1. Team Leader Training Working the System
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2. Working the System
A researcher is scheduled to present a paper at a professional conference in a couple of weeks. The day of the presentation happens to be Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday. The conference is in Colorado, and the researcher has requested to fly on Friday evening to ski the weekend prior to the start of the conference on Monday. Todd, the team leader, had gone to the unit chief and sold him on the value of this conference to the program of research his team is undertaking. So even though the researcher’s briefing is on a date fixed by the conference committee (a federal holiday), ARI made the decision that this employee can work on a holiday (even though we strongly try to avoid it) to present at this conference. Todd makes it known to the employee that because he will be working on a holiday he will be receiving holiday pay (which is double his normal salary for that day). He prepares well for the presentation and is excited about the opportunity to go. However, a week prior to the conference, the researcher approaches Todd and says that since he is working on a holiday, he wants to report for duty back at home a day later than usual. He did not ask for annual leave, he just wants a free day because he missed out on a day off since he was working the holiday.

3. Question & Answer Session
Q1. How would you react in this situation? What do you suppose Todd is thinking as the researcher is talking to him?

4. Q2. What would you say to the researcher?
Question & Answer Session
Q2. What would you say to the researcher?

5. Q3. What do you think Todd’s chief will say when he hears about it?
Question & Answer Session
Q3. What do you think Todd’s chief will say when he hears about it?

6. Working the System - Continued
Todd can’t believe the temerity of the researcher for requesting this! He gets paid plane ticket travel to Colorado and two days of skiing (at his own expense for fees, hotel, and food), and holiday pay to boot. Then he has the nerve to ask for time off because he “missed his holiday?” Todd explains to his unit chief what has happened, and the unit chief says, “if he wants his holiday off, he can have it” and cancels the trip Todd worked so hard to convince the chief would be good for the researcher and the research program. A contractor co-author will make the presentation, and the researcher will get his federal holiday like everyone else. Todd feels awful from a lot of different standpoints AND he has to go tell the researcher his trip is canceled.

7. Question & Answer Session
Q4. Now Todd is wondering, should he have told his chief at all? Should he have made the employee go to the chief?

8. Question & Answer Session
Q5. Should Todd try to talk his chief out of the decision? Do you have a relationship with your chief that would allow you to talk him or her out of such a decision?

9. Working the System - Continued
Months after this incident, Todd realizes there has been a change in his researcher’s behavior. He now comes in promptly at his official start time, and at the official end of the day, he’s gone no matter what deadlines he is working on. Todd has even seen him in his car before work waiting until the last minute to come into the building. While he works hard during the day, he clearly has reacted to losing his conference trip and obviously didn’t like how the situation ended.

10. Q6. What could Todd have done to have prevented this fallout?
Question & Answer Session
Q6. What could Todd have done to have prevented this fallout?

11. Q7. What might Todd do to attempt to get the researcher back on track?
Question & Answer Session
Q7. What might Todd do to attempt to get the researcher back on track?

12. Question & Answer Session
Q8. What might Todd have done to get the researcher to understand his perspective?

13. Lessons Learned, Slide 1 of 2
Clearly, the researcher wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He either did not understand or did not accept that being paid double salary for that Monday was his remuneration for working the holiday and that he wasn’t entitled to have double pay and a free day off. While Todd’s chief may have been successful in ‘teaching him a lesson,’ it happened at the expense of Todd’s team’s long term performance. The researcher did not become the role model he might have been for others.
At a minimum, Todd should talk to him regarding how he thinks the request looks to him and his chief. Asking him how he might feel if he was in Todd’s position might help him appreciate the inappropriateness of his request. Additionally, he might learn that the saying “it never hurts to ask” is sometimes not true.

14. Lessons Learned, Slide 2 of 2
Knowing and explaining the rules to others for things like holiday pay and TDY as a Team Leader can prevent situations that otherwise might get out of hand. It is your responsibility to know or to seek out the correct information.
How you handle these types of situations in an attempt to develop researchers can have long term effects.
Teaching others to take different perspectives can greatly aid in their development.
Themes
ARI Knowledge; Conflict Management; Developing Subordinates;
Perspective Taking; Setting Expectations