Discussion Question

Discuss your existing sources of power in your workplace, and describe any possible tactics you might use to increase your power bases

I’m torn between expert power and authority power. In my current and previous job position I supported software and was software support for the entire school district. So anytime there was a question, issue, concern or training that was needed I would be the contact person and the only one who could answer the question, resolve the issue, listen to the concern or schedule and conduct a training session. No as for authority power the data that was gathered with the software I support is reported to the state of Texas and needs to meet certain criteria. If that criteria was not being meet I would need to report back to the campus and have someone make corrections, if they did not listen or follow what I was telling the campus then they could get in serious trouble. Also, policies and procedures would need to be followed and if at any time I felt that they were not being followed I had the authority to investigate and report my findings. Tactics I used were basically building good rapport with the clerks at the campuses. If they needed my help I always tried to help out and resolve their issues in a timely manner so that later on when I needed them to do something to clean up the data they would be more willing to do it. I always tried to say on top of any new features and updated on the software that pertained to my area so that I was always able to say “Yes that’s new” or “This is a new feature that is rolling out soon”. I hated to be asked a question and not know what was going on when a college had heard something from another school district. The more I knew about my software and the more clerks I had a good working relationship with the more power I felt I had in my job position, which also applies to my current job