Knowing how to discipline employees who behave inappropriately is an important managerial skill. The trick is to change the bad behavior into good behavior permanently, getting people to accept their mistakes and understand how to correct them. As you might imagine, this is often far more difficult than it sounds. After all, people are generally reluctant to admit their errors, and may have developed bad work habits that must be overcome. In addition, they tend to resist being chastised and don’t like listening to criticism. With this in mind, disciplining others represents quite a challenge for managers, making it a skill worth developing.

Questions for Discussion

1. Did the supervisor, Barry B., define the problem in a nonthreatening way?
2. Did each party listen to the other, or did they shut each other out, merely explaining their own sides of the story?
3. Did Barry B. suggest specific things that Andy F. could do to improve? Were the specific punishments associated with future bad acts spelled out explicitly?
4. Were the discussions impersonal in nature, or did the parties focus on each other’s personalities?
5. Considering all these questions, which supervisor would you say did a better job of administering discipline? What could be done to improve the way each supervisor conducted the disciplinary meeting?

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Directions 1. Select four students from the class and divide them into two pairs. One person from each pair should read only the role sheet for Andy F., machine operator, and the other person from each pair should read only the role sheet for Barry B., his supervisor. Send both pairs outside the room until called on. 2. Members of the class will serve as observers and should read both role sheets. 3. Call in the first pair of role players and ask them to spend about 10 to 15 minutes playing their roles that is, acting as they would if they were the characters about whom they just read in the role sheets. They should feel free to assume any additional facts not described in these sheets.