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Growing Managers:

Moving from Team Members to Team Leaders

By Brenda Ellington-Booth and

Karen L. Cates

MADM 701: Organizational Behavior

Group 10

John Doe and Jane Doe

A.Executive Summary 2

B. Case Summary 2

C.Major Issues 5

D.Analysis of Major Issues 6

i.Figure 1: Big Five Personality Dimensions of Team Members 8

E.Action Alternatives 12

F.Analysis of Alternatives 14

G. Recommendations 16

H. Implementation of Issues 17

Reference List 20

i.Appendix A: Case KEL629 21

ii.Appendix B: Reducing the Impact of Language Barriers 22

iii.Appendix C: Additional research from the 13th edition of “Organizational Behavior” 23

1. Executive Summary

This report provides an examination, analysis, and suggestion to specific problems and plausible resolutions to the issues that arose between Melissa Richardson and her sales team at ColorTech Greenhouses Inc. in the case, Growing Managers: Moving from Team Members to Team Leaders. The main research pulls information from the case Growing Managers, in addition to tools and concepts from the 13th ed. of Organizational Behavior, to assist in justifying the stated interpretations enclosed. Other outside resources were sought to examine the issues and suggest the resolutions in a deeper manner. Described in this report is a brief summary of the case stating its facts followed by full case analysis touching on the major issues, analysis of major issues, action alternatives, analysis of action alternatives, recommendations, and implementation issues. The main areas of weakness being personality issues, lack of managerial skills, and a misguided team. The recommendations discussed include: further training, motivation techniques, and reinforcement methods.

1. Case Summary

The case, Growing Managers: Moving from Team Member to Team Leader, by Brenda Ellington-Booth and Karen L. Cates exposed three major flaws: Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities, Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills, and Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations. Melissa Richardson was a dedicated and productive salesperson for ColorTech Greenhouses, Inc., a fresh flower distributor, in their Chicago location. Her regional sales manager recognized her high quality of salesmanship and promoted her to the southwest sales manager position in the Phoenix, AZ. Richardson was initially excited to experience new opportunities in her career and accepted the promotion. Following a brief managerial training, Richardson found the legal issues of human resources tricky to comprehend. Nevertheless, she read leadership books and felt confident in her ability to motivate a team. The Phoenix office has a strong Spanish culture, so Richardson tried to enhance her Spanish speaking skills on the ride down by listening to audio tapes.

Prior to Richardson’s first day, she studied her team’s individual performances. She planned to give an introduction to her new employees and get to know each of them on a personal level. However on her first day, her first impression didn’t go as planned. Beth Campbell was scheduled to be at the Phoenix office to introduce her, but canceled last minute. It was up to Richardson to break the ice. The introduction was a failure. She also discovered the operation department was a chaotic mess. Once Richardson freed herself from her disastrous introduction, she began to work on her paperwork, which seemed never-ending. She eventually discovered her training had not properly prepared her for this position.

Finally, Richardson was able to meet one-on-one with her employees. Alex Hoffman had a bad attitude and was not willing to go after small markets. Although he has the highest sales in the group, Hoffman declines the opportunity to mentor his co-workers. Gregorio Torres has low sales and is not motivated to improve, but had innovative ideas about selling flowers from a website he volunteered to develop. Nick Ruiz is a motivated store merchandiser who taught himself a lot about the operations of the company and the product line. Ruiz, however, most eager to advance, his experience has been with the company the least. Chelsea Peterson is a store merchandiser, like Ruiz, but with a very volatile personality, she was always on the defensive. Sarah Vega had poor communication skills, missed work regularly, and had sporadic sales. The employees did not respect Richardson. They often occupied themselves on their phones and muttered words in Spanish against Richardson’s wishes. Richardson’s problems didn’t stop with the staff. Soon enough, paperwork plagued her and her relationship with the regional manager diminished. Campbell was not helpful in Richardson transition and never complimented her on the improvements she brought into the company. She rarely called to check in with Richardson unless it was to scold her.

It felt like it couldn’t get any worst until, a fungus grew in the new Columbia warehouse and killed their shipment of plants. This put them at risk to lose new customers they had gained. Not too long after that, a Home Depot rep can by for a visit. He recognized Richardson’s team had potted their plants in the wrong pots. This was a result of poor communication between the sales team and operations department. Richardson had to assemble her crew on a Saturday, which was the norm at the Chicago branch, to repot the entire Home Depot order. Richardson thought this would be a good opportunity to build team cohesiveness and interpersonal relationships, but that was not the case. Ruiz and Torres arrived early and ready to work Vega was late, as usual, and Hoffman and Peterson never showed. A few weeks later Peterson submitted a feeble resume for a sales position which received no recognition. This lead Peterson to hired an attorney to discuss ColorTech’s gender diversity policy. Campbell was not happy.

