Level 4 Teamwork

Sample Item

Scenario:

A convenience store is staffed during the day by a manager and a team of four employees. One of the employees, a member of a minority group, has just been hired and happens to begin work on the day of a large snowstorm. Another employee is not able to get to work because of the weather. The manager, who will be busy with other weather-related problems, asks the other two experienced workers to work together to orient the new employee.

One of the experienced workers is normally the cashier, and the second usually stocks shelves and helps customers. Feeling that he will probably be very busy, the cashier tells the stocker to help the new worker. The stocker, knowing that orientation will take extra time, resents having it pushed off on her. Since the store is very busy, she will need to restock the shelves more often than usual. With the other experienced worker absent, the stocker doesn't see how she can possibly get everything done that is expected of her. She spends more time than necessary in the storage room to avoid the new employee.

As a member of this team, the stocker could best support the team and get the work task accomplished by:

having the new employee help her stock shelves as she explains store procedures.
having the new employee learn by just watching the other employees.
telling the cashier to take care of training the new employee so the stocker can get her work done.
telling the manager that nothing is going right and that she doesn't have time to train the new employee.

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Why this is a Level 4 item:

There are several problems and sources of difficulty: there is a demand for certain items because of the weather, making it hard to keep the shelves stocked; a new employee needs training; they are short an employee; and the manager is very busy.
It is not very clear which goal is more important: orienting the new worker or taking care of regular duties.
Some resources, specifically labor, are scarce because of the storm.
The team members have competing concerns; each one feels that he or she is too busy to take care of the new employee.
The situation requires the employees to use these skills: prioritization and time management by determining how to accomplish all the tasks; creative thinking by finding a solution to the problem of both keeping the shelves stocked and training the new employee; customer sensitivity by making sure the shelves are kept stocked; and appreciation of diversity by working with the new employee.

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