Group Three: Data Analysts

Description of the situation:

This situation takes place at Strickland Propane, a company that sells propane and propane accessories in Texas. It is currently November. The team is working together on a very important project. The team is creating a new system that will store, organize, and analyze all the company’s sales data. This system should also be integrated into a website so that customers can place their orders online. The project started in March, and normally it should have been finished and operational in July. However, the project is still ongoing with no end in sight.

Team Members:

Group One – the managers
Group Two – the regional sales directors
Group Three – the data analysts

Description of your group:

You are the data analysts of Strickland Propane. You are responsible for developing the systems that will analyze the data of the company. You have spent the last few months trying to get this data from the regional sales directors, but they are causing a lot of delays. First, they took a long time to send you the data. After you received it, you realized that you couldn’t understand all of the data, and they are not very clear in their explanations. You are frustrated with the regional sales directors because you think that they are not taking the job seriously. You just can’t understand why they are taking so much time, because you know that by analyzing their data well, you can help them to target new clients and increase sales with their existing clients. You also see that the regional sales directors and the managers have a good relationship, but the managers are extremely rude to you. You think this is because the sales directors are more interesting, popular, and attractive than you.

In your group, discuss:

• Are we happy or unhappy with the regional sales directors? Why?
• Are we happy or unhappy with the managers? Why?
• What emotions do we have about this situation?
• What variables are affecting our perceptual filters? (possibilities: emotions, experience, culture, religion, etc.)
• What information should we find out from the other two groups?
• What should we tell the other two groups in order to solve this problem?

With the entire class, discuss:

• Why is the project behind schedule?
• Who has a problem with whom? Are these problems fair or unfair? Are they based on reality or perception?
• What are the sources of miscommunication?
• What are our solutions to finish the project as soon as possible?