Darla is really a nice girl. I like her, honestly," said housekeeping team supervisor Wendy Smith, "but she's driving me crazy." "What's wrong?" asked Janis Fredericks, Wendy's friend from the nursing department.

Wendy answered, Her work is all right, but I can't get her to think for herself. She comes to me with questions about every little thing, even all the stuff she ought to be able to take care of herself. She checks with me so often that I might as well be doing her work as well as my own."

Janis said, "Maybe you should be thankful she keeps you informed. I wish some of my gang were better about bringing problems to me. I don't know if there's ever such a thing as too much communication."

"There is too much as far as Darla's concerned. Most of what she brings me is simple stuff, stuff she ought to know. And it seems like she does know it, but she won't go ahead and do it unless I say so. She's always after me to tell her what to do next.

And it seems like every time I turn around, she's there. She sticks to me like glue."

Janis said, "I know you've had the job only 5 or 6 months. Any idea how Darla got along with your predecessor?"

"No idea at all. But some of the folks have told me that their last supervisor was pretty strict and not the easiest person to get along with." "What are you going to do?" Janis asked. "At this point I don't know. How can I get her to work more independently without just shutting her out?"

Questions:

2. Why might Darla behave the way she does? Offer two or three possible reasons for her behavior.
4. How would you recommend that supervisor Wendy Smith approach the problem presented by Darla?