Ch 8: Teams and Networks: Collaboration in the Workplace

Democracy in the Workplace
Pgs. 233-234

This novel notion of employees having a say in their workplace is very interesting. At first the title makes it seem as if this is a communist plot to remove any authority from the bourgeoisie owners, however the more you look into the idea the more it seems that what the book is advocating is simply commonsense. The idea that a person who is doing the work at the line employee level knows how best to carry out their work, is a common sense notion that should be adopted by each and every organization. The simplicity of the previously mentioned idea is evidenced in the fact that asking employees is one of the first evaluation methods which is taught in most introductory Public Administration courses. According to Professor Sylvia the first step in evaluating an issue within an organization is to speak to the line level employees and find out what the issues are and what ideas they have to make their workplace more conducive to productivity. The four steps towards workplace democracy are great methods of bringing any work unit together and insuring that collective responsibility is part of the organizational culture.