Michael Scott is a great example of a poor leader. There is at least one instance in each episode that exemplifies his horrible decision-making, terrible work ethic, or unethical behavior. One episode that sticks out in my mind is from Season three when the Scranton branch is on the verge of closing. Jan asks Michael to keep this information to himself until it is time to make the actual decision. As usual, Michael overreacts. He makes an announcement to the entire office informing them they may all lose their jobs. Instead of reassuring them, he tells them he is going to solve the problem and for the employees to just stay at the office until Michael and Dwight figure it out.
Here’s a link to the beginning the episode when Michael shares the news. http://www.tbs.com/video/index.jsp?oid=211664 If you are short for time, you can skip head to minute 5:05.
Although this situation touches on many issues that are dealt with in the workplace, the main one I am going to focus on is the idea of motivation. Michael should have handled this situation in a completely different way. By telling his employees that they may not have jobs by the end of the day, he plants in their brains that some of their basic needs will not be met. According to Herzberg’s hygiene factors, in order to be motivated, they must meet some other factors first: security, salary, working conditions, etc. Everyone at the office is in fear of losing their jobs, which leads them to slacking off in their work; this will just make the situation worse. Instead of worrying everyone, Michael should have kept it to himself until a final decision was made.
What would you have done to handle things differently? Should Jan have kept it to herself until she knew what the decision would be?
If I were in Michael's position, I definitely would have kept my mouth shut until I knew the right time of when to mention it, or wait until better news came about. But, like in the episode, if I felt compelled to spill the beans and tell my employees what was going on, I would mention that it was more of a rumor rather than facts and continue to reassure them that everything will be fine.
ReplyDeleteBecause Michael is a horrible boss in The Office, and because Jan dated him, I'd expect her to have known how he was and decided to keep it to herself until the final decision was made.
Posted by: Jon Locke - Team 2