to support your recommendations.