This is my very own experience at a corporate where conflict is almost inevitable. Whenever people are engaged, committed and fired up, conflict and disagreement is bound to happen. This doesn’t mean you have to revel in conflict or create trouble just for the sake of it, but it does mean that when conflict happens it’s not the end of the world. Quite the contrary, it can even be the beginning of an interesting learning process. The very best and most efficient workplaces are not the ones without conflicts but those which handle conflicts constructively.
Imagine: you are a CEO of the following Organization . .
Though Jane enjoyed working as the sales manager of Company A, working with Scott, the financial manager, was a constant struggle for her. At every meeting, Scott would take great care to explain why all her ideas were unworkable. Also, Scott was constantly asking for sales projections and financial data from her and always wanted it in excruciating detail. Supplying these figures was taking up a large amount of her department’s already packed schedule. Frankly she thought, he was nothing but a dry, negative perfectionist.
Scott, on the other hand, thought that Jane was a maverick. She always had to interrupt meetings with her harebrained schemes and whenever he asked her for the data he needed to keep the company finances in order, she would always stall and make him have to ask her again several times. Jane, he felt, was nothing but a happy-go-lucky, unrealistic show-off.
It got to the point where neither of them could stand to be in the same room together. The company clearly suffered under this conflict between two of its key employees and something clearly needed to be done. Realistically, nothing was done to resolve the matter.
Given the role of a CEO, do you have any solution to help resolve the conflict?
Here is my food for thought:
You can’t win a conflict at work. Winning a conflict ie. getting the outcome you want regardless of what the other person wants can be gratifying, sure, but the problem is that the underlying issue has not been solved. It will simply reappear later over some other topic. Much better than winning a conflict at work is resolving it. As such, I am looking forward to your contribution of ideas how to solve the above conflict.
Linh,
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose I can fire both of them right? :)
I like that you highlight that the conflict between Jane and Scott actually affect the other colleagues as well. I doubt they were aware of that.
In this case, as the CEO, I would act as a peer mediator. I would approach them individually about talking and sharing their displeasure.
As peer mediator, I would not be solving their conflict, rather, I'm assisting them in coming to a mutual agreement.
That would probably be my suggestion to resolve such work conflict.
Your blog looks attractive with pictures and colours. I like the way you have described the conflict. First you started describing generally about conflicts and then discussed a hypothetical situation.
ReplyDeleteWell, problem solving ability is one of those abilities that allegedly distinguish humans from animals. Solving a problem first involves understanding the reason for the problem and then speaking out to the concerned person about the issue.
If I am a CEO of the organization the first thing I would do is asking the concerned persons to talk about the issue. Only if they talk they can figure out the reason of the problem and find what is wrong with them. Scott and Jane have just misunderstood each other and hence they do not like each other. This has made them lose interest in working for each other which ultimately results in the recession of the company. So speaking out the problem would be the best way to resolve this.
I like how you actually clearly elaborated what caused the conflict - differences in perception and ideas about each other.
ReplyDeleteAs you've mentioned, winning a conflict is only a temporary solution. So if I were the CEO, I would make a chance for confrontation because the two are holding back their opinions. If they were to speak to each other face to face, then the misunderstanding could be openly resolved! :)
Hi Linh, I liked your idea of using some pictures and little conversations to engage readers! This kind of interpersonal conflict in the workplace is indeed very common in real life.
ReplyDeleteIf I were the CEO of the company I suppose I would engage the help of one of the trusted colleague of Jane and Scott to find out the true thoughts and feelings of both of them about this issue. The reason being: The fact that I am the CEO of the company, both Jane and Scott may have many reservations in revealing their genuine feelings to someone of a very senior position in the company. Hence, I would probably get a clearer picture of the actual situation first from a trusted colleague of theirs. Following that, I meet them individually to discuss more on what they are unhappy about the other party and possible solutions to resolve these problems that are sometimes blind to self. Perhaps a reallocation of some workload would be of help as well.