Analyze the case below as a team and use the Worksheet template to complete your analysis. Submit to this folder at the end of class.

Mini-Case 2: Motivation, Power and Influence

With the turnover on her team, Sandra has a new team member on secondment from another area of Hawkley University. Sul is the interim Director of Operations for the department and has a significant finance, IT and project management background. Sul was interested in this role to broaden his knowledge of the University, to have the opportunity to work collaboratively with a cross-functional team and to make an impact in improving fundraising and alumni engagement.

Sul has worked very diligently to learn the unique systems and processes in his new department and is engaging his colleagues in discovering problems and collaboratively working on solutions. Although there is no clear strategy or goals in the department, Sul has already implemented improvements in his first 6 months. Despite Sul's attempts to clarify expectations with Sandra, she has now cancelled two meetings that he has initiated to set some goals.

Following an Executive meeting with her President and other VPs, Sandra calls Sul into her office. After 90 minutes, Sul leaves looking shocked and deflated. He has just been assigned a large project on top of his already full workload. This project seems ill-conceived and it does not excite him at all. Sul was not engaged in defining the goals and timelines and he feels that they are completely unattainable. Sandra was not willing to listen to his concerns and was of the perspective that he has lots of capacity. In her mind, he has been focusing on the wrong things and has wondered what he is keeping busy with all this time.

Sandra thought he would be excited for this project and surprised at his response. She was wondering perhaps if she should offer him a project bonus if he achieves the goals in the timelines that she and her executive team set. At the end of the day, they are the leaders of the organization and their directive should be accepted. If the idea of the bonus won't convince Sul then perhaps a poor performance rating will convince him to change his attitude.

In the meantime, Sul is regretting his decision to accept this secondment. In his previous department, he was compensated at the same rate with very little stress, clear goals and feedback from his previous VP. That VP would never arbitrarily assign a massive project like this. Now he has even more work and stress at the same compensation rate. He wonders if he should arrange an offsite lunch meeting with his former VP to share his concerns with Sandra's behaviour. Perhaps his former VP can influence through the President or maybe he will be willing to take Sul back on his team so that he can avoid this mess.