Introduction

Every supervisor brings a unique personality, varied experiences, and a variety of training to the decision-making process. Some supervisors are risk takers; some value certainty. Some supervisors are creative and intuitive; others are logical and rational. All supervisors are called on to make decisions and choices, that require careful thought and information. Supervisors need to understand how to go about this process and the basic tendencies that can affect it.

Toby Lyman has been hired as a supervisor in the new services department of a medium-sized call center. This department is responsible for assisting existing customers in using new services in a telecommunications call center. Other departments transfer calls to this department to alert customers to new services. The call center has high expectations for the department’s results. Toby’s background is in sales and customer service at retail companies where she has also developed good problem-solving skills. A manager in a retail company where Toby worked is now a director and is Toby’s boss at the call center.

In the new services department, Toby is one of four supervisors, each of whom has four to six associates to supervise. Two of the supervisors have ten years with the call center and five years as supervisors in the department. The other supervisor was recently transferred to this department from another department where she was a supervisor. At the meeting in which Toby accepted the position, her new boss said, “Your sales background will help shake up our department and get people thinking in new ways.” On the first day at the call center, one of the other supervisors welcomed Toby by saying, “Glad to have you! We’ll take it easy on you until you understand how we do things here.”

The new job is under way, and there are decisions to make about people transfers, working hours, vacation coverage, customer handling, and website revisions, to name just a few. Toby also discovers that there are no measures in place to measure performance of the call center. Toby is torn between a desire to fit in and another to recommend some actions that she suspects would work better in the call center. She knows that one path (fitting in) is conservative and has little risk. The alternative (recommending changes) might be the kind of action that makes her stand out.

Instructions

Prepare a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation following the seven-step decision-making process. The presentation should detail the following:

1. Identify problems in the workplace.
2. Restate what information is known or what measures should be taken to collect information.
3. Offer up suggestions for improvements.
4. Select the best alternative.
5. Identify how the decision will be implemented and any barriers or conflicts that may occur.
6. Identify how the change will be monitored and measured.

Organize your presentation as follows:

• Slide 1: Title of PowerPoint presentation and your name
• Slides 2-9: The six questions listed above
• Slide 10: List references used

Be sure to follow these requirements in your work:

• Type your assignment in a PowerPoint document (.ppt or .pptx).
• Do not copy word for word from the textbook or any websites you visit.
• Use Times New Roman.