solved You have just been hired as the new court administrator

You have just been hired as the new court administrator for a medium-sized court with approximately 90 employees. Once on the job, you discover that you have been preceded by two heavy-handed court administrators who together lasted less than 1 year on the job because of their inability to handle employee conflicts and to achieve a minimal level of productivity. They were more or less forced to resign because of a lack of employee cooperation and increasing talk of unionization. There is general turmoil and distrust throughout the organization. Employees do not trust each other, and as a group, they do not trust management. The courthouse runs on gossip and inertia. There is very little official communication throughout the organization. Prior court administrators made no attempt to solicit employees’ opinions or ideas. The judges are all aware of the problem, but they have formed no clear consensus on how to respond to it. In fact, there is turmoil and conflict among the judges themselves. They engage in “turf protection” with operating funds and the court’s cases and often take sides in office squabbles. As a result, they are unable to achieve a clear consensus or to provide the court administrator with any guidance. The chief judge, Dolores Cortez, has served in that capacity for 10 years and is known to be exceedingly fair, compassionate, and competent; however, she is approaching retirement (in 6 months) and appears unwilling to take a firm stand on, or a strong interest in, addressing intraoffice disputes and difficulties. In fact, she is not altogether convinced that there is a problem. Furthermore, in past years, she has been quite reluctant to intervene in arguments between individual judges.
Questions for Discussion

As the “new kid on the block,” how would you respond to this organizational problem? What is the first issue you would address, and how would you address it? What additional problems require your attention?
As court administrator, how would you respond to the inability of the judges to develop a consensus? How could the decision-making process be improved?
What techniques could be employed to improve communication throughout the organization, lessen tension and strife, and generally create a more harmonious work environment?
What would be your general approach to Judge Cortez? To her successor

Reply:

As the “new kid on the block,” how would you respond to this organizational problem? What is the first issue you would address, and how would you address it? What additional problems require your attention?

Due to the distrust throughout the organization and management, as the new court administrator, I would begin by communicating and using the problem solving method to identify how to respond. As stated in the discussion prompt, there has been a lack of official communication which has led to gossip throughout the organization. In order to truly be successful with anything else, you must first earn the employees trust. This is certainly the first issue I would address. I would set clear expectations and standards moving forward and communicate with each employee consistently. This would hopefully eliminate the gossip. Additionally, the issues that would require my attention are: turf protection and judges being unable to come to a consensus, the judges are unable to provide the court administrator with any guidance, the Chief Judge does not participate in any interoffice affairs, nor believes there is an issue.

As court administrator, how would you respond to the inability of the judges to develop a consensus? How could the decision-making process be improved?

Clearly, the inability to develop a consensus again relates back to the distrust and tension throughout the organization. Again, I would use the problem solving method. I would not only communicate my expectations clearly, but also actively listen to each employee’s opinions and thoughts regarding the problems and how the decision-making process could be improved. I would incorporate my knowledge and expertise as well as their opinions and perspectives to create a clear decision making process that woks for the court.

What techniques could be employed to improve communication throughout the organization, lessen tension and strife, and generally create a more harmonious work environment?

Overall, communication in general needs to improve. There needs to be official communication between the court administrator and the employees. The gossip needs to be eliminated as well, and this could be done by providing consistent official communication. Another technique that would lessen tension and create a more harmonious work environment would be to actually listen to the employee’s thoughts and perspectives. This could positively affect morale. This would also increase the chance that they feel more comfortable working together as a team.

What would be your general approach to Judge Cortez? To her successor?

I would first thank her for her 10 years. Judge Cortez has been known to be compassionate, fair and kind. I would inquire about her recent decline in involvement and ask if she thinks there is really not a problem. I would actively listen to her thoughts and opinions. As a court administrator trying to earn her trust, I would certainly be compassionate towards her opinions and thoughts.