Sales took a dive due to the Columbia warehouse fungus and Richardson’s paperwork along with the staff’s was piling up. Role overload had set in and she was stressed out. She felt as if she had to babysit her team and had trouble being an effective team leader. Campbell’s monthly visits were focused on sales and she seldom gave applicable advice. After only a few months, Richardson was contemplating whether or not her old boss in Chicago would take her back again

1. Major Issues

The case Growing Managers: Moving from Team Member to Team Leader was filled with multiple issues and inconsistencies. These problems would range from managerial conflicts between higher and lower levels to sales and performance irregularities. The leading problem being every person introduced in the case study caused problems in his or her own manner. It was as if one was stuck between a rock and a hard place at every turn of events.

After a group analysis of all the issues, three categories stood out. First category was entitled Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities. This category encompasses the issues that make up the volatile ‘DNA’ of the team itself and the personnel personalities which causes the instability. The second category is Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills. UTMS covers the topics of role confusion and lack of managerial training. The final category, that represented key major issues in the Growing Managers case, was Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations. Both the greenhouse and the sales floor were swamped with inconsistences in the sales team lack of knowledge of greenhouse operations, language barriers, and an absent management process.

It was a ticking time bomb before the entire operation imploded due to the stress of the internal issues and outside catastrophes. Although at the heart of the company, this “team” did not begin to touch the standards which were previously achieved by the founders’ first greenhouse and operations. There would be no hope unless drastic measures are taken to regain the motivation, the skill, and the desire to be the best known premium annual, perennial, fresh cut, and long stem flower supplier was instilled once again.

1. Analysis of Major Issues

In the flower industry, ColorTech Greenhouses Inc. not only grew annuals, perennials, and hybrid flowers; it chose to expand its diversity to fresh cut flowers, long-stemmed roses, and personnel. Although, in terms of personnel, one specific ‘team’ of individuals were not cutting it. The newly budding team in Phoenix’s boundary was plagued with three categories of issues: Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities, Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills, and Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations.

Under the category of Clash of Team and Personnel (referred to as “CTPP”), the issues are subcategorized as team issues and personnel issues. The team’s problems came to light when Melissa came into an empty office on a Friday afternoon at four o’clock. This set the primary look into the low performance norm of the team members. The performance norm was displayed to be weak and low with little concern shown for the amount of work needed to be completed and little concern for other members of the team. The team’s negative implications influenced the processes and effectiveness by: not having organizational and personal pride; not having support and helpfulness for teammates or the team; and not making improvement and change to old ways (Uhl-Bein, 2013, pp. 171-172). The teamwork problems were affected by how heterogeneous the team members are from one another. This created difficulties for the team due to background experience differences, fixed complacent talents, and hindered performance potential (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 157). The disillusion of anticipated teamwork and positive work performance segued to negative inter-team dynamics which shattered and unfocused the promising work energies of all team members. The main animosities were aimed at the new manager, Melissa Richardson, from three main members of the staff (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 175). These unconstructive behaviors fed into the team’s non-existent cohesiveness and restricted communication networks. Both of these issues inflamed the already sensitive issues of manager to staff and staff to manager conflicts (Uhl-Bein, 2013, pp. 174, 178).

The personnel issues of the CTPP category details the individual issues of each team member on the differences associated with deep-level diversity of their personalities, values, and attitudes (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 28). The personalities of each team member are described by the Big Five Model of personality traits listed in Figure 1 (Uhl-Bein, 2013, pp. 34-35).

1. Figure 1: Big Five Personality Dimensions of Team Members

** (Uhl-Bein, 2013, pp. 34-35)

Most of the Big Five Personality Dimensions caused disruptive behaviors that harmed the group’s progress and potential. Many of the dysfunctional activities included, “…being overly aggressive toward other members, showing incivility and disrespect, withdrawing and refusing to cooperate” and “... trying to compete for attention and recognition” (Uhl-Bein, 2013, pp. 169 - 170). For example, Chelsea Peterson was overly aggressive and hostile with her new boss, Melissa Richardson in the very first meeting to discuss job satisfaction and open the floor for communication. Alex Hoffman openly disrespected his boss in the very first team meeting by rudely showing up late, texting on his mobile phone, and noisily took his chair with no apology. While, Nick Ruiz kept competing for Melissa’s attention to see his want to be a new account manager without acknowledgement of his new boss’s workload and the teams negative behaviors.

