For this week’s
assignment, I interviewed my supervisor Amy Serrano in regards to team work. In
our division there are 16 employees. The
reason I chose to interview Amy was because in the year and a half that I have
been with the County we have had many changes within our division. Amy was
previously a clerk for a few years. This past year she was promoted to
Assistant supervisor and now she is our supervisor.
Here is the interview:
How long have you
been a supervisor?
I have been a supervisor for 8 months.
How many employees do
you supervise?
There are 16 employees.
Do you feel that your
employees function as a team?
I believe when my employees are pulled together they work
very well as a team. Although, there are a few who need a little extra
motivation.
How important is team
work in your line of work?
Team work is extremely important, because our division
wouldn’t function properly without it.
Do you believe you
have an effective team? Why?
With the number of individuals that we have I believe we are
very effective. When it comes to assisting each other, everyone is willing to
do their part. In the amount of time I have been a supervisor I can proudly say
that my team goes above and beyond their expectations.
What are the
strongest areas of your team?
The strongest areas would have to be the assisting others
with work.
What areas do you
need to improve on?
I believe that I can improve on motivating others do take
the initiative to voluntarily be a team.
When your team is not
functioning as a whole, how do you deal with this?
I get the team together and stress the importance of working
together as a team.
Can you give me an
example of effective teamwork within your division?
I believe effective team work starts with having monthly
meetings so everyone is on the same page. This helps with the effectiveness of
what is expected of each and every one of them. This also gives me the
opportunity to praise them when praise should be given.
How would you
describe your team’s culture?
The team work seems to come natural to most. The ones that
need that extra motivation are great team players, but sometimes need a little
push to get the team spirit. I can proudly say my team is efficient and
cooperative in working together.
I found Amy’s
responses very interesting because I really agree with her. In relation to
other divisions, the criminal section is very close. We are also very
protective of each other. There are times when we know someone is behind in
work that others in the division will help them so they don’t get further
behind or in trouble. Even when we are busy ourselves we help each other out. I
think this is very important because you develop a sense of trust with your
teammates and this can lead to advancement in other areas. If you look back to
a previous post of mine regarding organizational structure, Amy has a lot of
chiefs to report to. This can sometimes be hard on our division but Amy has
always stuck by us and I think that’s the reason our team functions so well. A
team needs a strong but understanding leader in order to properly function and
get things done.
Hi Melinda,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your interview and it sounds like you work in a very high functioning team. I also like that you watch out for each other and bring the slower ones along rather than call them out. Amy mentioned in the interview that some need "a little extra motivation" to get with the program, I'm guessing that means a closed door "come to Jesus" meeting?
We have meetings every afternoon to hash out what we're going to cover and we used to have a crusty old assignment editor who would mock other peoples' story ideas. I called him on it a few times and got really frustrated that our boss wouldn't handle it. Then one day, he was fired and he never really understood why. Our team functions much better now.
Talk to you soon!
J
Hi John!
DeleteYeah we really do try to work together and sometimes it may seem like some people aren't pulling their weight because they know the others will do it for them. Our administration is really tough on everyone so we all try to stay under the radar plus if we mess up then Amy gets in trouble too. I like your story about the guy who would put people down. That gets tough too. We had a meeting one time and I asked Amy yo maybe start the meetings off positively because they were usually highlights of what we did wrong. We'd get the notification and be like, great, what did we do now. Things have improved on that aspect so it's much better now.
Thanks for the interview. The interview reminds me that all teams are
ReplyDeletevery unique and that teams can be filled with people of different
levels of passion, expertise, motivation, etc. Thus, it seems critical
for the manager to do many things. But the team effectiveness that is
mentioned in the interview, I believe can only be achieved in a
relatively small group, where constant communication and activity is
flowing. I believe trust is the basis of all relationships, and this
can be enhanced when information and contact between the members are
constant. It would be more interesting to see how the team disagrees
and loses teamwork
Thanks for insight Yeirang. I honestly don't remember a time when the team disagreed. We're pretty much on the same page all the time. It's eerie. If we do disagree with something its as a whole group. Very odd but very nice as well.
Delete