I knew an employee
for student and academic affairs who acted as an agent for the professional
staff of the hub and the student body, both principals in this example. As an
agent, the triangular arrangement for this individual involved the
representation of hub management, while appealing to the student clients, in
addition to pursing their own self-interests.
Conflict ensued when my friend began lacking in her representation of the hub while in front of members of the student body. I knew my friend to be a shirker, it was actually well known amongst our overlapping friend groups. There was nothing wrong with my friends’ personality; he was always nice and pleasant to be around. However, when it came to being responsible, he tended to avoid anything that required too much effort.
Apparently, a few students and professors who were present during one of his outreach presentations were complaining of how uninterested and apathetic he appeared. Of course, this negatively impacts the hub and the staff, who he acts on their behalf.
The situation was resolved when his main principal had pulled him to the side to speak with him about him performance. It was clear that if more effort were not put into his work, they would not be able to keep him and would need to find another individual to replace him. His disconnection from the student clients did not maximize the staff’s utility and created problems between the goals of the hub.
Conflict ensued when my friend began lacking in her representation of the hub while in front of members of the student body. I knew my friend to be a shirker, it was actually well known amongst our overlapping friend groups. There was nothing wrong with my friends’ personality; he was always nice and pleasant to be around. However, when it came to being responsible, he tended to avoid anything that required too much effort.
Apparently, a few students and professors who were present during one of his outreach presentations were complaining of how uninterested and apathetic he appeared. Of course, this negatively impacts the hub and the staff, who he acts on their behalf.
The situation was resolved when his main principal had pulled him to the side to speak with him about him performance. It was clear that if more effort were not put into his work, they would not be able to keep him and would need to find another individual to replace him. His disconnection from the student clients did not maximize the staff’s utility and created problems between the goals of the hub.
Eventually, after some one-on-one training and a couple extra meetings, my friend was able to work on resolving his issues with handling his responsibilities maturely. The principal had made clear what “good performance” they expected from him. This resulted in a good performance that appealed to the secondary principal as well, satisfying both.
Do you think there was something that could have been done earlier to resolve the situation? Or a more immediate solution that could have been implemented until training was complete?
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't sound like a triangle problem. It seems that the hub (whatever that is, I hadn't heard of it before) and the students had preferences that were aligned. That your friend shirked is the standard agency problem. You don't need to refer to a triangle to discuss it. Or am I missing something in saying this and there really is some triangle issue going on? For that the hub and the students have to want different things from your friend.
ReplyDelete