Case Study:

'Sam's Decision' Sam was not feeling on top of things at work but had to call this team meeting. The day had been crammed with meetings and the only time possible was 5pm. It would be knocking off time for some of the team, but the need to get this project started meant the meeting would need to occur today. Walking into the room the banter that could be heard down the hallway seemed to come to an abrupt end. A sudden feeling of dread and a reminder of succumbing to bullying antics at school came to mind. All five members of the team were present and they sat the furthest end of the meeting room, Sam could tell this was going to be another uphill battle. This particular group was the hardest to work with. Becoming the manager last year should have been a career high point, instead it had been nothing but push-back, the passive aggressive type. Nothing was ever addressed directly, all the negative talk happened in the corridor or around the photocopier. Entering the meeting room Sam tripped over one of the chairs parked in the doorway and tried to make light of the time of day to draw attention away from feeling such dread. ‘This new project required action and now’, Sam noted. Chris the Executive Manager had already laid down the rules – ‘this is a major client, major opportunity with major rewards for the business’. ‘Make it happen Sam’, were Chris’s departing remarks when they met the previous afternoon, there was to be no excuse with missing the deadline. Sam told the team about the project and the deadlines and asked for volunteers for the work. ‘The work would be challenging and high profile’ said Sam. That was meant to make the work irresistible to the team. It didn’t, there was silence, no one said anything and no-one volunteered. Sam looked around the room, Anne straightened her back and said she was already overloaded with Megan on maternity leave; Peter who had recently been knocked back on a transfer out of the team said he was also about to go on annual leave and shrugged that there was no point him working on the project. As Sam looked around the room, the next response came from Felicity; she had been called in to meet with Chris the Executive Manager over a week ago for inappropriately addressing a client. She was still furious about what she saw as a breach of natural justice and she was determined not be helpful in this instance. Sam was sure at least Abdullah would agree to take on the project but he too was silent. The new recruit to the team was Deborah, but she just looked nervous and refused to make eye contact. The meeting was a disaster. Sam could feel the meeting slipping away without any volunteers or agreement on how to proceed. A sense of fury was welling up inside. Sam felt that the only option was to close the meeting; it was already 6 o’clock. Chris would not be pleased to hear that that the only way the project could be completed would be for Sam to do it or risk forgoing a lucrative project. Sam returned to the office to find another string of emails with unfinished work.

What advice will you give to Sam? Adress the concepts of

Workplace Context: Large Multi-national

Management Style: Micro-manager

Workplace issue: Conflict

Write 375 words to answer the question.