MSOM 301- 004

November 06, 2014

Interview A Manager
Finding a manager that I could interview for this project was a little difficult. I did not
want to interview my manager at work, so I was able to arrange an interview with Debbie
Gafner, a corporate travel manager with L3 Communications. The interview lasted for about half
an hour and Debbie was very accommodating, answering all of my questions and providing
valuable insight about her role as a manager. I am very appreciative to her for the time she spent
with me to help me complete this project.
During my interview with Debbie, I learned many important things about being a
manager. Debbies role as a manager is different than anything I have experienced in the past
through my work. The people that she manages do not work with her on a daily basis; instead,
they all work from home. This makes the job of managing the 40 people that she is in charge of
much more difficult. I am used to managers who are onsite with the employees that they are
managing, so since this is not the case for Debbie, it is imperative that there is a lot of
communication between Debbie and her employees. There must also be a large amount of trust
between Debbie and her team.
Debbie would be considered a middle manager for her company. With her job as a
manager, she has multiple roles. Debbie has an interpersonal role as a leader. She manages a
team of 40 people who handle the travel needs of L3 Communications employees. A good
portion of their job is to provide travel reservations; air, hotel, and car, for all employees of the
company. She must keep her team motivated and ready to work at a moments notice to assist
the employees who are on travel and experience problems with their travel. Debbie also has an

information-related role. With her team members working in 40 different locations across the
country, communication is a key factor in her team working efficiently. It is Debbies job to
distribute information within the team so that everyone knows what is going on. In addition to
managing this team, Debbie is also the account manager with American Express, the company
with whom L3 Communications books their air travel. This is where Debbie has a decision
making role as a negotiator. She is the only person who works with American Express, so she
does not manage any employees, but this is a major responsibility to ensure that the companys
employees can do the travel that is required to complete their jobs. Since Debbie is considered
middle management, that means she has to report to a senior manager, that is the Vice President
of the travel department.
Since all of the employees that Debbie manages work from home, communication is an
issue that she stresses very much. The management tasks that she leans on to effectively
communicate with her team are planning and organizing. To ensure that everyone is working
together and has the same information, Debbie has a weekly dial-in meeting with all members of
her team present. During these meetings, oral communication is extremely important, but it is
also important that her team members are actively listening during the meeting and that they are
not distracted with other things during the meeting. Another type of communication that is
important for Debbie is electronic communication. The use of email, Internet, Intranet, and
messaging tools are all ways that Debbie and the company use to provide information to their
employees. The biggest concern that Debbie has with communication is with misinformation
being passed among the team members. This is usually not intentional, but an employee may
pass along information that they had heard, but misunderstood, and then they pass that

misunderstood information to other team members and it spreads from there. Debbie has to
quickly deal with these type situations when they occur.
Another issue that Debbie must deal with among her team members is with ethical issues.
The management tasks that Debbie relies on with this part of her job are staffing and leading.
With her team dealing with travel, there are some ethical dilemmas that are unique to their
situation. The biggest ethical issues come from company employees who are asking the travel
consultants from Debbies team to help them mix their business and corporate travel. In many
cases, when the travel is to the same location and there is no additional expense to the company,
it is not an issue for the team to reserve a rental car or hotel for an extra weekend, at the
employees expense. However, many times the employee wants that to be covered though the
company or they want to reroute their airline travel through different cities with a day or two
layover at and additional expense for the company. It is the teams responsibility to ensure that
an employee can travel to and from a remote work location at the lowest cost to the company,
and doing otherwise would be unethical. L3 Communications takes ethics seriously, not just in
this case, but in all cases. Ethics is a core foundation of the company and to ensure that the
employees understand their ethical code, L3 Communications has regular training that is
required for all employees. Debbie makes sure that each of her team members attends this
training and she is also available to any of her team members if they have any ethical questions.
I really enjoyed my interview with Debbie. I learned a lot about management from her.
The style of management that she uses is different than I am used to, but it has to be because of
how widespread her team is physically. I am just amazed by how much more there is to
managing a team than I had initially thought.

Interview Questions
1. How long in the management position?
I have been in my current management position for 4 years.
2. How is your expectation been a manager before getting the position and now?
I have been previously been in a management position, so my expectation is about the same as it
was before taking this position. I do find that it is extremely important to have effective and open
communication.
3. How many employees under your management?
I have approximately 40 employees under my management.
4. How often your employees have training?
Our employees have annual training that is required by the company. Throughout the year they
have training on an ongoing basis.
5. How often does your business increase salary or hourly wage for your employees?
Employees are given an annual review, which determines the amount of salary increase and
bonus. Amounts are determined by how the company does overall and if individual goals are met
or exceeded.
6. Do you follow command of chain or are you the only the one person to manage the station?
My department manages the travel program for our corporation and American Express travel
makes all the travel reservations. I report to the VP of the travel department. My specific job is to
manage American Express to make sure they are properly servicing our travelers. I am the only
person within our travel department with this management responsibility.
7. Have you taking any management courses while you are running the business?
Yes. I have annual training that is required by the company and also attend seminars and trade

shows with training classes.

8. Do you have follow up meeting with your employees and how often?
All employees work in a virtual environment in a home office. We have a standing weekly call to
discuss operations and current issues and initiatives and other conference calls as needed.
9. How you are graded yourself as a successful manger?
Each year I have goals that I set as part of my performance review by management. Attaining
these goals and receiving a good performance review documents success. I personally grade
myself as a successful manager by employees achieving their goals and employee satisfaction. I
believe if employees are achieving their goals and they are happy it shows that you are
effectively managing them.
10. Do you have any future plan or change for the next three years?
I am currently cross training with co-workers and shadowing my manager with his duties so that
within the next few years when he retires I may have the opportunity to be promoted and
possibly move into his role.