Example from textbook:

Sitting and thinking or just sitting? Managing knowledge workers

Bethany is troubled. This is a new job with a specialist outsourcer and her first as a team leader - a double whammy, but a job she felt quite confident applying for. After completing her journalism course, working for two years with a regional newspaper as a general reporter, settling down with her partner and having a baby, she felt it was time for a change and was delighted to be offered the position.

She knows she is ultimately responsible for her team's results and is determined to do a good job. At the moment, she's struggling to find a way to relax and let the team get on with their work. They're smart people, very experienced, and yet, given the nature of their work, substantive results for their efforts sometimes aren't apparent for a week or two. To complicate matters, she doesn't see her team members for days at a time, since they can work where and when it suits them. As technical writers and translators for complicated equipment manuals, their work habits aren't really the point. She's comfortable with that, as it isn't so different from the newspaper, where people came and went all the time, too.

A few team members who live nearby make a point of coming into the office every week or so. Others have taken to phoning her every few days to let her know how they're getting on, and a couple send quick emails or text messages to let her know of any breakthroughs or setbacks. There are a few she's never met because they live in the 'middle of nowhere' and stay there, and a couple of others live overseas. Apparently, they moved when their partners relocated and the organisation didn't want to let them go, given their specialised skills and their experience, and so arranged for them to continue working remotely.

As a part-timer herself who often works from home, Bethany supposes they're working too, but it's hard to know. Even those who come into the office sometimes look like they're just 'sitting' there - hopefully sitting and thinking, not just sitting! These are honourable, professional people, she reminds herself. Maybe their dedication isn't so much to the company or the clients as to their profession, but she wants to believe she can rely on them.

What she's really concerned about, as she thinks it through, is that some or all of the projects she is responsible for bringing to fruition on time might have fallen into a hole. She doesn't want to be left explaining to her boss any missed deadlines and her failure to keep on top of things.

1. How can Bethany tell whether people on her team are working? Does it matter?

For instance, does it matter whether people work for the number of hours they are contracted to work or only that they achieve their goals?

2. What protocols could Bethany put in place to ensure that everyone on the team meets their goals? What does Bethany need to be careful of?

3. What skills and work habits do you suggest Bethany develop to help her meet the demands of her role?