Leading Sideways

1. Leading Sideways September 3, 2014

2. Leading Sideways 1 Just Role with It 2 You Have a Friend in Me 3 Lazy Daisy 4 The Legend of the Benefits Task Force 5 No Laughing Matter 6 It’s a Secret 7 Fantasy Football 8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T

3. Just Role with It You’ve been working with an organization for two years now. You really enjoy working there, but there is one thing that is bothering you: your role with the organization. You feel there are some department heads that don’t respect your position in the organization. Other staff are confused with your role and job duties. You’ve talked with your supervisor about this frustration, but the only solution they offer is that it will correct itself over time. Now that it has been two years, what do you do?

4. Just Role with It What would be your response… • Nothing you can do but shrug it off and ignore it. • Sit down with your supervisor again and reiterate your frustrations. • Send out an email to the department heads explaining your position and asking them to clarify your duties with staff. • It’s been two years; start applying for new jobs. • Find a close friend in the organization and/or association and ask for help.

5. Leading Sideways 1 Just Role with It 2 You Have a Friend in Me 3 Lazy Daisy 4 The Legend of the Benefits Task Force 5 No Laughing Matter 6 It’s a Secret 7 Fantasy Football 8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T

6. You Have a Friend in Me A coworker, Mel, has been with the city for 8 years. The two of you are great friends. You just learned through a budget-management meeting with the city administrator that Mel’s position is being scaled back to a part-time position to cut back on salary and benefits expenses. The next day the two of you go out to lunch. Mel senses that something is going on and asks about yesterday’s budget meeting. Mel has four children and would be greatly impacted if this change occurs. What do you do?

7. You Have a Friend in Me What would be your response… • Lie to Mel and say the meeting went fine. • Tell Mel everything that happened. Mel should have the chance to explain the position’s value or to look for another job. • Tell Mel that you are not allowed to talk about it. • Tell Mel that you will get back to her; ask the city administrator for advice. • Pretend that you didn’t hear the question and change the subject.

8. Leading Sideways 1 Just Role with It 2 You Have a Friend in Me 3 Lazy Daisy 4 The Legend of the Benefits Task Force 5 No Laughing Matter 6 It’s a Secret 7 Fantasy Football 8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T

9. Lazy Daisy The city manager asked for you to work with several other coworkers to review a number of old city policies. All team members are pulling their weight on the team except Daisy. Daisy is not reading or revising any of the policies, she is missing all the meetings, and she is not responding to any of your emails. You have confronted Daisy in person twice about your frustrations, and she apologized for letting you down for she’s been busy. However, Daisy is still not delivering on her promise. What do you do?

10. Lazy Daisy What would be your first action… • Move on with the process without Daisy’s input; make the revisions for her. • Ask Daisy to step down from the team and find a replacement. • Talk with Daisy’s supervisor to find a solution and/or discipline. • Talk with Daisy again to inspire her to be more engaged with the team. • Send Daisy an email reinforcing your frustrations but copy her supervisor on the email.

11. Leading Sideways 1 Just Role with It 2 You Have a Friend in Me 3 Lazy Daisy 4 The Legend of the Benefits Task Force 5 No Laughing Matter 6 It’s a Secret 7 Fantasy Football 8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T

12. The Legend of the Benefits Task Force You are tasked with leading an employee committee that will be researching and recommending a new benefits package for the city to provide to employees. Renewal rate increases for the upcoming year are estimated to be astronomical and the city can’t afford to keep its current benefits package. At your first meeting you can tell that your peers aren’t focused on reaching a solution because they don’t want to change their current benefits. What do you do to begin the meeting?

13. The Legend of the Benefits Task Force How do you begin the meeting… • Buy lunch for everyone and hope that will defuse the tension • Have an open discussion about the task and change in benefits. Make sure everyone has a chance to speak. • You lead off by talking about the task at hand and how the city may find a better benefits package through its research. • Delegate assignments and hope that over time they will get over it. Taking time to talk about it will only fuel the problem and delay finding any solutions. • Cancel the meeting and ask the city manager to step in.

