What are the dimensions of motivation in this article? Are they inspirational?
Like a Boss: A College Course
for First-Time Managers
Wharton’s ‘How to Be the Boss’ teaches the gritty realities
of managing; how to handle a note found in the trash
By Chip Cutter
May 9, 2019 5:30 am ET
PHILADELPHIA—An unlikely debate was simmering inside an auditorium-style
classroom at one of the most prestigious business schools in the nation. The
topic: body odor.
A scenario had flashed on the screens in “How to Be the Boss,” a new
undergraduate course at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School,
outlining a smelly dilemma. An employee complained that another co-worker
reeked, making it all but impossible to work in the same area. Students had to
play the part of a manager tasked with solving the problem.
Peter Cappelli, a Wharton professor of management and creator of the course,
urged students not to scoff, saying this is a surprisingly common issue that
managers face.
“What would you do?” Mr. Cappelli asked. “This is a really difficult problem.”
One student suggested bringing in air freshener or a candle. Another proposed
that the manager sit down with the worker, probing to see if depression or a
medical issue was to blame for a hygiene problem. As the discussion continued,
Mr. Cappelli pointed out that managers shouldn’t simply take the complaining
employee’s word. It’s possible this worker spoke up because of a grudge against
the colleague, not because of any odor, he added.
A good supervisor would have to confirm the complaint with their own nose.
Then, they should deftly raise the issue with the employee, while not outing the
co-worker who complained. “I would be as gentle as possible on this,” he said.
If students needed a reminder that day-to-day management can be
complicated—and frequently absurd—the scenario made it clear.
Launched in January, “How to Be the Boss” is full of practical lessons aimed at
building better managers out of people largely in their 20s. That the course is
focused on undergraduates—and not those seeking a traditional master of
business administration degree—is by design.
Mr. Cappelli and others in the business world have picked up on an emerging but
acute problem: As more young people graduate and take roles at technology
companies and consulting firms, many quickly find themselves in leadership
positions with little to no training about how to deal with direct reports.
“Companies have basically gutted their efforts to train supervisors,” Mr. Cappelli
says, with some graduates now supervising two years out of school. “They’re
doing it younger and they’re doing it with no training.”
The course covers the fundamentals of employment law, plus strategies for hiring
and firing employees, delivering performance reviews and motivating a team.
Lessons range from how to supervise people your parents’ age to tactics for
responding to sexual harassment.
One of the biggest surprises for sophomore Joshita Varshney is how much time
bosses spend on actual managing—more than focusing on the projects that
defined their earlier roles.
The course relies on mock scenarios in addition to traditional lectures. In one
role-playing exercise, senior Brandon Tepper acted as a manager who had
discovered that one of his star employees who was scheduled to attend a work
conference actually intended to spend most of that time on personal activities.
Complicating matters, the manager realized this after finding a note in the
employee’s trash can.
“How do I reveal this information?” Mr. Tepper wondered.
He opened the conversation with praise for this worker’s past performance and
an open-ended question: “Is there anything wrong in the workplace that you’d like
to discuss?” The employee, played by a fellow student, said he felt he was
working harder than others, and needed time off. The conversation flowed
naturally, and Mr. Tepper said he was mindful not to censure the student or upset
him without learning more.
When he wanted to understand the motivations for going to the conference, Mr.
Tepper again chose a broad question: “I see you have this conference on your
schedule. What do you plan to accomplish there?” As the exercise continued, the
employee admitted to booking the conference to get personal time with a friend,
and Mr. Tepper never had to reveal that he found a note in a trash can.
Exercises like this one can help students determine the underlying issues that
may be driving an employee’s behavior, Mr. Cappelli said. But not all the
discussions went smoothly. When the class came together for a debriefing of
their experiences, some students in the manager role had canceled the trip
altogether and some even ended up firing their employee.
Getting sucked into a therapist-like role is another big potential pitfall for first-time
managers, Mr. Cappelli warned his class. It’s important to understand there are
boundaries to being a supervisor and some situations must be referred to HR or
legal departments, he added.
Time is also finite, Mr. Cappelli likes to remind students. He raised the example
of an employee who had repeatedly underperformed. Many in the class
instinctively want to do all they can to help the person improve, but he pushed
them and asked: “How much of your week over the next year are you willing to
spend holding the guy’s hand?”
Students say they’ve come away with practical lessons. Senior Deanna Taylor
found the section covering best practices for managing older workers to be
revelatory. The course advised students to stay humble when overseeing more
experienced staff and, more generally, not to make too many changes to the
team at once.
Most of the students said the course had given them a window into what bosses
go through, a different set of training than other courses, where students are
typically taught to work with their colleagues as peers.
Employers applaud the idea of teaching undergrads the basics of being a boss
before they leave college.
“I’m such a fan,” says Katie Burke, chief people officer of HubSpot, a software
company based in Cambridge, Mass. She learned to give difficult feedback by
repeatedly practicing on other students during an M.B.A. class at the MIT Sloan
School of Management, but says there is no reason younger students can’t learn
about supervising others.
Sophomore Joy Cai said Mr. Cappelli’s class led her to tweak her behavior at a
student credit union where she works. She had been cc’ing her boss on many
emails, wanting to show what she was doing on the job. When she asked Mr.
Cappelli about that practice, he told her, “That annoys bosses.”
If students better understand what’s required of managers and have greater
empathy for their own future bosses, Mr. Cappelli said he’s done his job.
“Supervisors are the connection employees have to an organization,” he said.
“They’re really crucial to retaining people.”