Managers As Mentors, 3rd Edition

A Drama in Four Steps

Now let’s put the steps together in a role play to illustrate the tone and technique of advice giving. Billy is a new reservations clerk for Mayday Airlines; Kay is his section leader. Mayday has just installed a new reservation system. Some of the features are similar to the old system on which Billy was an expert. Some of the steps can be done several ways. Kay has observed that Billy follows a mass-pull-sort approach on the new system, as he did on the old. She believes Billy’s efficiency would improve if he used a pull-mass-spread-sort approach.

Kay: “Billy, I’ve been impressed with your work. I’ve also noticed that your pace seems to slow when you use the mass-pull-sort approach.”

Billy: “Yes, I must admit I find doing ...