The second category of issues that plagued the team is Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills (referred to as “UTMS”). UTMS highlights the issues with sales team complications and managerial disarray. Both the sales team complications and the managerial disarray were triggered by undesirable role dynamics. Role ambiguity occurred within Melissa Richardson when she took the role of the southwest regional sales manager. She was uncertain of her job requirements, the type of workload, and how to manage/motivate a team. Melissa also suffered from role overload. She felt trapped in the mountains of paperwork, unexperienced to handle her staff, and unqualified to handle the chaos affecting her business. Both Gregorio Torres and Nick Ruiz fell into the category of role underload. Torres innovative ideas were not pursued which caused dissatisfaction. Ruiz felt he was more than qualified to take on the position as an account manager, but his undeterred pestering caused added stress to both parties. Alex Hoffman, Sarah Vega, and Chelsea Peterson suffered from role conflict. All three individuals would not comply with the standards of the company; thus, reduced the satisfaction in the entire team’s performance and instigated routine problems (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 168) (Growing Managers: Moving from Team Member to Team Leader, 2012).

The managerial disarray associated with UTMS began with absent impression management. Melissa attempted to make a solid impression as the new manager to the team, but this trail fell flat due to disrespectful employees and interruptions (Uhl-Bein, 2013, pp. 56-57). Overtime her voice was lost. She kept staying silent instead of requesting help or making decisions. She also perceived risk of losing her position due to her unqualified status as a manager and her credibility would only be damaged by her regional sales manager, Beth Campbell (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 245). Melissa Richardson’s naivety to her needed qualifications hindered the essential managerial skills of technical, human and conceptual. The problems Melissa faced with technical skill were the required use of specialized reporting and document analysis. Her human skills were tested on numerous levels. Her “spirit of trust, enthusiasm, and genuine involvement” (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 16) with her new staff was a predetermined spark of an idea that faded upon reality. She was not able to understand her employees on a personal or professional level, for example: successfully deal with disagreements or conflicts; interact with most, if not all, her staff; or understand the feelings of her team. These actions impeded her own emotional intelligence by hindering her own self-awareness, motivation and social skills (Uhl-Bein, 2013, pp. 16-17). Her lack of conceptual skills showed in the beginning of her training as a manager with the statement, “unless her problems were exactly the same” (Growing Managers: Moving from Team Member to Team Leader, 2012, p. 3) the stories shared by other managers would be of no use to her. Her inability to see how their stories were interrelated with her own cost her not to interpret their solutions as relevant information and potential problem-solving decisions. By in large, Melissa’s main issues were her lack in effective managerial skills and her inability to be trained as a manager.

The third and final category is Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations (referred to as “MGSO”). This category’s main issues were those of language barriers and absence of a management process that occurred with both the sales force and greenhouse representatives. “More than 20% of respondents felt that language barriers made it difficult for managers to get the necessary respect from their workers” (2011) ,in a study conducted by Forbes INSIGHTS and Rosetta Stone Business, to understand the implications of multicultural organizations and language barriers in business. This statistic helps to explain Melissa’s feelings of exclusion at the Phoenix location due to the use of both Spanish and English and her fluency in only English (Growing Managers: Moving from Team Member to Team Leader, 2012). The Phoenix team’s last major issue was that of no management process. All stages of the process never began. Within this study five different roles of Mintzberg’s roles of effective managers had potential, but were never realized, those were: being a leader, being a monitor, being a disseminator, being a disturbance handler and negotiator. All of which take a proactive approach to business, where Melissa, her sales force, and the greenhouses took reactive approaches to the problems faced (Uhl-Bein, 2013, pp. 15-16).

To close, the case Growing Managers: Moving from Team Member to Team Leader was filled with multiple issues and inconsistencies. The three categories of issues that plagued the team were: Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities, Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills, and Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations. This analysis has delved into the integral reasons why the southwest regional sales team of ColorTech failed to become a successful that would break into the top sales ranks as Melissa had hoped.

1. Action Alternatives

In the case Growing Managers, three distinguished issue categories were prevalent: Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities, Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills, and Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations. Due to these issues, action alternatives were devised to fit the needs of Melissa, her team and the company.

Under the category of Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities (“CTPP”), there was lack of team chemistry and cohesiveness. An alternative to resolve this issue is to implement team-building activities. Melissa should hold mandatory team-building meetings every Friday afternoon. A second alternative to squash CTPP is for Melissa to hold one-on-one meetings. This way disruptive behavior may be more easily controlled and treated to a favorable outcome.

