50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

224

Case 43 (continued)

Case Discussion:

Fixing Things Over Dinner

Summary

Wendy Miller supervised the Advertising section of the Marketing Department for Heritage

Valley Insurance. About one year ago, Wendy hired Melissa Wolff, 24, for the secretarial job in

the department. Melissa proved to be a very reliable employee, and Wendy and Melissa became

personally close. Wendy did not want to supervise in a dictatorial fashion and allowed her four

employees to work in their own way without close observation.

Melissa started spending quite a bit of time with Deborah McBride, an employee about

Melissa’s age, but who worked in another department. They lived in the same apartment complex

and often commuted to work together. Soon, Deborah was spending a lot of time visiting Melissa

and talking with her over the phone. Melissa’s timely work production began to slide and others

in the department were interrupted by the visits.

Wendy hoped that this bustle of activity would calm down while she was on vacation. How-

ever, when she returned, she found that Melissa and Deborah were visiting more than ever. After

one such visit, Wendy requested that Melissa ask Deborah not to come into their office so much.

Melissa returned to her desk, but after she started slamming things, Wendy told her to come back

into the office. A shouting match ensued, in which Melissa defended her phone conversations

with Deborah and accused Wendy of spending plenty of personal time on the phone herself. In a

parting shot, Melissa threatened to monitor Wendy’s personal calls. After that confrontation,

Melissa acted very coolly toward Wendy. Then today, Deborah came into Wendy’s office and

also argued with her about what happened.

Wendy explained the events to her husband over dinner. Her husband asked her three ques-

tions, which are the basis for this assignment.

Answers to Case Questions

1. How well did Wendy handle the initial conversation with Melissa, in which she requested

that Deborah not come into the office so often? How should she have conducted the

discussion?

Wendy could have handled the discussion much better. Wendy was trying to downplay he

r

irritation and minimize the problem, but did so in too offhanded a manner. It clearly was an

approach that did not produce desired results.

Some preliminary comments would be in order. For example, there should be some notice in

the firm’s orientation program or in Wendy’s orientation process that notes limits on personal

calls and visits. This is a standard of performance that should be established.

Also, Wendy probably should not have waited as long as she did to act. Whether she shoul

d

have spoken with Deborah privately or with Melissa present—or at all—is a judgment call.

Since Deborah is not one of her employees, Wendy could not “order” her behavior. However,

as supervisor of her area, she can control access to it and use of it for nonbusiness reasons.

During the meeting, Wendy should have made the following points: