can someone complete by deadline

Nealia Francis

CCC Part 2: Describing Communication Patterns

1E. “I don’t know how to approach my employees when they aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do.”

2A. 5/13/13 10:32AM – IN THE FILE ROOM

· I observed Ms. L telling Ms. B to complete tasks that I assigned to her last week. I approached her and asked what she was working on. She told me what she was working on and I told her that it was not a top priority right now and I told her to complete one of our high priority tasks. She shrugged her shoulders and took her time to begin doing what I told her to do. At 11:00AM, Ms. L received a phone call, once she left the room to take the phone call; I could not locate her until 12:15PM when she relieved Ms. D for lunch at the switchboard. I firmly told her to do what I assigned her to do and I will hold the switchboard. She continued to roam the office socializing with other employees, then went to lunch at 12:30PM. She returned from lunch at 1:45PM even though she only has a 30 minute lunch break. I didn’t say anything to her for the rest of the day because I was so annoyed. I completed the assignments that were on her desk and she came back to her desk about 2:15PM to start on her assignments and left for the day at 2:30PM.

5/14/13 11:28AM – IN THE EMPLOYEES LOUNGE

· I asked Ms. L to hold the switchboard from 12:00PM-12:30PM while Ms. D goes to lunch. She informed me that she couldn’t do it because she needed to go to the bank and was going to ask for a 30 minute extension for lunch. I said OK. I told Ms. B to hold the switchboard instead taking her away from an important task that I assigned to her but she complied. Ms. L went to lunch around 12:00PM and returned to the office at 1:50PM. With the 30 minute extension that she asked for, she should have returned to work at 1:00PM, but she returned at 1:50PM, taking almost another hour for lunch that she was not authorized. Before she left for lunch I gave her an assignment to put paperwork in clients’ files. When she returned from lunch, she idly sat at her desk, doing nothing until 2:30PM when she left for the day. I was so annoyed that she chooses to sit around and do absolutely nothing.

5/15/13 12:47PM – AT THE SWITCHBOARD

· Ms. D asked me to relieve her for lunch from the switchboard since Ms. L did not come in to work today and Ms. B goes to lunch at 12:00PM also. Ms. D came to me around 11:57AM to be relieved; I told her that she would be relieved as soon as I finish up making an appointment for a client. I finished making the appointment and went to the restroom before relieving Ms. D. While in the restroom, another employee came looking for me to tell me that Ms. D is ready to go to lunch. I relieved her at 12:10PM. When Ms. D came back from lunch at 12:47PM, I informed her that she won’t always get to go to lunch at exactly 12:00PM because of everything that we have going on in the office especially at that time. She says that she knows but she was just wondering where I was. I firmly told her not to question my integrity, or my whereabouts because I oversee all assignments and I always practice good work ethics. I am always where I am supposed to be and do what I am supposed to do because I expect everyone to do the same.

5/16/13 10:17AM – IN THE FILEROOM

· Today, I scheduled training for Ms. L and Ms. B on appointments, but once again Ms. L did not show up for work. I was frustrated because I run a tight schedule and I need my employees to be trained so that the workload can be distributed evenly. I decided to go ahead with the training because I cannot let one employee stop the flow of things. I informed Ms. B that I would be training her alone today. I trained Ms. B on appointments and how to handle clients that missed their appointments and want to reschedule appointments. Ms. B caught on rather quickly and even asked me to train her on some other things. When my director came into the file room to ask me how the training is going, I informed her that Ms. B was trained and that I would not train Ms. L when she returns to work. Ms. L knew about the training and chose not to show up for work. My director suggested that we hold a mandatory meeting with Ms. L to discuss her performance. The meeting is set for Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 1:00PM.

5/17/13 10:37AM – IN THE FILEROOM

· Ms. L walks into the office today at 10:15AM without calling prior to her late arrival despite the fact that she is to report to work at 8:30AM after sitting around for about 20 minutes, she walks over to my desk to inform me that she had an injection in her arm and that she could not lift anything or do anything. I could only reply by saying, “OK” because I was so annoyed with all the excuses that she continues to come up with. In my mind, I really wanted to ask her, “Why did you even bother come to work if you can’t do anything?” She is no use to me coming late, nor is she any use to me coming to work and not doing anything.

2B. I realized that I am mostly faced with my communication goal in the morning between 10AM and 12NOON. Everyday my employees force me to face this goal. Most of the instances occur in the file room because this is where the majority of our work takes place. There were only 2 circumstances where I performed this behaviour effectively. For instance on 5/13/13 when I told Ms. L that she will not be on the switchboard because I will be so that she can complete the tasks that I assigned to her. Another instance was on 5/15/13 when I told Ms. D not to question my integrity and to practice good work ethics because I always do what I am supposed to do.

2C. According to my log, 3 of 5 circumstances in the office was when I performed this behaviour least effectively. The first instance was on 5/14/13 when I told Ms. L to cover the switchboard and she told me she had something to do. Even when she came back late from lunch and wasn’t doing what she was supposed to do, I did not say anything to her. The second instance was on 5/16/13 when I decided that I would not train Ms. L when she returned to work because I was annoyed. I let my personal feelings about the situation alter my better judgement as a supervisor. The third instance was on 5/17/13 when Ms. L came in late to work and I did not reprimand her for not calling to inform me that she would be late. Then I allowed her to stay to work and do nothing for the entire time that she was there, that is considered stealing company time, but I did or said nothing to her about it.

2D. When I performed this behaviour, I was either annoyed or frustrated with my staff, especially Ms. L. I would often times seem withdrawn because I have so much that I need to say to them but don’t know exactly how to approach them about it. I usually complete the tasks on my own which I realize is enabling my employees to continue doing what they want to do.

2E. My most pressing behavioural pattern is not saying anything to my employees when they are not doing what they are supposed to do or when things are not going how they are supposed to go. My greatest communication problem is the same one that I listed in my goal for CCC Part 1E at the top of my page. I do not need to modify my goal for this project because this is a major issue that I am faced with at work and I need to address this issue sooner than later because it is affecting the workflow.