Manager's Job is to Pave the Way

It is neither surprising nor uncommon for a project such as this to get derailed even with established management and teams. However, Davidson faced several challenges before the survey even began: He was in a new job, had a newly established team, wasn't familiar with the skills and knowledge of his team members and had little background on the survey. Davidson knew the White House had requested the survey as a prelude to more management reform, yet he didn't appear to prepare the team or customers adequately for the resulting sensitivities. It's normal for surveys to create anxiety if managers and other employees believe the survey results could affect their jobs. Another possibility is that the employees didn't take the survey seriously and thus failed to appreciate the management survey team's task. The employees, who have never before had to worry about efficiency in their agency, may have been in denial. Davidson could have paved the way for the team by enlisting agency senior management support, properly informing the customers and preparing Pitcher and his team to handle the pitfalls that might lie ahead. Once the survey was under way, Davidson made a number of observations about Pitcher's performance early on. Yet he did not appear to have a frank and helpful discussion with Pitcher up front. Pitcher was new to the agency and performing a sensitive survey. He clearly needed information on the new agency's culture and needed to discuss strategies for completing the survey within that culture. Pitcher was permitted to fail repeatedly without proper help or coaching. On the other hand, Pitcher also handled the matter inappropriately. He needs to learn how to quickly adjust to his new agency's culture. Also, Pitcher made a common mistake when he responded to Davidson with "adamant denial and unveiled scorn." It becomes difficult to solve problems when individuals are not working together and when the need to be right is more important than the project's success. Further, Pitcher appears to ignore the sensitivities of the customers. He treats the survey as the most important task in the agency regardless of other critical ongoing work. Any project is difficult to complete with this attitude. Recommendations for Davidson: Quickly determine the political sensitivities and other factors driving the need for the survey, then decide whether there should be a change in direction. Meet again with Pitcher to apologize for moving ahead without all the information and for not having more substantive discussions with Pitcher and the team members before the survey proceeded. Involve Pitcher as part of the solution in determining how to proceed. The discussion should cover how to lay new groundwork for the survey, including the tone of the meetings; whether there is sufficient time to complete the survey; whether team members are right for the task; and ideas on how to reenlist the customers. Determine whether Pitcher can adjust to the change in culture from Treasury to the current agency. Discuss with Pitcher ways to help him make that change. Investigate whether the survey could be delayed until management determines the full extent of the problem-though this is not likely. Consider changing the team members. In today's downsizing environment, however, managers typically have less flexibility to change staff or team members. This places emphasis on interpersonal skills. Working out solutions together-rather than simply handing them down from the supervisor-builds up individuals and teams and prevents similar problems. Joan Peterson is director of personnel policy at NASA. She has 21 years of human resources management experience with four federal agencies and recently reorganized her branch in a team system.