Behavior Influences Introduction: In this Learnscape, the Student has recently been promoted to a manager at XYZ Software, and the first assigned task is to lead a software development team working on the Cloud Project. The Student has a mentor in their old manager, Warren, who starts the Learnscape by calling the Student to see how the new management position is going. They plan to meet for dinner to catch up. Next, the Student meets with the new development team to get an update on the project, and observes the distinctly different personalities that make up the team. The Student is a little concerned about the new employee, Evan, who is just getting acclimated to working for a larger company. After the development team meeting, the Student asks Evan to stay behind and talk, because it is obvious that Evan is agitated. This conversation shows specified influences on an individual s behavior. Later, the Student meets Warren for dinner, and asks for advice on handling the different personalities. Warren advises the Student to review the Myers Briggs website, and sends the Student a link to it. The focus of this conversation is to explain the factors that determine an individual s personality. Warren also suggests team-building exercises, as a set up to Learnscape 2. Later, the Student is reviewing the website, which provides content on personality types, when he gets a call from Monty, a family friend. Monty represents old-school management and provides content for perception and how it affects decision-making. Monty also represents the Baby Boomer perspective. Then, Warren calls the student and asks a few questions about influences on behavior. The next day,, the Project Manager approaches the Student and lets them know that she is concerned about Evan s attitude and performance. This conversation relates to how an individual s value system influences their attitude, and it contrasts Evan s value system as a Generation X member, and s value system as a Baby Boomer. The Student calls a meeting, but is met with resistance, providing an opportunity to have Kurt, the team s Software Architect complain about the other team members, illustrating faulty perceptions and how they affect decision-making. After the meeting, the Student once again calls Warren for advice, and they plan to meet later at the coffee shop. At this meeting, Warren provides information about generational influences, perceptions, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. He suggests that the Student list the statements by employees that illustrate how their values are influencing their attitudes, and categorize them. This becomes a drag and drop assessment, which the Student later submits to Warren via email. Warren reviews the email and responds the next day, and suggests an Onward Bound team-building event to create a more cohesive team. The Student agrees. Characters: 1. Warren Sebastian 2. Evan Tyrell
3. Shanks 4. Monty O Brien 5. Lupe Gomez 6. Ling Chen 7. Kurt Moss Locations: 1. Student s Office 2. Student s Home 3. Conference Room 4. Coffee Shop
Scene 1: Meeting Your Mentor As this scene begins, the Student is in the office and receives a phone call from Warren. At the end of this scene, the Student is invited to dinner. Location Off-screen characters Student s office Student faces their computer on the table, when the cell phone rings. Warren Sebastian On-Screen Text: First thing today, you get a call from your mentor... NOTE: Cell phone rings, showing a video chat of Warren as they talk. Hey, how s the new job going? Are you knocking em dead with your amazing management skills like I knew you would when I hired you? Hi, Warren. It s going great no complaints so far. I am really happy that I was promoted to manager. We re doing a new software project, but I m sure you re not interested, being in the land of golf and crossword puzzles now. Hey, I m an independent contractor, not totally retired! Of course I m interested. What s the project? We re shifting our inventory management system to the Cloud - it s a huge undertaking. I m meeting with the new team in a few minutes. I keep hearing about the Cloud, but I m a bit cloudy on the meaning. Hey, I ve got an idea. Do you want to have dinner tonight? I d love to hear more about your ever-evolving world. Sounds good. Same Italian place like before? You got it my treat. See you after work. Scene 2: Meeting with Software Development Team In this scene, the Student meets with the new development team to get an update on the project, and observes the distinctly different personalities that make up the team. Location Conference Room The Student faces the screen, and, Kurt, and Ling are sitting on either side of the table. Later, Kurt leaves, and Evan arrives. Shanks, Evan Tyrell, Ling Chen, Kurt Moss
