PLEASE RESPOND TO THESE TWO POSTS SEPARATELY
Dr. D and Classmates
Hello everyone! This weeks discussion encompasses going through our assigned readings and how we would handle the employee-manager conflict scenario. My immediate reaction to this scenario is that the issue needs to be addressed and resolved. I have been in a similar situation while being in the military. I had a leading supervisor who was clueless and would come up with last minute assignments after lunch. As work center supervisor, I would always have to deliver the bad news to my coworkers that we werent getting out of work any time soon due to last minute work request. I at times would get very frustrated and overwhelmed just like the employee in the scenario. One way that this could be avoided is by the boss sending out an email every evening before he left for work so that the employees know what the top priority is for the next work day. To resolve this conflict, I wrote down all of my issues including my coworkers issues and I went to my supervisor. After confronting her, our work relationship became increasingly better as time went on.
When it comes to managing conflict, our textbook states to first control any emotional response or temper to the situation. Controlling your emotions will allow you to assess the situation. You dont want to approach your boss while you are not in a good emotional state. Next, will be to decide whether or not to engage and confront your boss. Sometimes some battles are not worth engaging. But, in this situation I believe it is worth engaging. Next, will be to prepare for your confrontation with the boss. Right down all of your issues and maybe get some input from other employees and how they feel. You should have all of your issues written down along with an action plan to resolve the conflict. Next, is to give your boss a heads up by requesting a meeting with him. Lastly, walk into the meeting with all of your concerns. Make sure when you are done talking to let the boss talk and make sure to keep an open mind. Remember to be mindful of nonverbal communicative factors while in the meeting. If this issue is still not resolved, the next step will be to bring in a third party. This is usually a last resort to resolving any conflict.
References
De Janasz, S. C., Dowd, K. O., & Schneider, B. Z. (2019). Interpersonal Skills in Organizations, Sixth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Word Count: 427
POST2
Good evening everyone! How are you guys today? I pray that my message reaches you all in good health and spirits! Our third weeks discussion asked us to preview our assigned readings and discuss the causes and effects and the variety of ways that we can go about handling the issue in the scenario given below. My immediate reaction when reading the scenario was that there would definitely be some conflict needing resolutions, however as stated in the scenario, addressing your concern to your boss will only put him in a defensive mode and could potentially provide difficulties for you especially if you are not confident when presenting your argument and aware of your tone and attitude. The issue at hand is not how your boss arrives to work late but the fact that after you have set your priorities for the day, the boss arrives and resets your entire work shift and responsibilities for the day. I believe that offering emphatic resolutions that would provide your boss to provide his family as well as his work distribute the work expectations of his employees that way it could reduce the stress of not feeling productive enough to meet the work requirements assigned for the day. With my managerial experience, it has always been important to stress not to allow workplace issues to have the influence to alter your positive energies and make your day more perplexed. The article titled, Five strategies for resolving employee-manager conflict, states that when conflict presents itself in the workplace it is, as common as it is to have misunderstandings or miscommunication amongst colleagues including members of management as well but it is important for us to find ways not to entertain any negativity and confusion by resolving conflict by detaching our biases, actively listening, practicing empathy, focusing on the behaviors, and knowing when you must involve Human Resources (Burnham, 2018). So for this scenario, if you choose to follow the chain of command, I would first brace myself for the remainder of my shift while completing the duties that were assigned to me, and the following day, I would ask my boss to speak with him in private. Taking into account the advice from our supporting research, I would just try to be understanding and relating with my boss and how difficult his mornings may be, so I would offer my suggestion and just simply ask, if it would make his morning less stressful, and if he was to dedicate his mornings his fatherly duties and found time to lay out an work schedule, the evening before assigning each team member of their tomorrows assignments that way we can work together more productively, making the business more successful and that way he can dedicate and to better balance both his fatherly responsibilities and our work day. Because I am a parent and can relate to how it may be challenging to arrange for children to be safely transported to and from places and make it to work before work, just as he is. I would then just make sure that while I am on my bosss presence that I am in check of my nonverbal communicative factors just as my facial expressions and posture to be sure that it makes my tone of voice and my concerned attitude. Hoping that this be the fix of the issue as managers usually compromise with employees when it provides the company with generating a positive change in moving forward with the company. Being that I do not allow workplace conflict to affect my personal life or alter my behavior, I would not plan my day in advance to avoid being frustrated by a change possibly being put into affect as well.
Word Count: 645
References: Burnham, K. (2018). Five strategies for resolving employee-manager conflict. Northeastern University Graduate Program.
