Conflicts are, no doubt, a big headache to everyone. Everyone would want to be happy and at peace with the situation they are in. Nobody likes to be arguing and screaming at people all the time. In order to maintain a harmonious working relationship with people, conflict management are becoming an important soft skill. This is where our EQ (Emotional Quotient) comes into play. Conflicts happen around me all the time. Arguments with parents, siblings and relatives occur when our point of view does not coincide. Squabbles occur with your friends when you fail to grasp their point. Conflicts with working partners happen when they fail to deliver work which is up to your expectation.
Let me get started on conflicts which are prevalent in many clubs and societies in our school days.
The story goes like this...
Setting:
Mr B was tasked to organise the sales of a product during a bazaar and to work out the strategy to market the product. After which, he would have to convince the whole committee to accept his proposal and the delegation of work load to the rest of the committee.
After his presentation, the rest of the committee had given tonnes of feedbacks on things that he has to look out for and things they hoped to see included in his plans. After a week or so, Mr B was supposed to finalise the details of his plan so that the necessary arrangements could be made.
However, when the final proposal was submitted, it contained minimal changes. Reasons to why the feedbacks are not taken into account were not given. This really puzzled a lot of people. Some were angered at the fact that their opinions were not taken into account. Some others believed that Mr B was right in his decision, supported his stand in not changing the proposal. Mr B then goes on to make comments such as “the rest demanding too high of a standard for my work” and “nitpicking my proposal”. So what can the Director, Miss D of the whole project do to handle the tense situation? What can the others do to help?
Background information:
Mr B is a good friend of Miss D, as well as a couple of people within the committee.
Mr B is a person of pride. He takes his work seriously and tries his best to do what he can.
Unfortunately, Mr B is known to be insensitive in his words and say harsh things to people. It is especially true when it comes to talking to his friends. But, his friends accept him for the way he is and do not take what he says to heart.
Mr B is a person of pride. He takes his work seriously and tries his best to do what he can.
Unfortunately, Mr B is known to be insensitive in his words and say harsh things to people. It is especially true when it comes to talking to his friends. But, his friends accept him for the way he is and do not take what he says to heart.
This is a true story. The names were replaced to protect the identities of the people involved.
I like the tiny footnote at the end saying that this is a real story. =P
ReplyDeleteI think that when feedbacks were given, they should be accompanied with some kind of an explanation, or if Mr B does not understand where the feedback is coming from, he should have clarified them first. After which they should have discussion on what changes should be made before Mr B goes on to do the final proposal, so that majority can be pleased.
Well now that the situation is worsened already, what Miss D can do is she can talk to Mr B, find out what is his point of view, then she herself take a stand as to whether what he says is the truth and that the proposal is in fact, good enough, which in that case, help convince the rest.
If not, Miss D will have to talk to B and tell him that the others meant well. Try to make him apologize if possible. But they can't do anything more to the proposal since it's already submitted right? So it's just too bad then. Next time discuss first before the last person does the final one.
I don't think it's easy for Mr B to change his harsh tone, unless he really makes an effort. If not, the others just have to get used to him, like his friends, because he means no harm anyway.