Management Skills Exercises

Learning activities in this section are aimed at helping you develop management skills.

 Cases

Better Teamwork Makes Numerica Credit Union a Winner

“Better Teamwork Makes Numerica Credit Union a Winner” (p. 343) and its related Challenge Case Summary were written to help you better understand the management concepts contained in this chapter. Answer the following discussion questions about the Challenge Case to better understand how concepts relating to groups and teams can be applied in a company such as Numerica.

  1. 15-4. Describe the characteristics of an effective work team at Numerica Credit Union.

  2. 15-5. As a manager at Numerica, what steps would you take to turn a work group into an effective team? Explain the importance of each step.

How Yum Brands Fosters Team Spirit

Read the case and answer the questions that follow. Studying this case will help you better understand how concepts relating to team building can be applied in a company such as Yum Brands.

A reporter for Fortune magazine recently said David Novak “may be the business world’s ultimate team builder.”54 Novak, chief executive officer of Yum Brands, is credited with delivering extraordinary growth and profits in the tough business of fast-food restaurants. Yum Brands has built its trio of restaurant brands—KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell—into the world’s largest restaurant company, measured in terms of locations.

Novak says the company’s strength comes from the value it places on teamwork. He notes that as a manager, he is driven to win, adding, “You can’t win without people.” In Novak’s experience, success requires a team effort.

According to Novak, the origin of his focus on teams came when he was manager of bottling operations for PepsiCo, which then owned the restaurants that now make up Yum Brands. Meeting with route salesmen, Novak asked a series of questions about their work, and they repeatedly pointed out one of their coworkers as the expert. The man was in tears, hearing for the first time, after decades of service, that he was so well respected. Novak determined that he would never let a person’s contributions go unrecognized.

From Pepsi Bottling, Novak moved to the top position at KFC, which had been unprofitable for years. Novak realized that to replace the bitterness he saw between headquarters and owners of the franchise restaurants, he needed to change the company’s spirit. His goal was to establish the qualities of a great team: people determined to win, to compete, and also to have some fun. From that vision came the idea for the Rubber Chicken Award. As Novak met with his managers and visited his restaurants, whenever he heard about someone doing great work, he would personally hand over a rubber chicken with a personal message of thanks.

The Rubber Chicken Award became the first example of what is now the most famous outward sign of team building at Yum Brands: enthusiastic recognition of employee performance. Every restaurant division has its own version of the award, and every leader has developed a personal award. Each is delivered with a personal, handwritten message of appreciation. But these awards are just one facet of the team-driven culture. The company has stated its values in a written document called “How We Win Together.” These values assert that “everyone has the potential to make a difference” and that employees should engage in “take the hill teamwork,” including open discussion aimed at smart actions. Also, managers participate in a leadership development program called Taking People with You. Despite the name, the program does not start with rewarding others but with knowing oneself—how one thinks about and treats others. As managers come to understand themselves better, they begin thinking about the most effective ways to communicate, lead, and recognize the performance of their team members.

Today, Novak acknowledges that the job of team building is a work in progress. In particular, he says, the company has not yet fully spread its culture of teamwork into every one if its 40,000 restaurants around the world. But as long as Novak is CEO, building teams will be his passion.55

Questions

  1. 15-6. Consider the salesmen David Novak managed for Pepsi Bottling. How would you decide whether to characterize these employees as a group or a team?

  2. 15-7. If you were in charge of managing a Yum Brands restaurant division, how would you ensure that an effective team emerges? How would you help build trust among the employees who work together in your division?

  3. 15-8. What challenges do you think might exist in developing teamwork at franchise restaurants? How would you overcome those challenges?

Experiential Exercises

Planning Your Team Development Program

Directions. Your instructor will divide your class into small groups of about five and appoint a discussion leader for each group. Each group is to evaluate the Mountain Top Game that appears here as a team-building activity. Decide whether you would use the activity as a real manager trying to build a real team in your organization. You would be the instructor or the person actually administering the game. Be sure to explain why the group does or does not believe that the exercise would be useful. After all the groups have finished their discussions, the instructor will lead a discussion of the entire class focused on the conclusions of the small groups.

Mountain Top Game56

Objective:

  • For group members to work together for the good of the group

Group Size:

  • 8 to 15 is ideal

Materials:

  • A rope hanging from the ceiling (i.e., gym climbing rope)

  • Rope or other boundary marker

  • 2 coffee cans or similar height blocks or cans

  • 1 pole, stick, or piece of pipe about 1 inch in diameter

Procedure for Administering the Game:

  • Set up the two coffee cans with a pole set horizontally across them about 3 or 4 feet to one side of the rope. On the other side of the rope, use a different piece of rope to make a circle that the whole group can stand in. For added challenge make the circle small so the group must work together to stand in it without falling out of the boundary. This circle should be about 3 to 4 feet from the rope as well.

  • Set this activity up by telling a story that requires the group to get from a cliff to a mountain top some distance away. Starting behind the “cliff” (pole) they must get a hold of the climbing rope without stepping off the “cliff.” Once they have the rope, they must swing across to the other side and land on the “mountain” (the rope circle). Only one person may go across at a time. If anyone steps out of the boundary, knocks the pole off of the cans, or touches the ground, the group must start over. For safety reasons, the leader should stand near the climbing rope to catch anyone who falls.