Off-screen characters Lupe Gomez (via conference call) On-screen text: At the Cloud Project update meeting... KURT LUPE (audio) LUPE (audio) KURT OPTION 1 OPTION 2 OPTION 3 Well, not everyone s here, but it is 9 o clock, so I m going to start. Don t you think you should wait for the new guy, what s his name? His name is Evan. And I think we should wait for him. Hi guys! It s Lupe! Sorry I m late was having trouble getting the mic set up. Can you all hear me? Yes, we can hear you. I didn t know you were going to telecommute, Lupe. We really need to meet in person and go over the use cases. Oh. We can review use cases on Skipp video chat, right? I need to talk to Evan about those first anyway. You know I have the crew coming to start the remodel on my kitchen today. Plus, living so far away as I do, I really would like to telecommute more often. (Sighs) I do not see how we re going to meet our goals if half of us aren t in the office. You just let me worry about that, Kurt. Okay? Take care of your own deadlines and I ll manage the team. You have enough on your plate as the software architect; you don t need to play project manager, too. Okay, let s just relax. This is a new team and we re just getting to know each other. Let s give Evan 5 minutes and just enjoy our coffee. Let s all calm down. If anyone has concerns about deadlines, we can meet with offline., take a step back and we ll talk about any attendance challenges later. Why don t we give Evan a few minutes? Okay? NOTE: Student can choose any of the above options to proceed. LING KURT I m ready with my update if you want to start with that. Evan doesn t need to be here for GUI decisions. Good point. Go ahead, Ling. I can t believe this. It s not my fault if the software engineer is late, and now I have to sit through graphics discussions? As the architect, I should be present
for software-related issues, most of which are going to come from Evan, and then I should be able to get right back to my work. Which I have a lot-- KURT <Interrupts> If you don t like how we re running the meeting, feel free to leave, Kurt. You don t have to ask me twice! <Kurt gets up and walks out.> LUPE (audio) Did Kurt just leave? Wow, I thought I was impatient! Okay, here s Evan, now. I will talk to Kurt later. Please continue, <Evan enters and sits in Kurt s chair.> EVAN EVAN EVAN Chair s warm. Nice! Uh, Evan, since you re finally able to grace us with your presence, why don t you let us know where you re at on the first 2 tasks assigned to you? Oh, right. Hi, everyone. Very sorry I m late. And, um-- I m not quite ready to give an update, being that I just got here. How about if I listen instead? I really need to talk to Kurt anyway, and, if that sour-kraut-smelling blur in the hallway was who I think it was, he is probably not coming back anytime soon, huh? So, let me get this straight. You re late and you re not even prepared? If this is how you act when you re newly hired, what can I expect from you later? Hey, take it easy! Who elected you dictator? You don t even know what kind of morning I ve had. Some of us have lives, you know! <Text balloon pops up, interrupting dialog.> Okay, I think that s enough for today! Thanks, everyone! Evan, please stick around for a few minutes. Scene 3: Meeting with Evan The Student meets with Evan alone to gain insight into Evan s behavior. This conversation shows specified influences on an individual s behavior. Location Off-screen characters Conference Room The Student faces the screen, and Evan is to the right at the table. Evan
On-screen text: You try to get to know new employee, Evan, a little better... EVAN I m really sorry I was late. I had car problems, and then my cell phone died, so I couldn t call in. <A POP-UP WINDOW APPEARS WITH THIS TEXT: You remember to keep in mind Attribution Theory here, which relates to how, when we observe an individual s behavior, we naturally try to determine whether it is internally or externally caused. Just be careful to avoid the common error of automatically assuming it is internally motivated. Look for Distinctiveness (related behaviors indicating a pattern), Consensus (similar or same behaviors reported by others), and Consistency (behaviors repeated regularly). EVAN EVAN OPTION 1 OPTION 2 OPTION 3 I understand, but it s not just today. You re late quite often, so it seems like something is going on. Do you want to tell me about it? Yeah, I guess you re right. I just wasn t expecting to have to deal