My mentor works for Lockheed Martin in the contracts department. Specifically, my mentor is responsible for creating contracts in order to help the company obtain the business. In government contracting, the government provides a project that they need done and then contract the job out to the company that can do the best work at the lowest price. Therefore it is the contractor’s job to ensure that the contract is written legally and also has to work with several departments. For example, they will have to work heavily with the Finance department to make sure the price they are going to offer to the government is realistic and will allow the company to make a profit. As we can see, it’s very important that my mentor as well as other representatives on his team are able to work cohesively to ensure the company does well.
After watching my mentor and his department work together, I noticed there are some slightly different personalities. Some of the employees of the organization seem to be driven as an individual where as others are driven as a team. For example some employees like doing all of the work where as others are willing to share the work. One set of employees doesn’t like change where as others embrace change as they can avoid routines. I think these characteristics blend well to contribute towards a positive work environment.
In order to improve motivation, satisfaction, and performance, I would have the individuals that like delegating be responsible for overseeing that everyone gets an equal share of work so that way nobody is being overworked and everyone also has a chance to do a job well done and advance within the company. These individuals will also be responsible for moving around from project to project and helping out as needed. This will help them avoid a routine and they will also be able to establish relationships which will also benefit them since they are very focused on teamwork. Additionally, I may encourage managers to specifically avoid delegating certain tasks to the employees that are individually driven because they may not want this person to contribute towards the work as they may be a “control freak”. To make sure these individuals are satisfied, I would have the more social worker submit their work to them so they can review everything and make sure it’s done the way they wanted before they submit it for management approval.
I think this would be a good proposal to help allow Worker B focus on the “big picture” while Worker A can have control over their section of the project. This also allows Worker B flexibility and avoiding a routine whereas Worker A can avoid as much change as possible. I think this also bodes well for the team’s personalities as Worker A is more driven individually while Worker B likes to be part of a team.
Three problems of improvement in this team are:
• Delegation
• Teamwork
• Meeting Deadlines
I think teamwork and meeting deadlines are symptoms of the team’s characteristics. I think my proposed plan could help eliminate these problems as it helps deal with the very different working styles of the employees involved. By not having one person do the entire project because they have a problem with delegating things to others, it will help the team meet deadlines. Also this will encourage teamwork because they will be working together. Finally, I think the way things are delegated is the root of the problem. Worker A doesn’t like getting told what to do but doesn’t’ want to delegate things. Worker B doesn’t mind delegating things and doesn’t seem to look unfavorably towards being given assignments. Unfortunately the plan will have some aspects that Worker A doesn’t like (being given assignments) but there always have to be some give and take in order for a team to meet their objectives. The delegation issue seems to be the root issue here for the team and the manager should look at this very carefully.