Big Chip is a mid-sized organization that markets software solutions to small to mid-sized consulting firms. While still in the growth mode, Big Chip was impacted by the current economic slowdown and instituted a hiring and pay freeze. Now more than ever, the organizations culture requires fast action and teamwork. Marketing and sales are under pressure to expand into new, complex markets and not to be constrained by customer services lack of capacity to support new customer requirements. The IT department is under pressure to upgrade the current systems which can no longer accommodate the growth into new markets. System upgrades are frequent, not always well planned and implemented, and training is a reactive exercise. The current system no longer meets organization and customer needs. Cheryl Armstrong leads the customer service team that supports external customers. Cheryls style is quick; she is adept at multi-tasking and thrives on the action. Her employees spend most of their time reacting to major resource reductions, changing customer (internal and external) requirements and system problems. She is proud of her teams quick responses, although lately their responses/solutions dont really address the cause of a problem or indicate that they really understood the problem in the first place. The result is wasted effort, quick fixes, lost time and results that dont match customer expectations. Cheryl sees her teams work relationships more strained and a growing irritation with other departments. She also sees some team burnout. Her own work/life imbalance frustrates her since, rather than burden the team, she takes on some of the teams work. Cheryl functions like many other managers, as both an individual contributor and department leader. There is no sign that the pace or resources will change any time soon. The organization is growing and resources are not; chaotic work situations are also growing.

Question 1Not yet answeredPoints out of 1Not flaggedFlag question Question text What is the best starting point for Cheryl?

Select one: Bite the bullet; take some time to ask the team to generate ideas to address the current situation.

Convince her leadership to form a committee to find different ways of working in the organization.

Keep a positive attitude and continue to shoulder the burden hoping that things will change soon.

Talk to her manager and explain that her team is at the burnout point and cannot continue at the current pace.

Question 2 Marketing and Sales have been successful in marketing to larger, more complex customers. Since there is a temporary hiring freeze and her team is overworked now, what should Cheryl do first to prepare?

Select one: Ask the team for ideas on how to manage the increased workload.

Make the case to upper management to lift the hiring freeze in light of new revenue.

Remind her team how much revenue will be generated by these new customers.

Work with Sales to learn specific new customer requirements, expectations, and deliverables.

Question 3 Current customers are complaining that they are not getting responses fast enough from Cheryls team. What action should Cheryl take?

Select one: Allocate some emergency budget to hire several temporary workers to get through the crunch.

Ask sales to educate the customers on the agreed upon response times.

Ask the team to look at the current customer response process with the goal of getting back to the customers faster.

Meet with the other department heads about this problem since customer service depends on the other departments for customer solutions.

Question 4 Cheryl wants her team to brainstorm ideas of how to work better in the current environment. What is her best approach?

Select one: Ask her team to contribute their ideas during a regular staff meeting.

Have a special meeting and use some creative approaches to involve everyone, and help the team see all aspects of the situation.

Schedule a special meeting and ask everyone to come with three solutions to manage work chaos and then vote on the best ones.

Display her ideas on a mind map for her team to react to and after discussion, come to consensus on the best ideas.