Overview Using the management skills and practices that suit your team and its objectives can help to ensure the team’s efficiency and productivity. Analyze the provided scenario to determine how management skills and practices can help support the team. Scenario Imagine that you are an organizational consultant for the SNHU Pet Supply Company. The director of retail operations has asked you to evaluate the reason for some of the team’s drop in productivity and make recommendations for their improvement. Further conversations with the team members and managers reveal a conflict in the way productivity and efficiency is being measured and handled. The team members say that their managers micromanage them. Each week, the managers send out a task list for the team and expect them to fill out detailed timesheets every day to cross-reference the task list. Any deviations from the list must be explained in a separate email. Moreover, some team members feel their skill sets are not being used correctly, and that they would be better suited to do tasks that are not being assigned to them. This has led to some resentment within the team, not to mention high levels of stress to meet the managers’ demands. The managers maintain that they have just been following the process that’s been set out for years in the company. The many unresolved issues are taking a toll on the team’s productivity and efficiency, which then feeds back into the conflict, creating a vicious circle. Prompt Write a brief report to the director of retail operations that explains the management skills and practices you feel will improve team productivity and efficiency, using the module reading to support your recommendations. Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria: Overview: Provide a brief overview of the problem you have been asked to resolve, making sure to note specific areas of conflict between management approaches and employee feedback based on the provided scenario. Management Approaches: Describe the general functions of management as well as the purpose and benefits of using established management skills and practices, making sure to use course resources to support your explanation. Recommendations: Recommend a new management approach, consisting of a blend of management skills and practices, that you believe will help improve the team’s productivity and efficiency. Explain why you believe these approaches will be effective, and make sure to use course resources to support your recommendations. Guidelines for Submission Your submission should be a 1- to 2-page Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style. Module Two Assignment Rubric Criteria Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value Overview Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner Provides a brief overview of the problem, making sure to note specific areas of conflict between management approaches and employee feedback based on the provided scenario Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing a clearer overview or including specific areas of conflict based on the scenario Does not attempt criterion 10 Management Approaches Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner Describes the general functions of management as well as the purpose and benefits of using established management skills and practices, making sure to use course resources to support the explanation Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include describing in sufficient detail the general functions of management as well as the purpose and benefits of using established management skills and practices, or better using course resources to support the explanation Does not attempt criterion 40 Recommendations Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner Recommends approaches (blends of management skills and practices) that will help improve the team’s productivity and efficiency and explains why these approaches will be effective, making sure to use course resources to support the recommendations Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include recommending more than one new management approach and explaining with sufficient detail and clarity how these approaches will be effective Does not attempt criterion 30 Articulation of Response Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner Clearly conveys meaning with correct grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, demonstrating an understanding of audience and purpose Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, negatively impacting readability Submission has critical errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, preventing understanding of ideas 15 Citations and Attributions Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with few or no minor errors Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errors Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errors Does not use citations for ideas requiring attribution 5 Total:100
