The Reluctant Workers - Research Paper Example

The Reluctant Workers Inserts Inserts his/her Table of Contents I. Identify and analyze three of the core skills that were at play in the case of the reluctant workers, referencing the ten skills described in Chapter 4. 3 II. Analyze the way in which Tim Aston, the young project manager, was exercising his skills with respect to his project staff and the functional managers. Discuss Tim Aston's effectiveness in light of the three core skills you identified. 3 III. Analyze the degree of support Tim was provided by his company: What kind of support did Tim require, and to what extent did he receive it? 4 IV. Make recommendations to both the senior executives (the company) and Tim Aston, relative to personnel motivation and resource allocation, etc.

, in order for Tim to be an effective project manager. 5 V. References 7 I. Identify and analyze three of the core skills that were at play in the case of the reluctant workers, referencing the ten skills described in Chapter 4. Three of the ten core skills at play were teambuilding, leadership and organization (Kerzner, 2009). The case depicts that teambuilding skills were required on Tim’s part in order to unite his team members in a common direction towards a common goal that transcends each individual’s personal goals (such as vacations, not missing out on car pooling).

The project manager’s task was to ensure commitment from various functional units towards the project and break the traditional lines of hierarchy by organizing people along a matrix structure, cutting across various departments (Crawford, Pollack, & England, 2006). Leadership skills were just as important as the project manager would have to present himself as the role model for his employees and always be in high spirits to uphold the confidence of his team and motivate it sufficiently towards the project’s goal (Kerzner, 2009).

Finally, organization skills were equally important in this case as the project manager would be required to possess a deep understanding of the organization and its culture, its structure as well as the way of working (Kerzner, 2009). This would enable the project manager to understand the psychology of his teammates and tackle them accordingly. II. Analyze the way in which Tim Aston, the young project manager, was exercising his skills with respect to his project staff and the functional managers.

Discuss Tim Aston's effectiveness in light of the three core skills you identified. As mentioned in the first part, the first skill at play was that of team building; Tim was unable to have people voice their concerns to him and was unable to ensure open communication on the part of his team members which is the building block of team building skills. He lacked the ability to motivate his employees; hence, he lacked strong interpersonal skills. The second skill was that of leadership; Tim continually faced the problem of getting his team united to work towards one direction- that of executing the project.

He was unable to unify his team mates towards a single goal- that of project management. Various leadership traits have been identified by theorists including charisma, assertiveness, task competence, decisiveness (Northouse, 2009). Applied to Tim, the personality traits that he lacked were the charisma and personality to motivate and convince the employees to work on a single platform for the project. Finally, the third skill was that of organization; Tim was unable to organize the people towards project management.

It seemed that each individual was adamant at pursuing his/her individual goals, thus, Tim lacked the skill to organize people in a team. He also lacked a thorough understanding of the organization and its goals. He lacked an understanding of how the company worked, its culture and the nature of its workers because of which he found it difficult to delve into their psychology and tackle them accordingly. III. Analyze the degree of support Tim was provided by his company: What kind of support did Tim require, and to what extent did he receive it?

From the case it can be inferred that Tim was not ideally provided with the support he ought to be. The organizational culture was rather rigid and has its roots in the approach of the top management as is evident by Phil’s responses. It seems like a one-way effort with the entire responsibility placed on Tim’s shoulders. Perhaps, Phil was encouraging Tim to delve deep into the psychology of the company’s employees and put himself in their shoes in order to tackle them in a better way (Kerzner, 2009).

However, it was perhaps difficult to expect that from Tim because of the age differential or a generation gap that existed between Tim and the rest of the employees. Furthermore, the company’s corporate culture seems to be inflexible and flow along traditional lines and that is not surprising considering the ageing workforce. In order to successfully manage the project, Tim required greater co operation from his employer; he required a soft HRM approach- an approach whereby his employer should’ve made an effort to reconcile both ends (Tim and the employees) rather than shouldering the entire responsibility on Tim.

The inflexibility and rigidity emerging from the top management was a major stumbling block in the development of Tim’s morale which would ultimately translate to the team’s morale. Also, a lot of sweeping statements were made by Phil; explaining human behavior was not enough, he ought to have given a clear, well defined roadmap for countering the issues Tim was facing or, at the least, he could have called a meeting whereby open communication was encouraged amongst Tim and the rest. It was important for the entire company, including the functional heads, to have top management directions and support with respect to the project (Kerzner, 2009).

Phil’s word would have made a lot of difference in this case, and would have created higher chances of co operation by functional heads as well. IV. Make recommendations to both the senior executives (the company) and Tim Aston, relative to personnel motivation and resource allocation, etc., in order for Tim to be an effective project manager. After having analyzed the case, it is evident that Tim lacked the basic management traits of organizing and perhaps, controlling. Thus, it maybe suggested that Tim embarks on an open communication policy with his teammates.

Talking to Phil was a wise move; however, he should voice his concerns to the employees as well via a meeting. This would involve getting all functional heads on board, explaining them the aims of the project and the resulting rewards. The rewards from the project must be sufficient enough to compensate for the change in ways of working that would result. Thus, the ageing workers ought to be compensated adequately for them to participate in the project and sacrifice their vacation. This would involve top management support and would require careful resource allocation and budgeting.

But before anything, it is quintessential to get top management on board. Furthermore, it seems that Tim has given up too easily; he ought to be resilient because a project has its ups and downs and he ought to have the conviction to uphold the trust and confidence of his teammates. It also seems that people do not trust Tim with their problems; a policy of voicing grievances anonymously may be considered if people are hesitant to do so personally. V. References Crawford, L., Pollack, J., & England, D. (2006). Uncovering the trends in project management: Journal emphases over the last 10 years.

International Journal of Project Management , 175-184. Kerzner, H. (2009). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Northouse, P. G. (2009). Leadership: Theory and Practice . London: Sage Publications.