Managing employees with personal problems can be a delicate and challenging task. As a manager, it's important to approach these situations with empathy, understanding, and professionalism. It is also important to foster a positive and supportive work environment where employees feel comfortable discussing personal issues. You also want to create-a safe environment to encourage open communication and establish trust with your team members.

Please read the following scenario and respond to the questions which follow.

It's Monday at 8:30 a.m., and you haven't even finished your coffee when you are confronted by one of your team leaders, Jose. "Sharon, we have a problem. Tom has called in again and says he can't come to work today because his daughter is sick. This is the fifth time this month that Tom has either missed work entirely or left early to deal with his personal life. The whole project team is getting tired of picking up the slack for Tom. What are you going to do about this?"

You were pleased six months ago to be promoted from a team manager into a department manager, but now you're not so sure you want all the "people" headaches that go along with it. Tom's story is a sad one, having been told unexpectedly on Father's Day (of all days!) that his wife wanted a divorce. Of course, it was hard for Tom for a couple of weeks after that time and you tried to be compassionate and flexible about his schedule since he now had most of the responsibility of caring for his young daughter since his wife moved out of the house to "be single again".

At that time Tom asked for a personal meeting with you. "Sharon, my wife and I intend to file the divorce papers ourselves to save money, so this won't take long and then my life will be back on track. I know I've been distracted lately, but I promise I'll re-focus and not let the team down." Unfortunately, it's a few months later and the only thing you've observed so far is a lot of angry telephone calls between Tom and his estranged wife, and a lot of problems with Tom having to come in late, leave early, and otherwise being distracted due to his personal problems.

You're also aware that Tom has started driving for Uber until all hours of the night to earn some extra money. Tom's fatigue is obvious, and his performance has continued to slide, so you decide to take Tom to lunch to discuss a performance plan. You take Tom to one of his favorite restaurants, Fuzzy's Tacos, and start the difficult conversation.

"Tom, I know you've been dealing with a lot lately with your divorce situation and taking care of your daughter. It's obvious you're very tired because you are driving all night for Uber, then trying to get your daughter to school and come to work and be productive here at your full-time job. Can you tell me what your long-range plans are?"

"Well, Sharon, it's been really hard. My wife keeps calling and demanding money, so I have to work extra shifts for Uber. We're supposed to file for divorce, but I just haven't had time to write up the papers myself to file with the Court. As you know, I was in a minor car accident a few months ago with my daughter in the car and now she has been feeling dizzy and complaining of headaches. So, I've had to take her to some additional doctor appointments to try to figure out what's wrong."

You think carefully before responding. While you are sympathetic to Tom's situation, you also have a responsibility to the team and your company. "Tom, I feel very badly for you, but we have a problem that we can't avoid talking about any more. Your personal situation has affected your work performance to the point that we need to have a performance plan agreed to and placed in your HR file. Do you have any suggestions about how we can best measure your progress in meeting project team goals?"

"Well, Sharon, I'm trying, I really am. I guess I'll try harder, but I have to take care of my daughter since her mother doesn't really want to be bothered with being a mother too much anymore. My ulcers are acting up and I can barely eat. I'm so tired I'm surprised I can function from day to day. But, I don't want you and everyone else to be mad at me. I really like this job."

"Tom, I can appreciate your situation, but I recommend that we design a performance plan as follows: You will be meeting weekly with Jose on Monday afternoons to evaluate your progress on your project responsibilities. We have a launch date of our project in 45 days and we simply cannot afford for anyone to be missing work until it launches. So, I will be working closely with Jose (as the project manager) and with you to evaluate if you are continuing to miss work and if you are meeting project deadlines. I would also like to suggest that you talk to Human Resources about the Employee Assistance Program and other benefits you are qualified for to help you in your personal life. A formal notice of this performance plan will be written up and placed in your employee file. I will set up a meeting with you in 30 days to see how things are going."

You then call Jose, the team leader, and tell him that you have suggested that he and Tom meet on Monday afternoons to keep him on track for project responsibilities. Jose replies that "Tom will probably miss the first meeting because of some stupid thing." You ask Jose to remain professional and keep you abreast of the situation.

It's a week later, Monday at 4:00, and you have just read a curt e-mail from Jose stating that Tom missed his first meeting because he was upset about his wife calling six times that day demanding money, so he left at 2:30 to go talk to her. This does not appear to be going well. The next morning, Tuesday, all the team members are in your office at 8:30 a.m. and tell you that unless something is done about Tom, they will be looking for new jobs.

Questions:

2. What stage(s) of group development are represented in this case? Please provide examples for each stage: forming, storming, norming, and performing.
4. Remember the 4 leadership functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling? How might Sharon use each of those to resolve this conflict?
6. Should Sharon fire Tom even though it is less than the 30 days of the performance plan? What potential consequences could result from that decision?
8. What should Sharon do-about the team members threatening to quit?