with politics like this. At my old job, I worked mostly alone, and I could work at home when I wanted. I m not used to having people ride me like does. Her attitude actually makes me want to work less, not more. So your last job was more informal? Well, the company was a lot smaller. I had more responsibility because I was both the software architect and the engineer. Now, the work is not as challenging, but there s more of it, and I get interrupted constantly I can t get anything done. And Kurt thinks he knows everything; he doesn t listen when I talk to him. He talks a lot but doesn t do much. We can talk more about your workload, but none of these are good reasons to be unprepared for your first formal meeting. I hear you. It s not easy to deal with a new team in a new work situation. But, it definitely helps if you re prepared for meetings. It sounds like you were not exactly ready for a corporate work environment. We can work through these challenges, but I need you to be prepared for meetings. NOTE: Student can choose any of the above options to proceed. EVAN I should have been prepared. I was going to make some notes when I got here, but then the car thing happened. You know what would help a lot? If I could telecommute. That would solve a lot of issues. And I m not sure I should mention this, but I m not spending enough time with my wife because of the
long commute. That s starting to bother me, too. Let s see if you can meet your deadlines before we talk more about that. Scene 4: Meeting with Your Mentor In this scene, the Student meets Warren for dinner, and asks for advice on handling the different personalities. Location Off-screen characters Italian Restaurant Student faces Warren at the restaurant table. Warren Sebastian On-screen text: After work, you meet with Warren... OPTION 1 OPTION 2 Hi, good to see you! I m glad you had time for dinner. I know you have a lot on your hands there, especially with the new team. This is great to take a break. I need your advice. And some world-famous lasagna! It is really good here. Let s have some of their delicious bread and you can fill me on what s happening. The team I m working with they re all intelligent and qualified, but they re already fighting three weeks into the project. What would you do? I may be in over my head. The team doesn t seem to be under my control. There is so much conflict. NOTE: Student can choose any of the above options to proceed. Oh, yeah. Any time you have a team like that you re going to have conflict. It s the nature of it all those different personalities, angling for position. The first development meeting was a disaster. The software developer was late, and then he complained to me about not being challenged, and having to deal with the rest of the team. That s a classic complaint of an over-achiever. He may be overqualified when I
do team building exercises, we usually talk about the ability-job fit. I don t know if he is overqualified he comes from a really small company. This is only his second job. Well, ability-job fit is about his abilities, not really his experience. If he is bored with his tasks, it will show up in his behavior, like being late and complaining. Also, how old is he? You know, the younger kids, what do they call them, Generation X? They generally like more of a work-life balance; they don t want to live at the office. Yeah, that s him. But the rest of the team has their quirks, too. Some of them are really pushy. So many things influence how people act at work. Heredity, environment - you know, the old nature or nurture debate. How they feel about themselves, if they take risks, if they re Type A s sounds like you may have a lot of Type A s on one team. I don t know. I have so much to learn. It s pretty overwhelming. Listen. I ll send you a link to the Myers Briggs personality inventory. You can take a look and learn a lot about different personality types, what motivates them. That should help you start to understand your team members individually. You also might want to consider some team-building exercises outside the office, away from their turf. I ve heard of those, but never gave them much weight. I ll look into it. Thanks! Any time! Now, let s see if we can find our server! I m ready to order. Are you? Scene 5: Doing Some Research In this scene the Student gets an email from Warren with a link to the Myers Briggs website and is reviewing the website when a call comes in from Monty, a family friend. Location Off-screen characters Student s Home Student faces laptop on the coffee table. Monty O Brien On-screen text: Later, at home, you get Warren s email...
