Jack Nietzche
Promotion is one of the most effective tools that helps to motivate the workers, and subsequently, promote the employees' productivity. This case study provides an insight of a scenario where an employee, Jack Nietzche, is putting an extra effort to acquire that promotion, but the director of the project is reluctant of that incentive. As a result, the dilemma arises as to whether to tell Jack about the situation or not while bearing in mind that this might affect Jack's emotions and might adversely affect the project.
If Jack inquires whether the new assignments were made, it is essential to tell him that he did not get the promotion and encourage his to continue working hard. In such situation, it is important to be optimistic and try as much as possible to keep Jack's attention positive. I would also explain the process and rationale for making the decision to make him believe that the decision-making process was fair. (Gallo, 2015).
The Project Status Report Meeting
Similar to the previous case study, this case study is based on building trust with all the stakeholders of the project. The problem here is to decide whether to tell the client about the technical problems that are dragging the project behind or withhold the information. While informing the client about the problem may build trust, it may also hinder the completion of the project.
In this case, the best action is to inform the client about the technical problems with confidence that the team members are working hard to overcome the situation. According to Larson and Gray (2011), such scenario requires the project manager to display a can-do attitude (p.361). Building trust is not only important to the team members but also the other stakeholders of the project for the success of the project. In this case, the project manager can use highly interactive management style to influence the client positively. This involves trying to interact with the client and scheduling a meeting with her to inform her of the situation and the action plan to mitigate the prevailing problems. Managing frequent contact with the client is essential because "trust is sustained through frequent face-to-face contact" (Larson & Gray, 2011, p.362). As a result, interacting with the client will enhance mutual trust and respect between the involved parties. In addition, providing a clear and practical action plan should outline how the team members are collaboratively working to mitigate the problem.
Cape Town Bio-Tech
Effective time management is crucial in every project because the team managers usually have scarce time. Therefore, the team managers have to plan their time quickly and wisely to meet the constrained deadline of the project. However, in some situation such as this case study, the top managers can extend the deadline of the project. As a result, this requires the project manager to determine whether to inform the team members about the extension or not.
While working under limited time may encourage employees to work hard towards achieving the objectives of the project, I would let them know the extension of the deadline. According to Larson and Gray (2011), openness is a significant feature because it gives the employees the sense to know what they value and who they are and hence become friendlier to the others. This will not only help them to become friendlier but also trust me as their project leader. According to Norman, Avolio, and Luthans (2010), openness and transparency are accompanied by effective listening, trust, frankness, supportiveness, and a higher level of honesty. However, it is important to tell them that we can take advantage of the extension and use it as the contingency plan. Some of the project resources may be delayed, or setbacks may occur in the course of the project. The important thing that the team members need to know is that although that we have an extension, we need to stick to our schedule and try to complete our project by March 5.
However, it is important to note that the stringent deadline may not work if I do not reflect a corresponding change in my behaviors. This means that for the team members to make the decisions quicker and work faster, I should also work faster as a way of leading by example (Larson & Gray, 2011). The extension would also provide me with an opportunity to exhibit task-related currency by responding to the requests of the team members to extend the deadline if it is deemed fit.
References
Gallo, A. (2015, March 30). How to Deliver Bad News to Your Employees. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/03/how-to-deliver-bad-news-to-your-employees
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2011). Leadership: Being an Effective Project Manager. In Project management: The managerial process (5th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Norman, S. M., Avolio, B. J., & Luthans, F. (2010). The impact of positivity and transparency on trust in leaders and their perceived effectiveness. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(3), 350-364. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.03.002
