The three core skills that were at play in the case included; conflict management and resolution, leadership’s skills or organizational skills, team building and management skills.
Skills at play in the case of reluctant workers
Team building skills
The case study clearly shows that the workers lacked teamwork. It shows that they did not listen, share or even cooperate with their boss and never learnt together as a team. The workers did whatever they wanted because they lacked team work. They would also walk out of late afternoon team meetings because of the thought they would miss the pool of their cars.
Leadership skills
The employees were unable to cooperate with Tim; they lacked leadership skills since they were not able to support their new manager. They were adamant to change hence they lacked personal skills of being straightforward and knowledgeable in regard to their new boss. This became difficult because the employees were not happy with the change of the manager, this affected the output as different managers exhibit different senses of values and characters as compared to those who were there before them.
Conflict resolution skills
Many conflicts occurred in this company because the employees did not respect Tim Ashton as the project manager. This brought about conflicts in the company. In addition, they showed disrespect for new comers. Phil on the other hand, lacks conflict resolution mechanisms since he fails to come into an agreement with the new manager.
How Tim Aston was exercising the above skills with the project staff and the functional managers
Tim Ashton was lacking team building skills in his leadership skills, it is the duty of the project manager to motivate the employees, solve conflicts that arise from the teams and also manage them. Tim was not able to organize the workers because they would leave their desks by 4.30 pm. They would also walk out from afternoon meetings. Since Tim was a young manager, he lacked personal credibility associated with work experience as he had just joined the company three months ago. In order to keep the spirit of a team burning the leader should be able to show proper and effective communication skills.
Leadership skills
As a young project manager Tim lacked leadership skills which a project manager must have so that he can be able to lead his team in everything that he does. Tim was not able to communicate to the workers. This is evident in the passage where he says that whenever he asked the employees to talk to him they would not show up. Tim is not able to control the workers because he lacks leadership skills, he does not ask them to come for a meeting and discuss what is affecting them, a character that is not attributed to a good manager. As a project manager he lacked set rules and regulations that are aimed at directing the employees.
Conflict resolution skills
Tim Aston portrays poor conflict resolution skills as a project manager. He discusses issues of the employees with Phil Davies without personally involving them. He should have communicated openly, honestly and frequently with the employees. In addition, he could have held staff meetings in the presence of the executive. He should also have interacted with the staff through engaging them in the area of their work and demonstrating his interest towards his work and working with them.
The degree of support that Tim was offered by the company
According to the case study, Tim was accorded poor support by most of the staff in the company. The workers on their part were not supportive either; they never played their role as expected. According to Tim, the workers cleared their desks as before time, and worse enough they walked out from afternoon meetings forcing him to arrange for morning meetings. This used to make him feel de-motivated, therefore leading to low productivity. The employees were unable to communicate their problems to Tim, even when he opens up his office to them to air their views, they undervalue him.
The management on the other hand was not supportive too, Phil Davies advices Tim that it is a way of life in their organizational for that; in a project environment the people come first and the project comes second. The top management seemed more interested in building empires rather than contributing to employees and organization growth, for example the boss in the accounts office refused to release him even though he was interested in project management.
Recommendations to the management
Having gone through the ineffective skills in the organization, I would recommend that the senior executives of the company, Phil Davies works out on a plan to come up with a workplace improvement guide. These are a set of guides that help top management in any organization to get ahead of their job by showing how to achieve improvements in their workplace hence higher productivity from the human resource capital. These guides lead to a coordinated and ordered common sense in an organization whereby the employees develop a common mind set to achieve organization goals.
The management should work on a strategy of improving the productivity of the organization. This can be achieved through enhancing team building whereby team members interact and solve problems as a team. It can also be achieved through employee evaluation and selection which leads to personal effectiveness hence an overall organization growth.