EMAIL Hi there, Great catching up at dinner, even though I stained my shirt with that meat sauce! Here s the website I told you about. I think it will help you manage your employees if you get some insight into their personalities. http://www.myers-briggs-personality-traits.com I ll call you either later tonight or in the morning. Curious to see what you think. Warren <NOTE: This will be a website that lists short descriptions of personality types in a table.> NOTE: Student must click on the link and explore, to move on. After, the Student s cell phone rings, showing a picture ID of Monty as they talk. (Monty doesn t have a smart phone.) MONTY MONTY OPTION 1 OPTION 2 Hey, hey, it s big Monty. Remember me? I haven t talked to you since you were in braces! So, what s this I hear from your parents-- you re a big time manager now? Oh, hello Monty. I actually just got the promotion, yes. But, I m having problems with some of my staff, trying to figure out what motivates them. You don t need to figure out anything! You know what you need? You need to let them know who s boss, right away lay down the law. Don t worry about what motivates them! Their paycheck is what motivates them! The big bucks! I don t think it s that simple. For example, if their ability doesn t really fit the job, that becomes my problem. Things are different in an office. My team is full of ambitious people of all ages, and I have to learn how to manage them. NOTE: Student can choose any of the above options to proceed. MONTY Here s how I manage at my dealerships: I got someone lazy on my team? Or someone causing trouble? I throw the book at them. I mean, really, I pick up a book and throw it at them. Gets everyone s attention. You got books there? Okay, that s not an option! I m thinking about doing an off-site team-building
event to get everyone on the same page. MONTY MONTY I still say you re the boss. If they don t line up, they re out. Easy-peasy. But you re right; this is not exactly corporate America, this is a car lot kingdom I ve got here. Your idea sounds like it could work for your team. I really appreciate your advice. I know you ve been a manager for a long time. You got that right, kid. So any time you want some Monty lessons, just come on down here, I ll show you how we do it. Get you a nice deal on a new car, too. Okay, thanks Monty! Talk to you soon. Scene 6: A Call from the Mentor In this scene, the Student gets a phone call from Warren, who asks some questions about personality types. Location Off-screen characters Student s Home Student faces laptop on the coffee table. Warren Sebastian On-screen text: Your evening is not over yet... NOTE: Cell phone rings, showing a video chat of Warren as they talk. OPTION 1 OPTION 2 <1 RESPONSE 1> Hi Warren! Are you stalking me? What? No, no. I just have a busy day tomorrow and I wanted to talk to you before you started yours. Have you had a chance to look through that website? Yes, thanks. Very interesting. So what do you think about Evan? Is he introverted or extroverted? I think he s an introvert. In fact, I think he s an INTJ because he is so critical, independent, and stubborn. I think he s an extrovert, probably an ENTP, because while he s good at challenges, he neglects routine assignments. Well, the test is really for the employee to take, but I think you may be right. He sounds introverted. But, INTJ stands for Introverted, intuitive, Thinking and
Judging. Not sure if he s all those, really. It s a rare personality type. What else do you think might influence Evan s behavior? <2 RESPONSE 2> OPTION 1 (correct) OPTION 2 ENTP stands for Extroverted, intuitive, Thinking and Perceiving. Keep in mind, the best way to see if this fits Evan is to have him take the test. It is fairly limiting to put people in categories like this, but it can still be helpful when guiding someone. What else do you think might influence Evan s behavior? I think you were right about the Generation X influence. I saw that on my last job as well. He really wants work to be satisfying, and he seems more focused on his free time than other people I have worked with. Evan s age may play a big part in his behavior. He is in the Generation X group, and seems very focused on detail and on money. NOTE: Student must choose correct option (1) before proceeding. <1 RESPONSE 1> <2 RESPONSE 2> That sounds about right. You will have to become familiar with all the generational influences, though, because your team spans a good spectrum of ages. That doesn t sound quite right. Usually that generation is more focused on job satisfaction and free time. But, either way, generational influences definitely impact behavior, so you should become familiar with them. Yes, I already feel like I m on the right track. I may have them take the Myer s Briggs test at work. Well, that s another reason I was calling. The test might be a good start, but you have some conflict to manage and I think that s a more urgent focus right now. So, what if I helped you out with a team-building event? I ll send you a link to Onward Bound, which specializes in outdoor events to help create more cohesive teams. Thanks! And, that would be great if you could help facilitate. You got it! Look for that email, and I ll talk to you soon.
Scene 7: Generational Influences In this scene, approaches the Student in the office with complaints about Evan and the team. Later, Kurt enters as well, and an argument ensues. Location Off-screen characters Student s Office Student faces desk. Team members enter, standing. Shanks, Kurt Moss On-screen text: The next morning you find waiting for you in your office... OPTION 1 OPTION 2 Hey, sorry to startle you! But we need to talk. Oh, hi. Good morning to you. And, what s up? I m really concerned about Evan. He left early again yesterday-- not an emergency-- he just wanted to celebrate his wife s birthday! And I m thinking, great! Celebrate away, even though you can t seem to make a deadline. Yes, it seems like an issue. But managing the employees is my problem; your concerns are the schedule and the deliverables. That s just it! The schedule! These people aren t grasping the concept. I practically live here I wouldn t think of leaving early when I have work piled up. They just don t work hard enough. And telecommuting? That s just another way to get out of work responsibilities. When you say, these people, do you mean the younger people? Do you really think that about telecommuting? Tell me why you believe telecommuting is a bad idea. NOTE: Student can choose either of the above options to proceed. <1 RESPONSE 1> Yes, the younger people. I can t go running off for every family event. They think that free time and family are more important than work! That s why they want to telecommute. <2 RESPONSE 2> Yes, I do. I think instead of calling it working from home, they should call it loafing from home. Those kids, they just want more play time.
