Multitasking is an essential and rare feature, requiring a person to remain effective in several tasks simultaneously. However, it is also a rare ability because even though most people multitask now, they are frequently disturbed, spending about 30% of their time at interruptions (Suija-Markova et al., 2020). Furthermore, there is no distinct proof that this characteristic is essential and desirable in teams (Suija-Markova et al., 2020). Therefore, if I were Palmer, in this case, I would respond to Sands that it would be better for the firm if Olds could concentrate on one project that he found more compelling.
Losing a valuable member is always an expense for the team’s work. Thus, if anything could be done to retain Olds in the accounting project, Palmer could have done it. For example, Palmer could discuss changing the working schedule for Olds, making it less fragmented. Specifically, he might suggest that Olds work two full days of the week on the accounting project and three other days in consulting. This solution appears to be reasonable because it eliminates the split workday and takes into consideration Olds’ interests.
Moss and McAdams’s firm is a matrix organization because it combines two services, accounting and consulting. This structure type possesses advantages and disadvantages for a company. The benefit of matrix structure, evident from this case, is cooperation and communication between firm departments. The drawbacks of this model are the lack of clarity of employees’ roles, task overload, and loss of work efficiency in one of the departments. Overall, the matrix type seems beneficial for this firm, but it demands the identification of the staff’s roles.
The situation with Olds’ duplicate role in this firm created challenges for the accounting team. Although assigning Olds to the consulting project was a good decision, the management could resolve this issue more effectively. One of the ways to tackle this situation is to change Olds’ schedule by spreading his duties in two departments throughout the week, without fragmenting his workday. Indeed, this solution would allow retaining a strong team member’s expertise in both groups.
Reference
Suija-Markova, I., Briede, L., Gaile-Sarkane, E., & Ozoliņa-Ozola, I. (2020). Multitasking in knowledge intensive business services. Emerging Science Journal, 4(4), 305-318.