Employee proposes intra-agency partnering
Narrator: Today we find Barbara and Steve meeting in a conference room at their office. Barbara manages the city’s Finance Bureau. Steve, an emotionally intelligent high performer, has asked her for some one on one time. Let’s look in. Steve would like to discuss an opportunity to work in collaboration with another team. Barbara has lost some employees to other units and there are unfilled vacancies. Steve anticipates that this may influence her decision.
Steve: Barbara, thank you for taking the time to speak with me and always encouraging everyone in our unit to seek out opportunities for office-wide improvements.
Barbara: Well, as you know, I always encourage the team to bring their ideas to me. What’s on your mind?
Steve: I think we have a great opportunity for us to improve the understanding and cooperation between Policy and Finance by allowing me to periodically partner with them on some new projects.
Narrator: Let’s take a peek into the other office. This team is a policy department located five minutes away in the city’s Health Bureau. Steve believes that partnering with other business units, namely the health bureau policy shop, could expand the capacity of both departments by improving efficiency and being less dependent on individual persons.
[Back to conference room in first scene.]
Barbara: Steve, I really commend you for your insight and forward thinking. We value you here. Given our vacancies, I’m not sure if your spending time working with another unit is most beneficial to this office.
Steve: I understand that. But, respectfully, I disagree. I think that exposure to other business units could really expand our capacity and efficiency. Relying on partnerships rather than individuals could also help us mitigate some challenges of staff turnover in the future.
Barbara: Well, how would this look? The new unit is barely off the ground. Shouldn’t we wait until they are fully established before proposing something like this?
Steve: I think collaborating with us could actually help the new unit establish itself faster. You’re bringing up some great concerns, though, so let me do this. I can set up a meeting with the new unit’s lead, so the three of us can get to know each other a little bit before deciding anything. I think you’ll see we have a lot in common and some mutually beneficial interests.
Barbara: That’s a great idea. I am open to meeting and seeing how things go.
Steve: Thanks, Barbara. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about this.