I think that telecommuting may be a good option for certain employees. Some people have a longer commute. It s not really just about the younger people. Well, really, I don t care if they work from the moon as long as they meet deadlines! And that is not happening. Lupe missed another deadline, and it was on one of the days she was telecommuting. Evan missed his first deadline no big surprise! But, he doesn t look on track for the next one either! <Kurt enters> KURT KURT Excuse me, but shouting about the problem isn t going to help. I think you need strict punishments. Miss Hot Air here is always spouting off about deadlines. No one pays attention. Dock their pay and then you ll see them fall in line! Okay, Mr. Smart Man, that would mean you ve got a dock in pay coming up tomorrow, unless you think you can pull those fixes to the 4A and 4B design drafts out of nowhere! Well, that is not entirely fair. I m dependent on others to complete their tasks first. If you lifted your face out of your time tables and workflow charts once in a while, you would see that. If anyone here needs a face-lift, it s--! Okay, enough, you two! I m calling an emergency meeting to work this out. I ll send out an email right now. Scene 8: Conflict Abounds In this scene, the Student calls a meeting, but is met with resistance, providing an opportunity to have Kurt complain about the other team members, illustrating faulty perceptions and how they affect decision-making. Location Off-screen characters Conference Room Student faces Ling and Kurt across from each other at the table. Ling Chen, Kurt Moss On-screen text: At your emergency meeting... KURT Where is everyone? said she wasn t coming; she says she s too busy but I think she s just pouting, because she knows she s wrong. Evan and Lupe are both
telecommuting, so they could be anywhere. LING KURT It wasn t a lot of notice. Maybe they didn t see the email yet. When I call a meeting, I expect everyone to participate. This team needs a reality check. I don t appreciate being lumped in with this team especially when it s negative. Ling and I are here have you noticed that Ling is always available, enthusiastic, and on time? AND talented. Compare her to Evan. It s pretty obvious that Evan is not capable of doing his job. He is always late, so he must not be getting his work done. And Lupe? Please. All she cares about is her home remodeling project lately. She s from that part of town, you know! She doesn t take this project seriously. And don t even get me started on She may be here all the time, but what does she do, but get in people s way with her calendars and milestones? I d like to tie a milestone around her-- KURT Hey, thanks for sharing, Kurt! I don t agree with a lot of what you re saying, but I can see that we need to work out our differences if we want to make this project successful. Yes, somebody actually needs to manage the team. Got it, Kurt. I guess that concludes our meeting.
Scene 9: Motivation At this meeting, Warren provides information about generational influences, value systems, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Location Off-screen characters Coffee Shop Student faces Warren across the table. Warren Sebastian On-screen text: In the wake of your unsuccessful meeting, you talk with Warren... Warren, thanks so much for coming on short notice. My pleasure - you sounded really upset. Work is out of control. Half the staff didn t show up for the emergency meeting I set up. I know it was short notice, but still... For the future, it s always best to resolve intergroup conflicts with the particular parties involved, not in front of the whole team. I guess I learned that the hard way. You should have seen it. One of the highestranking members went on a rant I couldn t believe the stuff he was saying. From what I can gather, you have a very diverse team. I already know about the age differences, but do you also have different races? Genders? A person s behavior is motivated by very complex factors, as you re learning, I m sure. Yes, I guess I was focusing on the age differences and their personality traits. We do have different races and genders, too. That s the hardest part of management. What works with one person may not work with another. You can already see that with the generational influence we talked about earlier. You have to understand not only their personalities, but their values, their perceptions, and their motivations. What do you mean? Can you give me some examples? There are a lot of different theories about perception and motivation, but I think the behavior you re seeing is fairly common. People judge others by their behavior but, what they perceive is not necessarily true. You ve got selective perception, when one character trait seems to negatively overshadow all others, like in the case with Evan. Then, like with Kurt s perception of Ling; you have the Halo effect, where one trait positively overwhelms all others.
