Case Study: The Reluctant Workers

Tim Aston had changed employers three months earlier. His new position as

project manager. At first, he had stars in his eyes about becoming the best project

manager his company had ever seen. Now he wasn’t sure if project management

was worth the effort. He made an appointment to see Phil Davies, director of

project management.

Tim Aston: “Phil, I’m a little unhappy about the way things are going. I just

can’t seem to motivate my people. Every day, at 4:30 p.m., all of my people clean

off their desks and go home. I’ve had people walk out of late-afternoon team

meetings because they were afraid that they’d miss their car pool. I have to schedule

morning team meetings.”

Phil Davies: “Look, Tim. You’re going to have to realize that in a project

environment, people think that they come first and the project is second. This is a

way of life in our organizational form.”

Tim Aston: “I’ve continually asked my people to come to me if they have

problems. I find that people do not think that they need help and, therefore, do

not want it. I just can’t get my people to communicate more.”

Phil Davies: “The average age of our employees is about 46 years old. Most of our people

have been here for 20 years. They’re set in their ways. You’re the first person

that we’ve hired in the past three years. Some of our people may just resent seeing

a 30-year-old project manager.”

Tim Aston: “I found one guy in the accounting department who has an excellent

head on his shoulders. He’s very interested in project management. I asked

his boss if he’d release him for a position in project management, and his boss just

laughed at me, saying something to the effect that as long as that guy is doing a

good job for him, he’ll never be released for an assignment elsewhere in the company.

His boss seems more worried about his personal empire than he does about

what’s best for the company.

“We had a test scheduled for last week. The customer’s top management was

planning on flying in for firsthand observations. Two of my people said that they

had scheduled vacation days coming and that they would not change under any

conditions. One guy was going fishing and the other guy was planning to spend

a few days working with fatherless children in our community. Surely these guys

could change their plans for the test.”

Phil Davies: “Many of our people have social responsibilities and outside

interests. We encourage social responsibilities and only hope that the outside

interests do not interfere with their jobs.

“There’s one thing you should understand about our people. With an average

age of 46, many of our people are at the top of their pay grades and have no

place to go. They must look elsewhere for interests. These are the people you

have to work with and motivate. Perhaps you should do some reading on human

behavior.”

Questions

1- Summarize the case

2- How has Tim Aston handled these situations?

3- Can the company help Tim?

4- What are your suggested solutions?