One situation that I experienced was where I felt like the truth wasn’t being told at work. There was a colleague that constantly told things about people that weren’t true which led to hostile feelings and frustration. There were people that wanted to quit over this one person. Our boss didn’t see the deception until it was too late. People started going to the office to talk about their issues and that’s when our boss realized the severity of the situation. Because the staff didn’t know how to handle this person there were a lot of words and emotions that were passed from person to person that weren’t nice and kind. Once our boss saw the issue for what it was she was able to handle it and gather the troops back into a positive environment.
I think that the strategies that could have been used would have been for the staff to share their issues with the boss before the situation got out of hand and from there discussed with the lady that was at the center of the conflict about how they didn’t care for the way she was conducting herself around them. They could have sat down and talked about ways to walk away from her when she started conversations like that and they could have come together as a group to find positive ways to redirect her attention so that it wouldn’t be so negative. I think that if we had gone to the boss as a group before it had gotten so bad then the situation wouldn’t have progressed so negatively. The 3 R’s would have been appropriate…Respect other people, respond with positive words and actions instead of negative ones, and show positive reciprocations instead of negative interactions.
References:
Dewanna,
ReplyDeleteYou spoke of a common form of conflict in your blog. I thank this class for teaching us ways to be proactive in conflicting situations instead reactive.
Janille
DeWanna,
ReplyDeleteWhen one person is causing conflict that is not accepted by the administration makes the working place difficult. I think I would have tried to respectfully speak to the lady with the problem. I know that sounds challenging but by asking her questions about what she was thinking about the things she was saying would hold her accountable or she might have gone to the director herself and exposed herself.
I had a situation similar and spoke to the director and she said that I was being too harsh on a younger person. When the whole thing was exposed I was written up for not telling the director sooner. I told her that I had spoken to her several times but she was not willing to listen then. Communication skills can backfire. We hope it does not but sometimes it does.
Hi DeWanna, this is a conflict that is common in the workplace. I believe that when there are issues that involve disrespect than evolves around a disagreement, the supervisor or manager should be the mediator before things get out of control. As a previous leader I always believe stepping in to find out what is the problem and how we can come to a positive solution that we all can work with. The 3 R's that I know that will have a positive impact on all of us professionally and personally is respect for others and ourselve, taking responsibility for our own action and to resolve any issues in a more appropriate manner.
ReplyDeleteDeWanna:
ReplyDeleteIt seems a lot of us used conflicts at work. It is easy to conflict with our co-workers--maybe it is because we all feel so passionate for our profession. I liked your strategies--talking to a boss is important--your boss can help you see things differently (sometimes). Thanks for the post!