PROJ430 Week 4 Checkpoint Solution
The Reluctant Workers (Chapter 6, Page 294)
Case Study Questions:
1 Tim Aston had a normal expectation to be the "best project manager" in his new assignment. What seems to have caused him to change his outlook?
Answer – Tim Aston had joined the company with a lot of motivation and ambition and had confidence in his ability to delivery what was expected from a project manager’s role. However, over a period of time he found out that he was not able to motivate or convince his project team to work in the best interests of the project, and found that his views and requests were not being met in a very positive way by the employees. Various initiatives that he was trying to implement and suggestions he was making for improvement were being turned down and not being taken up by the team or his colleagues. Due to all these reasons his motivation levels dipped causing him to change his outlook about being the best project manager.
2 What approaches would you take to improve communications between Tim and the team members?
Answer – Given that Tim is a new employee, he is almost considered as an outsider in the company, where people have been working for a long time and in a particular manner they are used to. Most of the employees are much older and a lot more experienced than him, and probably in senior positions, due to which they would not want to be ordered or told what to do by Tim. The first thing that Tim should do is to gain the confidence, respect and trust of his team members by showing that he is knowledgeable, professional and a good person. This relationship building would ensure that he is able to make healthy working relationships with his team. Post this, he should engage in a very democratic, open and participative style of management, where he includes the team, engages with them and involves them in major decision making for the project. This would help the team become involved in the project, see that they are working in a team, accept Tim as one of
Case Study Questions:
1 Tim Aston had a normal expectation to be the "best project manager" in his new assignment. What seems to have caused him to change his outlook?
Answer – Tim Aston had joined the company with a lot of motivation and ambition and had confidence in his ability to delivery what was expected from a project manager’s role. However, over a period of time he found out that he was not able to motivate or convince his project team to work in the best interests of the project, and found that his views and requests were not being met in a very positive way by the employees. Various initiatives that he was trying to implement and suggestions he was making for improvement were being turned down and not being taken up by the team or his colleagues. Due to all these reasons his motivation levels dipped causing him to change his outlook about being the best project manager.
2 What approaches would you take to improve communications between Tim and the team members?
Answer – Given that Tim is a new employee, he is almost considered as an outsider in the company, where people have been working for a long time and in a particular manner they are used to. Most of the employees are much older and a lot more experienced than him, and probably in senior positions, due to which they would not want to be ordered or told what to do by Tim. The first thing that Tim should do is to gain the confidence, respect and trust of his team members by showing that he is knowledgeable, professional and a good person. This relationship building would ensure that he is able to make healthy working relationships with his team. Post this, he should engage in a very democratic, open and participative style of management, where he includes the team, engages with them and involves them in major decision making for the project. This would help the team become involved in the project, see that they are working in a team, accept Tim as one of