14. Leading Sideways 1 Just Role with It 2 You Have a Friend in Me 3 Lazy Daisy 4 The Legend of the Benefits Task Force 5 No Laughing Matter 6 It’s a Secret 7 Fantasy Football 8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T

15. No Laughing Matter You are over at Public Works for a meeting. After the meeting, you hear a coworker, Alex, making a joke about another staff member, Shannon, coming out of the closet. This is not the first time you overheard Alex making fun of Shannon and saying gay innuendos. What actions do you take, if any?

16. No Laughing Matter What would be your first action… • Take no action • Tell the HR Director or the City Administrator • Talk to Alex directly; the statements could be hurtful and represent the City poorly • Talk to Shannon to see if the gay innuendos are hurtful • Talk about what you overheard with other coworkers hoping they will talk to Alex or Shannon about it

17. Leading Sideways 1 Just Role with It 2 You Have a Friend in Me 3 Lazy Daisy 4 The Legend of the Benefits Task Force 5 No Laughing Matter 6 It’s a Secret 7 Fantasy Football 8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T

18. It’s a Secret Morgan comes into your office and asks to have a confidential conversation. You agree. Morgan informs you about the difficulties of balancing work and life as the stress is causing Morgan to have some dangerous and depressing thoughts. You ask if any suicidal thoughts have been present and Morgan responds that there haven’t been any such thoughts. Morgan reiterates the desire for this discussion to stay between the two of you because Morgan is worried of what others would think. What would you do?

19. It’s a Secret What would be your first action… • Nothing. Morgan came to me in confidence and will reach out to me again when needed. • Reach out to Morgan and ask to setup up weekly check up meetings. Encourage Morgan to seek additional help. • Inform Morgan’s supervisor of the recent discussion. • Refuse to meet with Morgan again. This is a matter that Morgan needs to discuss with a supervisor. • Offer to take some of Morgan’s workload at work to eliminate some of the stress.

20. Leading Sideways 1 Just Role with It 2 You Have a Friend in Me 3 Lazy Daisy 4 The Legend of the Benefits Task Force 5 No Laughing Matter 6 It’s a Secret 7 Fantasy Football 8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T

21. Fantasy Football During the past week, you’ve noticed a group of city planners huddle around one another conversing for the last 30 minutes of the day before going home. One day you walk past them and see that they are looking at their fantasy football lineups. You discover that the city planners have been saving the last 30 minutes of every day to talk fantasy football as they wind down for the day. In addition, you know that looking at fantasy football during working hours is a clear violation of the city’s technology policy. However, you’ve been having a hard time connecting with the city planners, and this may be a nice avenue for you to get to know them better. What do you do?

22. Fantasy Football What would be your first action… • Nothing. This is an innocent common interest. In fact, it is a positive employee morale activity. • Ask them politely to stop looking at fantasy football during working hours. • Inform their supervisor of what you observed. • Inform the IT Director of the situation and ask them to block the fantasy football website. • Ask one of the planners what they would give up for Adrian Peterson.

23. Leading Sideways 1 Just Role with It 2 You Have a Friend in Me 3 Lazy Daisy 4 The Legend of the Benefits Task Force 5 No Laughing Matter 6 It’s a Secret 7 Fantasy Football 8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T

24. R-E-S-P-E-C-T Jamie has been coming to your office to complain about the workload and is frustrated management hasn’t done anything to recognize these efforts. Jamie is a very good employee and has been a good team player. Jamie is quietly looking for another job because of the lack of recognition. Since you are part of the management team, you know that the city manager is planning on negotiating 3% pay increases for union and non-union employees. However, this information is still confidential and has yet to be finalized. What do you do?

25. R-E-S-P-E-C-T What would be your first action… • Secretly disclose to Jamie the 3% pay increase is coming for staff • Ask Jamie to not leave and hint that there will be some form of acknowledgment coming soon • Work with Jamie on coordinating an event to boost employee morale • Tell Jamie you understand the frustration and that you are also looking for another job • Explain to Jamie that everyone is in the same boat; management doesn’t need to tell staff they’re doing a good job • Tell the city manager about your discussion with Jamie and explore options with the city manager

26. Leading Sideways 1 Just Role with It 2 You Have a Friend in Me 3 Lazy Daisy 4 The Legend of the Benefits Task Force 5 No Laughing Matter 6 It’s a Secret 7 Fantasy Football 8 R-E-S-P-E-C-T