Background
Ten years ago, you started working as a clerk for DMD
Medical Supplies. Six months ago, Liz Jakowski, the human
resources director, promoted you to office manager. You
manage two employees: Jack Snyder and Ruth Disselkoen.
Your office provides secretarial support for the four members
of the executive team. Two years ago, Liz had assigned Jack
to support Ralph Alane and Jessica Hilo. Ruth was assigned
to Samuel Daley and Frank Daley. The work flow was
equally balanced.
You’ve noticed that in the last three months Ruth has cut her
breaks short to complete her work, complains of being tired,
and at least twice a month requires overtime hours costing
the company an additional $200 a month. In the last three
weeks, Frank Daley has complained to you a few times about
the poor quality of Ruth’s work.
On the other hand, over the last three months, Jack frequently
seems to have little to do. He has begun coming in late a
couple times a week and taking more than the allotted break
times. What work he does have, however, is always professionally completed.
Clearly, you must investigate to determine what is causing
this change and how to improve the situation. Since nothing
has changed in the personal lives of either Jack or Ruth, you
conclude you must focus on the in-office work situation. You
learn the following facts:
• Samuel and Frank Daley share a part-time administrative
assistant who works only 15 hours a week.
• Ralph Alane and Jessica Hilo share a full-time administrative
assistant.
• Jessica Hilo has been on medical leave for the last four
months, and Liz Jakowski isn’t sure whether Jessica will
be able to return to work.
• Jessica’s duties have been temporarily reassigned to
Ralph and Frank.
Although you don’t have the authority to change the work
assignments of the two administrative assistants or the
executive team, you clearly need to change your office
assignments so that both Jack and Ruth work regularly
without requiring overtime.
Process
1. The background explains the primary cause of the workflow
problem and the negative effects resulting from it.
Your task is to make up a realistic plan which solves
the uneven productivity between Jack and Ruth. Use
prewriting tools like brainstorming, cluster or webbing
diagrams, and freewriting to outline the cause-effect
situation and to develop a specific solution that best
solves the problem. Also ask yourself the following
questions to expand your prewriting.
• How long has this situation been going on?
• Why did the problems begin when they did?
• Am I able to solve the problem at its root cause or
am I only able to manage the impact of the problem?
• Is this a temporary or permanent problem?
• How has the company been affected?
• How have the employees been affected?
• What’s in my power to change? What must stay the same?
• What are two or three ways to improve the efficiency of
my office?
• How much work, time, and money would be required to
implement each solution?
• Does each solution stop all the negative effects?
• Are there any benefits to the change beyond stopping
what is occurring?
• How exactly would each change affect Jack, Ruth, and
the executive team?
• What would I have to do to make sure each change goes
through as planned and to monitor the situation once
the solution is in place?
2. From your prewriting, develop the single best solution to the
situation described in the background. Obviously, you won’t
be able to use everything you’ve prewritten, so your first step
is to choose what’s most important for the purpose and
audience. As you outline a solution, you may need to make
up more specific details that define the steps of the plan and
describe particular benefits of the plan.
3. Next, sort your details and information about the problem and
the plan into one of the two sections given below. Don’t
worry about complete sentences for this sorting stage; merely
list the information under the appropriate section. Use
information from both the background and your prewriting.
Section 1
• Facts and figures that define the problem (the cause)
• Details that show the impact of the problem (effects) on
Jack, Ruth, and the company
Section 2
• The steps needed to change the situation
• Reason to implement each step, including the benefits
to your employees, your supervisor, and the company
• Information about your role in the change
This is what I have:
For the past three months work-related problems have occurred, causing conflicts between co-workers. The ongoing problems require attention, so we can better assist our daily clients.
The in-office situation came about a month after Jessica Hilo took a medical leave. During this time, Ralph and Frank were temporarily reassigned her duties, resulting in an unequally balanced work flow. Frank has complained about Ruth’s poor quality in work, and I have noticed that she is working overtime at least twice a month, which costs the company additional money. On the other hand, Jack frequently has little work to do, but always completes his work professionally. Ralph has an assistant that works full-time, and Frank’s assistant only works fifteen hours a week.
To be successful the company needs teamwork. I do not feel that the co-workers are performing daily office tasks as well as they can and would like to offer some suggestions. First, I feel we should equally balance the work flow. Instead of reassigning Jessica’s work to Ralph and Frank, let Jack, Ralph, and the full time assistant temporarily take up the slack. When it is determined that Jessica isn’t coming back to work; hire someone to take her place.
Good plan! It's always a "sensitive" issue to discuss work habits with an employee. Of course, it must be done on a "one to one" basis, being sure to STRESS any positive features. No one likes to hear criticism so you have to "sneak" that in, being obvious about helping to strengthen the person's work habits. In the economic condition of today's world, there are MANY employees seeking jobs. Anyone with a job should be aware of the quality (and quantity) of work being produced. It's all too clear that without improvement, that employee is out of work!
Sra
hi marie
i'm having a hard time with the same assignment. were u able to do it? how did u do it?
thanks
You know his answer pretty much just restated the situation.
To find the solution to the workflow problem between Jack and Ruth, it is important to follow a systematic approach. Here is a step-by-step guide to developing a plan that addresses the issue:
Step 1: Define the problem and its impact
- Identify the facts and figures that describe the cause of the problem, such as the temporary reassignment of Jessica's duties and the unequal work distribution between Jack and Ruth.
- List the details that highlight the effects of the problem on Jack, Ruth, and the company, like Ruth taking shorter breaks, working overtime, and Frank complaining about the quality of her work.
Step 2: Determine the root cause and the nature of the problem
- Analyze how long the situation has been going on to understand its duration and severity.
- Evaluate why the problems started when Jessica took her medical leave and her workload was temporarily reassigned.
- Consider if the problem can be solved at its root cause or if it can only be managed to minimize the impact.
- Assess if the problem is temporary or permanent.
Step 3: Identify what can be changed and what must remain the same
- Determine what aspects of the work assignments and responsibilities can be modified.
- Recognize any limitations, such as the fixed roles of the administrative assistants and executive team members that cannot be altered.
Step 4: Brainstorm ways to improve office efficiency
- Generate two or three potential solutions to address the workflow imbalance.
- Evaluate the feasibility of each solution in terms of the required work, time, and financial resources to implement them.
- Consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of each solution, including how they will stop the negative effects and improve the overall situation.
- Take into account the specific impact of each change on Jack, Ruth, and the executive team members.
Step 5: Choose the best solution
- Select the solution that appears most effective and practical based on the information gathered during the prewriting process.
- Develop a detailed plan that outlines the specific steps needed to implement the chosen solution.
- Describe the reasons behind each step and the benefits it will bring to employees, the supervisor, and the company.
- Determine your role in implementing the solution and how you will monitor the situation once the changes are implemented.
In this case, the suggested solution is to balance the workload by temporarily assigning Jessica's work to Jack, Ralph, and the full-time assistant. It is also recommended to hire someone to permanently take Jessica's place if she is not returning to work. This solution ensures an equal distribution of tasks and addresses the issues of overwork and low work as experienced by Ruth and Jack, respectively.