Blog 2: Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

2 years ago, I was transferred to this particular workplace and took on a leadership/managerial role.

One of the first few tasks that was given to me involves working with a co-worker who had 3 years working experience ahead of me, yet held an appointment lower than me. Within the 1-2 days of working experience with him, I perceived him as sloppy and unmotivated, frequently taking short cuts. In addition, he tried means and ways to persuade me to adopt such incorrect methods. Having been through the necessary training prior to the transfer, I was aware of what is the right way of doing things as opposed to the incorrect/short-cut method. Therefore, I have insisted in adopting the correct yet tedious way of completing the task despite the constant persuasion from him.

After a day of working with him, I decided to send an email to his superior (since he was from another department) and highlight the many tasks which(which is time critical) he failed to achieve. Subsequently, I have talked to him about this issue and told him that I respected him due to his wealth of experience, yet I am unwilling to turn a blind eye on his failure to accomplish the critical tasks.

However, he started to make negative comments about me in the coming months. Such act was put to a halt only after a meeting involving both of our superiors and me. Subsequently, we did not interact with each other apart from work-related purposes.

Possible solutions: I could have spoken to him and understand the difficulties that he faced before sending an email to his superior. This allows me to portray myself as an empathetic figure who is willing to hear him out, thereby increasing his motivation to work.

Questions to reader: Given the time critical nature of the task, what will you do to get an unmotivated co-worker to complete that task?

Why Effective Communications are Important for me

Effective communication means that we are able to express ourselves, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our cultures and situations. This means not only being able to express our opinions and desires, but also our needs and fears and to ask for advice and help.

Effective communications are important skills that I will have to grasp as I am holding a leadership appointment in my workplace. Effective communication helps to foster a greater sense of mutual understanding among team members and allows the leader to influence the people around to achieve organizational goals.

When team members are able to communicate effectively, it creates a synergy within the team. This is essential for a team’s efficiency and effectiveness. In addition, effective teams often undergo the 5 stages of Tuckman’s Theory. The stages are namely: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. Team leaders are often required to play the role as facilitators in these stages of team building and effective communications is particularly important in this aspect.

Another aspect of team building is the establishment of vulnerability-based trust. Referring to the above definition, effective communications, which involve the need to express our fears and needs, are often neglected. This could be a barrier in the process of team building and hence team synergy.

On the other hand, the influences of a leader are largely dependent on his ability to communicate effectively to the people so that the latter are motivated to achieve organizational goals. For example, a head of the department in a hospital will have to effectively communicate these ideas not only to the medical staff (such as doctors and nurses), but also to the technicians and cleaners in the hospital. Effective communication in this case therefore involves being able to communicate the mission of saving lives in the perspective of the support staff (which could often be different from that of the medical staff).

http://www.sherpahigherperformance.com/blog/the-five-fundamentals-of-teamwork-based-on-the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team-by-patrick-lencioni/

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm

http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Communication-Skills.htm