Situation: A seminar
on Management is held at the Hilton hotel. Tom and Ana are among the many
attendants. They try to strike a conversation during break-time.
Tom: Hi, I am Tom.
Ana: I am Ana.
Tom: This is a pretty
good seminar so far, huh?
Ana: Yes, I like it.
Prentice Hall always delivers good seminars. All of its speakers are very well-known
and also very knowledgeable in the subject matter. Did you attend the seminar
on Leadership in Long Beach last January?
Tom: No, I missed that
one. Who was the speaker?
Ana: John Miller. He is
the author of The Seven Habits of a Good Leader. It was a great seminar.
John gave us tons of information on how to deal with employees. You should sign
up for that seminar next year.
Tom: I will. I am very
interested in the subject of Leadership. I was promoted to the position of Supervisor
a few months ago, and I have to manage a staff of ten people. It can be quite a
difficult situation sometimes. It is the reason why I am here today.
Ana: Same here. I only
have seven people reporting to me; yet, sometimes I feel like pulling my hair
out. I need to find a way to create harmony and cooperation within my
department.
Tom: I also need to
learn how to better manage my workload. I always run out of time. It seems like
the days are getting shorter and shorter.
Ana: You need to sign up
for the Learn How
To Delegate seminar. It is coming next month.
Tom: Let’s see whether I
will have any free time next month. I know sometime next month I will have to
go to Texas on a business trip.
Ana: By the way, what is
your company doing?
Tom: Oh, we produce
office equipment such as calculators and fax machines. How about yours?
Ana: We are in the service
business. We specialize in repairing computers.
Tom: How was business
lately?
Ana: It is pretty slow
right now. Just like any other company, we are quite affected by this slowing
economy.
Tom: Business is slow
with my company too. However, people are saying that it should pick up any time
now.
Ana: Let’s hope so. We
need to keep our employees busy.
Tom: I have some very
talented employees, and I would like to keep their minds sharp. They tend to be
bored when things slow down, and that is not good.
Ana: Yes, nothing is
more frustrating than sitting idle with nothing to do. The days seem so long.
Tom: I hate those types
of days. Luckily, it is not that bad in our company. Besides, we are in the
process of updating our computer system, and we can use this slow period to
finish the process.
Ana: Good for you. Oh,
10:30 AM already. I guess our break-time is over.
Tom: The topic of the
next session, How To Make Positive Impression On Others And Gain Visibility
And Influence In The Workplace, seems to be really interesting. We
better not miss any part of it. Let’s get back to our seats so that we can
learn how to bring out the best in ourselves as well as our employees.
