The Groupware Fiasco
Group Presentation: Groupware Fiasco
B.C.
Polk State College
Abstract
The Groupware fiasco begins with a struggling human sciences and humanities department at a university that has just experienced radical changes. The dean of the HSH division, Dr. Susan Pollard, enlists Dr. Eve Gordon to increase the efficiency of the division in her absence and decides the division’s secretaries - suffering from poor communication, gossip and animosity about unfair workloads - will complete a Groupware project to improve the situation. This paper analyzes factors that contributed to conflict; examines the pros and cons associated with group decision-making and; discusses whether Groupware was successful or not, how laissez-faire leadership can lead to dysfunctional behavior and how to manage stress in the workplace.
Group Presentation: Groupware Fiasco
Group work and brainstorming has led to many brilliant advances in today’s business world but group work doesn’t always “work.” Poor management and egos coupled with unclear objectives, lead to disaster and conflict - the Groupware fiasco is a perfect example of this phenomenon.
Several factors contributed to the conflict among staff at the HSH division office. Recent structural changes shocked and discombobulated employees and also made Dr. Eve Gordon leery of making changes or “rocking the boat” when she took over her position. Secretaries seemed to have blurred job descriptions, which allowed efficient workers to be over loaded, and less efficient workers to slack since their work was pawned onto those already at max capacity to “keep the peace.” Open lines of communication didn’t seem to exist which caused anger to fester and denied managers the benefit of employee complaints and input that would have allowed for problems to be addressed. This type of communication breakdown caused characteristic problems including the creation of
B.C.
Polk State College
Abstract
The Groupware fiasco begins with a struggling human sciences and humanities department at a university that has just experienced radical changes. The dean of the HSH division, Dr. Susan Pollard, enlists Dr. Eve Gordon to increase the efficiency of the division in her absence and decides the division’s secretaries - suffering from poor communication, gossip and animosity about unfair workloads - will complete a Groupware project to improve the situation. This paper analyzes factors that contributed to conflict; examines the pros and cons associated with group decision-making and; discusses whether Groupware was successful or not, how laissez-faire leadership can lead to dysfunctional behavior and how to manage stress in the workplace.
Group Presentation: Groupware Fiasco
Group work and brainstorming has led to many brilliant advances in today’s business world but group work doesn’t always “work.” Poor management and egos coupled with unclear objectives, lead to disaster and conflict - the Groupware fiasco is a perfect example of this phenomenon.
Several factors contributed to the conflict among staff at the HSH division office. Recent structural changes shocked and discombobulated employees and also made Dr. Eve Gordon leery of making changes or “rocking the boat” when she took over her position. Secretaries seemed to have blurred job descriptions, which allowed efficient workers to be over loaded, and less efficient workers to slack since their work was pawned onto those already at max capacity to “keep the peace.” Open lines of communication didn’t seem to exist which caused anger to fester and denied managers the benefit of employee complaints and input that would have allowed for problems to be addressed. This type of communication breakdown caused characteristic problems including the creation of
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