Paper Sample on Problem Solving: Lynn and Mark Case

A knowledgeable employee is an individual who has an understanding of the working environment and a clear understanding of how to be a valuable asset or resource to the organization for which he/she works. According to Drafke et al. (2009), a knowledgeable employee understands what the organization expects of them, and they also know their place and role within the organization, as well as the management functions. From the case of Mark and Lynn, the term knowledgeable employee applies to them since both of them try to exercise their duties within the organization.

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A good example is of an educator in a learning institution. An educator is characterized by the use of information, creativity, unique work situations, and autonomy. An educator makes a decision rather than physical items and works with ideas rather than with objects. Besides, their work is majorly focused on mental efforts and not muscle power.

The first step is the recognition of the problem. Mark shows signs of confirmation bias by refusing to listen to other peoples' suggestions (Drake et al., 2009). He is also showing signs of personalization by taking up the role of assigning tasks which should be done by Lynn instead.

The second step is problem definition. Mark is avoiding eye contact with other employees in the meeting, with the assumptions that his message is received and a sign that he is superior. From his behaviors, it is also evident that Mark believes he should be the responsible party among all the other employees.

The third step is setting objectives. There is a need to understand why Mark is acting in this unprofessional and disrespectful way. One thing that Lynn needs to do is go through Marks personal file to review the history of his previous working conditions, partners, and experiences that might have had an impact on how he behaves. Lynn should also look back at the last meeting they had together with mark and check if there is anything she did or said that might influence Mark to show such power play.

The fourth step is group identification. There are three major groups affected by this problem. The first group is the group Lynn's team, the entire organization, and the former managers of Mark. All these groups could have witnessed the unprofessional act of Mark, and are worried about the source of this problem. Lyn was hired to shape up the organization, but seemingly, there are problems that the organization did not solve before she was brought in, and she has to play her role and ensure that everything is on track.

The fifth step is opinion generation. Their generation of opinion will have to bring Lynn and Mark together. There are a few options that could be the case in this issue like Mark being afraid of a woman in power, or being upset of Lynn landing the job he feels he would have fallen instead. In either of the cases, there might be the need to involve a third party, preferably the HR. The sixth step is evaluation of opinions; the opinions of Mark have to be evaluated if at all, he is ready for a discussion of the matters at hand. Seventh step is opinion selection. Lynn needs to discover all the possible facts before selecting the best opinion.

The eight step is implementation of the opinion selected. Lastly is decision evaluation; the behavior of Mark has to be evaluated after the discussion with Mark to determine if there is any need for additional counseling.

Nonverbal communication is one component of communication. Explain nonverbal communication. What types of nonverbal communication did Mark exhibit? List the types, discuss the information, and explain the message these actions sent to Lynn. If you were Lynn, what type of nonverbal communication would you exhibit during this conversation and why?

There are a variety of instances where Mark showed nonverbal communication when communicating with Lynn. In one case, he looks out at the window while making his comments. He also cleans off his shows and leans back in the chair as he looks at the ceiling. These are negative signs of showing his superiority to others in the room.

For Lynn, her comments concerning Mark's behavior also shows that she was angry, which is nonverbal communication. If I was Lynn in this situation, what I would do is to pay attention to Mark's comments, but in the long run, confirm to him that I am the appointed person to chair the committee and that he should recognize that.

Identify, explain, and discuss two concepts, ideas, or theories from your textbook that could be applied to this situation. Identify possible reasons why this situation occurred, and the concepts, ideas, or theories that could be used to ensure the situation does not occur again (choose concepts that were not addressed in the first three questions).

It is scientifically proven that women communicate in a soft way as compared to men, who on the contrary, are in constant pursuit of status and power (Hittner, 2018). However, I do not tend to believe that Mark was responding like this because he is a man since these are responses that even a woman would be able to give. The way in which the society views women have a great influence too much of this response. For example, several studies conducted in different organizations of varying sizes and structures show that when women act as the men do, then they are viewed as being rough, while when men act that way, they are seen as being go-getters.

Besides, even in the organizations where they pretend to be empowering women, they do so in the eyes of the public and employees, but in the real sense, they work on suppressing the ability of the women who work in their organizations through their systems.

References

Drake, R. L., McBride, J. M., Lachman, N., & Pawlina, W. (2009). Medical education in the anatomical sciences: The winds of change continue to blow. Anatomical sciences education, 2(6), 253-259. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ase.117

Hittner, G. M. (2018). Developing More Effective Women's Leadership Development Programs & Addressing the Organizational Barriers That Inhibit Them. https://idun.augsburg.edu/etd/757/