Relative to Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills (“UTMS”), one plausible action alternative is for Melissa to shadow another manager. While struggling to complete reports, make decisions, or manage her employees, there was no one to give feedback or provide any guidance. Beth Campbell was little use in terms of support or guidance. A mentor for Melissa is a necessary move for her managerial skills to improve and become more acclimated to the position. Additionally, continuing education is a bare minimum in one’s profession is crucial. Sales training for the team is another solution to the dilemma. It can be argued that certain team members such as Hoffman and Vega were unmotivated. To increase the team’s motivation, reinforcements are a feasible strategy: positive reinforcement for meeting sales goals and negative reinforcement or punishment, such as docking pay, for undesired performance and/or behavior. These are all potential alternatives to solving the UTMS obstacles.

Resolving the Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations (“MGSO”) is important. Creating a centralized communication network creates cohesive communication throughout the organization that assist in counting the language barrier. A second alternative is requiring the group to undergo training on the green house operations to familiarize themselves with particulars regarding the green house.

The action alternatives presented were divided by three categories: Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities, Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills, and Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations. Team-building activities, training, reinforcements, and a centralized communication network are just a few tools available. By tackling the major issues in these areas, Melissa, her team and the company have a chance to resolve the issues at hand.

1. Analysis of Alternatives

Growing Managers shed light on the issues faced by Melissa and her team. Action alternatives were proposed to reconcile Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities, Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills, and Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations for the greater good. Each alternative merits positive and negative elements.

The benefits associated with implementing team-building activities are “a powerful way to unite a group, develop strengths, and address weaknesses” (Mind Tools, 2014) which are main issues of CTPP. An example would be “Survival Scenario… forces your group to communicate and agree to ensure their ‘survival’” (Mind Tools, 2014). A negative aspect to teambuilding activities is the continuous time needed for the team to be successful. The outcome of a group who consistently engages in teaming activities will be improved cohesiveness and team effectiveness (Mind Tools, 2014). Holding one-on-one meetings to address disruptive behaviors was the other option. Advantages include face-to-face time that will build a deeper relationship with each of her subordinates and get to know them on a personal level. A cost element would be the group might not open up as easily to Melissa, creating a roadblock such as “refusing to cooperate” (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 169). The overall result is given time, Melissa can break ground on getting to know her team on a personal level that will eat away at the personality clashes.

Under the major issue, UTMS, a proposed solution to Melissa’s lack of managerial skills is to shadow a manager that is on site. The benefits are that Melissa will gain more experience and have a better grasp of required job tasks and what her role will be. Role ambiguity will eventually diminish. A pitfall would be Melissa becoming dependent on a mentor’s presence and not developing her own non-programmed decision making skills. The outcome is favorable due to her ability to learn her role and develop her managerial skills. Sales training for her team is also advantageous so the team’s performance does not remain stagnant. Disadvantages of this are that the results may take a few months to see a noticeable improvement. Regarding the team’s motivation, implementing positive reinforcements, negative reinforcements, and even punishment will create expectations for the team and boost the team’s discipline and eagerness to work more efficiently.

The major issue MGSO imposes will be resolved by creating a centralized communication network (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 177). The benefit for implementing this strategy is teams are coordinated, routine, and successful. One option would be using only one main language and creating a more efficient operation. This may require stern action being taken for haphazard mistakes going forward to enforce this protocol. The overall outcome is bright and will smoothen out the green housing operations.

In conclusion, these action alternatives are steps taken resolve the major issues face by Melissa, her team, and ColorTech Greenhouses Inc. Each alternative possesses benefits as well as costs but would yield a sound resolution to the major issues addressed. The best alternatives to correcting the issues faced by Melissa and her team are found in the recommendations.

1. Recommendations

Adapting to her managerial role, Richardson became overwhelmed with the responsibilities of a manager and suffered though role overload. Three major setbacks were: Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities, Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills, and Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations. To become an effective manager, it is imperative Richardson continues her managerial education and she should be allowed to shadow a neighboring location’s manager or have one visit her at the Phoenix office. It is important that she feels confident in her decisions and is knowledgeable of how things operate. Richard’s team cohesiveness is key. A team that is motivated and enjoys being a part of the group will be successful. To persuade the staff to work as a team, Richardson should use positive and negative reinforcement techniques. She should reward her employees for a job well done and find ways to encourage them when they slack off. The law of effect states that “behavior followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is not” (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 65). The language barrier is a concern between the greenhouse operation staff and the sales team. A centralized communication network should be established. Richardson should create a central hub where she, at the helm, distributes tasks and collects feedback from the staff. This will have everyone working independently and keep everyone coordinated. Language should not be an issue. If successful, Richardson will experience the most satisfaction (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 177). If these three ideas are executed properly, confidence in Richardson’s leadership and decision making skills will improve, interpersonal relationship will progress among the organization, and less operational blunders will occur.