Possible Questions for Leading Discussion after the Game:

  1. How did the group come up with a plan?

  2. How did the order that you were in factor into the plan?

  3. How did you ensure your teammates were safe during this activity?

  4. How would this activity have been different if there was a real cliff and a real mountain top?

  5. Would you trust your teammates if it were real? Why or why not?

  6. How can you build trust as a team?

Variations:

  • Give group members things to carry with them to the mountain for an added challenge.

  • Set up a low platform for the group to stand on in place of the circle.

You and Your Career57

The Randstad Group is one of the largest temporary and contract staffing organizations in the world. The company has subsidiaries in Europe, North America, and Asia, with about 13,000 employees total. On average, the company places about 250,000 people in other companies every day. The company is trying to win the loyalty of its own young employees by pairing them in two-person teams with older, more experienced employees. Every new sales agent is assigned a partner to work with until their business has grown to a certain size, which usually takes a few years. Neither person is “the boss.” Each employee is expected to teach the other. Then they both start over again with someone who has just joined the company. The company’s motto is “Nobody should be alone.”

Would you like to start your career in this program? Why or why not? As an experienced employee, would you like to be involved in this program about mid-career? Why or why not? Why do you think the company instituted this program?

Building Your Management Skills Portfolio

Your Management Skills Portfolio is a collection of activities specially designed to demonstrate your management knowledge and skill. Be sure to save your work. Taking your printed portfolio to an employment interview could be helpful in obtaining a job.

The portfolio activity for this chapter is Using Committees and Teams in Accomplishing Florida Hospital’s Mission. Read the following about Florida Hospital and answer the questions that follow.58

Florida Hospital, a Christian-based Adventist Health System hospital, is an acute-care health-care system with 3,025 beds throughout central Florida. Florida Hospital treats more than 1 million patients each year. In fact, the Florida Hospital system is the busiest system in the country. For the last six years, U.S. News & World Report has recognized Florida Hospital as one of “America’s Best Hospitals.”

Florida Hospital offers a wide range of health services for the entire family, including many nationally and internationally recognized programs in cardiology, cancer, diabetes, and digestive health. Because Florida Hospital performs more complex cardiac procedures than any other facility in the country, MSNBC selected Florida Hospital as the premier focus of their hour-long special, “Heart Hospital.”

Florida Hospital’s mission statement appears in Exhibit 1.

To Our Patients
Our first responsibility as a Christian hospital is to extend the healing ministry of Christ to all patients who come to us. We endeavor to deliver high-quality service, showing concern for patients’ emotional and spiritual needs, as well as their physical condition. It is our desire to serve patients promptly, with consideration and dignity.
To Our Employees
We are responsible to our employees and depend upon their teamwork. We show concern for the whole person, respecting each worker’s individuality and listening to each one’s concerns and suggestions. We pay fair wages and offer clean and safe working conditions. We provide opportunities for our employees’ professional growth and development.
To Our Medical Staff
We are responsible to the doctors who are the leaders of the medical team. We provide them with a professional environment, state-of-the-art medical facilities and equipment, and trained support staff. We strive to process their requests for patient care accurately and in a timely manner.
To Our Community
We are responsible to our community both as an organization and as individuals. We must be a strong corporate citizen with interests in the total community welfare, not just those aspects in which we have a business interest. We maintain and use our buildings and grounds to enhance the interest of the community.
To Our Future
We are responsible for the future success and security of our institution’s resources. We protect our financial investments through responsible fiscal management, strategic planning, and effective marketing. We cultivate and protect the preferred patronage of patients, doctors, and businesses.
To Our Religious Heritage
In response to the Seventh-Day Adventist faith and heritage upon which Florida Hospital is built, we celebrate the healing ministry of our Lord, encourage preventive health-care practices, respect the seventh-day Sabbath, and observe high moral and ethical standards.
To Our God
We are responsible to communicate through caring service that God is a loving, gracious, and protecting Father who places infinite value on every individual and is worthy of our admiration, affection, and willing commitment.

Exhibit 1 Florida Hospital Mission Statement

Learning Activity

Assume that you are the president of Florida Hospital and have decided to establish a hospital-wide committee to monitor and ensure the accomplishment of the hospital’s mission. Answer the following questions to indicate how you would form this committee and mold it into an effective work team.

  1. 15-9. What reason(s) could you use to explain to your employees why you are instituting this committee at Florida Hospital?

              

              

              

  2. 15-10. List four procedures you will have the committee follow as it does its work. Be sure to explain the value of each procedure.

    Procedure 1:

              

              

              

    Value of Procedure 1:

              

              

              

    Procedure 2:

              

              

              

    Value of Procedure 2:

              

              

              

    Procedure 3:

              

              

              

    Value of Procedure 3:

              

              

              

    Procedure 4:

              

              

              

    Value of Procedure 4:

              

              

              

  3. 15-11. Outline what you would say to the committee to encourage it to function as a team rather than as a group.

              

              

              

  4. 15-12. Would you make the committee aware of the stages of team development? Explain.

              

              

              

  5. 15-13. How would you help the committee members develop trust in one another? Be as specific as possible.

              

              

              

    MyManagementLab : Writing Exercises

    If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to mymanagementlab.com for the following assignments: Assisted Grading Questions

    1. 15-14. What are the differences between formal and informal groups? Explain how you would manage each type of group to help an organization achieve success.

    2. 15-15. What is the role of trust in building effective teams? As a manager, how would you build trust within a team?

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