That makes sense. It bothered me, though, how much prejudice Kurt showed, too. Prejudice is a result of stereotyping- when we judge someone on the perception of the group to which they belong, whether it s race, gender, any kind of group. Unfortunately, it s still a part of our world. Then, you have Projection where we assume things about other people whom we perceive as similar to us. So, how do I get to the bottom of what really motivates my team members? According to the cognitive evaluation theory, people are motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Intrinsic rewards come when we re doing things we like to do, and our motivators are achievement, responsibility, and competence. We re motivated to do something because of the intrinsic value. On the other hand, extrinsic rewards are things like pay, promotions, and pleasant working conditions. So they re motivated by either intrinsic or extrinsic rewards? Well, no, it s not that simple. This theory states that providing extrinsic rewards can actually lessen one s intrinsic motivation. So, rewarding performance may not have the intended result. In some cases, verbal rewards are more motivating. The bottom line is that managers need to provide both intrinsic and extrinsic incentives find the healthy mix that works for each person. You know, try to make the work interesting, give recognition, and support growth things like that. This is all very complicated, and pretty confusing. I tell you what. Why don t you make a list of the things your employees have been saying, and see if you can tell how their values are influencing their attitudes? And also see if they would be more motivated by intrinsic or extrinsic rewards. I ll let you know what I think. Okay, sounds good. I also think we need to do that team building event ASAP! Can you send me that Onward Bound link? I ll check their schedule. Thanks for reminding me. I ll do that when I get home. And don t forget to send me that list. Scene 10: Assembling Team Member Statements The Student makes a list of the statements the employees have been making. This becomes a drag and drop assessment, which the Student submits to Warren via email.
Location Off-screen characters Student s Home Student faces the laptop. On-screen text: Later, you put together an email to Warren, analyzing your team... EMAIL Warren, You re a lifesaver. Thanks again for meeting earlier! Here s the list of statements that the team members have made to me. I made the right-hand side the influences that we have been talking about. <NOTE: Student will assemble the chart in a Drag-n-Drop exercise.> Influence categories: Selective perception, Halo effect, Projection, Stereotype, Generational Influence, Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation Statement Wait, what? You re late and you re not even prepared? If this is how you act when you re newly hired, what can I expect later? Now, the work is not as challenging, but there s more of it, and I get interrupted constantly I can t get anything done. I m not spending enough time with my wife because of the long commute. These people just don t seem to get it. I practically live here I wouldn t think of leaving early when I have work piled up. They think that free time and family are more important than work! That s why they want to telecommute. Ling and I are here have you noticed that Ling is always available, enthusiastic, and on time? AND talented. Influence Categories Selective perception Intrinsic rewards Generational influence Generational influence Stereotype Halo effect
It s pretty obvious that Evan is not capable of doing his job he is always late, so he must not be getting his work done. All she cares about is her home remodeling project lately. He should be at this meeting, work is important to him. Selective perception Stereotype Projection Please let me know what you think, and, by the way, I reviewed the information you sent about Onward Bound, the team-building retreat. Let s do it! Looks like they have an opening in about two weeks. I will help facilitate, if you can provide the content. Thank you very much! NOTE: The Student cannot proceed until all correct matches are made. If an incorrect match is made, it is blocked and a statement reads, Sorry, try again! After all correct matches are made, the Student is given the opportunity to hit Send to send the email. NOTE: After the email is sent, a pop-up window appears, with the following text: Your email has been sent! <Next, another email appears in the Inbox, flashing and the Student must click on it.> EMAIL Hi there, Nice job on the chart! I think you re gaining a much better understanding of behavioral influences now. As far as the Onward Bound retreat goes, I m in! I think it will help your team greatly. Let s get together soon to discuss! Best Regards, Warren FADE OUT
End of Learnscape 1