Workplace Dynamics and the Importance of Relationship Building and Collaboration

SCENARIO
A group of employees at Spruce Paper Company recently finished a major project that involved multiple departments, from creative to distribution. The goal of the project was to develop a new line of holiday cards.
EMPLOYEE PROFILE: RITA
Rita has been leading the project from day one. She is a senior member of the marketing team and has been with the company for 15 years. Rita is responsible for managing multiple departments composed of diverse team members with a variety of backgrounds and skill sets.
It is ultimately Rita’s responsibility to set goals for the group, delegate tasks, and ensure the project is finished on time and within budget. Although Rita values the varied opinions, experience, and perspectives of all her team members, she tends to rely heavily on the expertise and opinion of Nimish. Because they have worked together in the past, she trusts him and gives him a lot of responsibilities. Rita relies heavily on Nimish to deliver progress updates on tight deadlines.
Rita’s frequent deference to Nimish makes some of the other team members feel that she favors him. Rita tries not to show favoritism by consulting the whole team before moving forward with the decisions she and Nimish have reached.
1. What is Rita’s status, the position she holds within the group, and what is her role, the behaviors expected of someone with her status?
2. How did Rita’s status or role impact how she engaged and collaborated with others to complete the project? Answer in 1–2 sentences.
3. Which type of relationship-building strategy did Rita demonstrate? Answer in 2–3 sentences, and be sure to provide evidence from the scenario and profile.
Remember, if you use any exact wording or information from this webtext or another source, be sure to add an in-text citation in SWS style.
EMPLOYEE PROFILE: NIMISH
Nimish collaborates on the project remotely from India. As a Senior Associate with the marketing team, he wears multiple hats. Some of his duties include creating marketing materials and implementing Rita’s notes. He is also the team’s best resource for technical support. He has been employed by Spruce Paper Company for five years. He and Rita worked together at the corporate offices when he lived stateside.
Team members have complained to Rita that they have trouble understanding Nimish on conference calls because of his accent, and they are frustrated that he’s based in India and never makes any in-person appearances. Rita defends Nimish’s contributions and uses the opportunity as a teachable moment to explain the importance of diversity in the workplace to her team, citing the value of Nimish’s unique perspective.
Nimish tries to address the team’s concerns by reaching out to every member to figure out how to best accommodate their various tech needs and comfort levels with preferred methods of communication. He introduces the team to new an instant-messaging application that makes it easier to keep in contact and share quick ideas.
1. What is Nimish’s status, the position he holds within the group, and what is his role, the behaviors expected of someone with his status?
2. How did Nimish’s status or role impact how he engaged and collaborated with others to complete the project? Answer in 1–2 sentences.
3. Which type of relationship-building strategy did Nimish demonstrate? Answer in 2–3 sentences, and be sure to provide evidence from the scenario and profile.
Remember, if you use any exact wording or information from this webtext or another source, be sure to add an in-text citation in SWS style.
EMPLOYEE PROFILE: DAVE
Dave is a graduate student in marketing at a local university and has been working on this project as an unpaid intern. He hopes the internship will lead to a full-time job offer.
Dave assists with market research, prepares proposals and presentations, and provides administrative support to the marketing department. This is Dave’s first office job. Though he sometimes makes mistakes, he is always quick to apologize for them.
Dave leads a weekly meeting to share new marketing ideas. He respects everyone’s contributions and is mindful to keep his emotions in check, especially when Rita rejects his pitches. In one of these meetings, Dave pitched an idea to Rita and her bosses that was well-received and later implemented by the company. He made certain the whole team received credit for their contributions to his presentation.
1. What is Dave’s status, the position he holds within the group, and what is his role, the behaviors expected of someone with his status?
2. How did Dave’s status or role impact how he engaged and collaborated with others to complete the project? Answer in 1–2 sentences.
3. Which type of relationship-building strategy did Dave demonstrate? Answer in 2–3 sentences, and be sure to provide evidence from the scenario and profile.
Remember, if you use any exact wording or information from this webtext or another source, be sure to add an in-text citation in SWS style.
EMPLOYEE PROFILE: ERNESTO
Ernesto is a retired expert in the greeting-card industry and has been called in to serve as a consultant on this project. He’s worked for a number of firms over the course of his career, but never for Spruce Paper Company.
Ernesto works closely with Rita and helps provide direction on the project. He’s also taken an interest in mentoring Dave, giving him goals to work toward and deadlines to meet.
Ernesto has been retired for six years and is in need of a refresher on current trends. For this reason, team members in the field find it frustrating to work with Ernesto. Ernesto is open to hearing their feedback, and even encourages them to voice their complaints so that he can avoid future conflict.
Ernesto offers skills and knowledge that are very valuable to the project. His key contributions have been summarizing each department’s obstacles and mitigating tension in meetings by moderating differences of opinion.
1. What is Ernesto’s status, the position he holds within the group, and what is his role, the behaviors expected of someone with his status?
2. How did Ernesto’s status or role impact how he engaged and collaborated with others to complete the project? Answer in 1–2 sentences.
3. Which type of relationship-building strategy did Ernesto demonstrate? Answer in 2–3 sentences, and be sure to provide evidence from the scenario and profile.
Remember, if you use any exact wording or information from this webtext or another source, be sure to add an in-text citation in SWS style.
1A. Identify two collaboration strategies that the team members at Spruce Paper Company used to complete their project. Be sure to use evidence to illustrate how they used those strategies.
1B.In 2–3 sentences, explain why relationship building and collaboration are important both personally and professionally.
Remember, if you use any exact wording or information from this webtext or another source, be sure to add an in-text citation in SWS style.