1. Implementation of Issues

ColorTech needs to accommodate three main factors: Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities, Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills, and Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations. If ColorTech takes no action in improving their managerial training techniques, the competition is sure to surpass their potential to be the top flower supplier in the country. Her staff has major issues when it comes to relationships. Richardson should apply positive and negative reinforcement techniques to adequately motivate each employee by identifying their individual weaknesses and strengths. Operations were best described as an “energized riot” (Growing Managers: Moving from Team Member to Team Leader, 2012, p. 2) A centralized communication network is a great way to minimized confusion and become efficient.

ColorTech has a very important decision to make when it comes to management training programs for their employees. After observing Richardson’s grueling first few months, they obviously lack the expertise in training an effective manager. Richardson is in need of structure in her daily routine. To and effective their daily routine, it is recommended she visit another neighboring ColorTech location and shadow their manager. This would not renovate their office environment immediately, but should have a long-term benefit. Other managers may not have the time in their schedules to train Richardson and an external source may be a better option for time. However, an external trainer this would be at a cost. We know that no two organizational cultures are the same, but they may be so completely different at other locations using the same strategies may not work at the Phoenix office (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 328).

The sales team and staff at the Phoenix office require motivation and team cohesiveness. It was recommended Richardson implement positive and negative reinforcement techniques to insist on improving these two issues. If she praises her employees for every little thing they do, it may start to become expected and the recognition will eventually become unattractive. Also, employees may focus on gaining a reward rather than continuing to learn innovative practices in their field. Negative reinforcement could cause a conflict on the manager to staff relationship. The right punishment for each offense is hard to determine. Too much negative reinforcement could reduce the self-esteem of the staff and increase turnover. (Uhl-Bein, 2013, pp. 64-68)

A centralized communication network was recommended to alleviate the tension operations had with communicating with the sales team and vice versa (Uhl-Bein, 2013, p. 177). It is Richardson’s responsibility to make this network successful. Richardson will be at the helm of the communication network. If she is not up to the task, the network will fail. Also her Spanish speaking skills are subpar, but this can be remedied by only allowing one main language, English, to be spoken at the hub.

It is hoped these recommendations resolve ColorTech, Inc.’s issues of: Clash of Team and Personnel Personalities, Uncomprehensive Training and Managerial Skills, and Misguided Greenhouse and Sales Operations. As long as they stay away from these implementation issues there are destined for success. ColorTech will have the advantage to become the leading flower provider and greenhouse in the industry.

Forbes INSIGHTS. (2011, July). Reducing the Impact of Language Barriers. Reducing the Impact of Language Barriers. New York, New York, United States of America. Retrieved from http://resources.rosettastone.com/CDN/us/pdfs/Biz-Public-Sec/Forbes-Insights-Reducing-the-Impact-of-Language-Barriers.pdf

Growing Managers: Moving from Team Member to Team Leader, KEL629 (Kellogg School of Management 2012). Retrieved February 10, 2014

Mind Tools. (2014). Team-Building Experiences. Retrieved from Mind Tools: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_52.htm

Uhl-Bein, M. (2013). Organizational Behavior, 13th Edition (13th ed.). (J. R. Schermerhorn, Jr., & R. N. Osborn, Eds.) VitalBook file: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

1. Appendix A: Case KEL629

1. Appendix B: Reducing the Impact of Language Barriers

1. Appendix C: Additional research from the 13th edition of “Organizational Behavior”

• Centralized communication networks link group members through a central point. (pg. 177)

• Disruptive behaviors in teams harm the group process and limit team effectiveness (pg. 169)

• Role ambiguity occurs when someone is uncertain about what is expected of him or her (pg. 168)

• Non-programmed decisions are created to deal with a unique problem or opportunity at hand (pg. 194)

• Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by making a desirable consequence contingent on its occurrence (pg. 65)

• Negative reinforcement strengthens a behavior by making the avoidance of an undesirable consequence contingence on its occurrence (pg. 68)

• Punishment discourages a behavior by making an unpleasant consequence contingent on its occurrence (pg. 68)