Promote Team Effectiveness

Riverside Diggers Club: Case Study One aspect of the culture of the Riverside Diggers Club is that it is extremely exclusive in nature. People who are not members of the club or who are not part of a particular social set are clearly frowned upon. A second, interrelated aspect of the culture is that it is more important 'who' an employee knows rather than the employee's competency at the job: many employees remain in their positions solely because they were friends with the previous manager.

Thirdly, there is little motivation for change -- even though the times of staff turnover have been proven to result in errors regarding orders, this has not been altered and revenue is declining. Finally, there are no formal staff descriptions, budget, or training and development, creating very little accountability within the culture. Overall, there is an emphasis simply on doing things as they have always been done.

Question 2 Aileen's decision to involve the staff in decision-making is an important one: in the long run, workers will not feel invested in the success of the organization they are a part of unless they have some sort of participatory role in its mission and vision. Particularly in a service-based industry, having enthusiastic staff is vital. However, Aileen cannot immediately assume that staff members will know how to make good decisions, accept feedback from others, and come to a consensus.

Learning how to provide input to management is a learned rather than innate skill for most workers. Current skill levels are low and absenteeism is high. Question 3 One problem is divided loyalties: some workers are still very loyal to the previous manager, which could create conflict on the work teams. Also, workers are used to reporting directly to a superior rather than having to work well with one another on a work team. Workers must gain a sense of responsibility for themselves as teammates, not just individuals.

They also must learn to exercise leadership in an autonomous fashion, not solely under the watchful eye of a superior. There is also a fairly substantial degree of resentment about the organization, which could impede the type.