BUS303- HW2
Business Communications (9th Edition) –Chapter 2
Activity 2.2 (Pages 74-75)
2.2.Resolving Workplace Conflicts: Apply a Plan
(L.O. 1)
Although conflict is a normal part of every workplace, if unresolved, it can create hard feelings and reduce productivity.
YOUR TASK Analyze the following scenarios. In teams, discuss each scenario and apply the six-step procedure for dealing with conflict outlined in Figure 2.3. Choose two of the scenarios to role-play, with two of your team members taking roles.
- During an important meeting, several agenda items deal with actions that are crucial to the success of a current project. They require that key decisions be made—fast! As usual, Gina is joking and telling entertaining anecdotes without regard for the meeting’s urgency. Pete is becoming impatient and irritated. He doesn’t understand why the other meeting participants, and the boss in particular, don’t stop Gina’s antics.
- Zara, an accountant, cannot complete her report until Bailey, a salesman, provides her with all the necessary numbers and documentation. Zara thinks that Bailey is a procrastinator who forces her to deliver a rush job, thus causing her great stress and increasing the likelihood of error. Bailey believes that Zara is exerting pressure on both of them and setting unrealistic deadlines. As the conflict is intensifying, productivity decreases.
- A company policy manual is posted and updated at the company intranet, an internal website. Employees must sign that they have read and understand the manual. A conflict arises when team member Xavier insists that employees should sign electronically. Fellow team member Luna thinks that a paper form should be signed by employees so that better records may be kept.
- The author of a lengthy report refuses to collaborate with a colleague on future projects because she believes that her colleague’s review of her document was superficial, short, and essentially useless. The report author is angry at the lack of attention her 25-page paper received.
- Two management team members disagree about a new company social media policy. One wants to ban personal visits to Facebook and Twitter totally. The other believes that an outright ban is impossible to implement and might raise the ire of employees. He is more concerned with limiting Internet misuse, including visits to online game, pornography, and shopping sites. The management team members agree that they need a social media policy, but they disagree on what to allow and what to prohibit.
- A manager and his assistant plan to attend a conference together at a resort location. Six weeks before the conference, the company announces a cutback and limits conference attendance to one person. The assistant, who has developed a presentation specifically for the conference, feels that he should be the one to attend. Travel arrangements must be made immediately.
