One possible method which was taught is to follow the 4 main steps to resolve conflicts:
stop-> listen and speak -> think -> negotiate
Now let us try to apply the concepts we have learnt during class to this situation which I have encountered in university:
(I apologize for the long post but it's necessary in order to elaborate the feelings of the people involved and to complete the entire situation.)
Apple is the director for the events team and she has 2 executives to help her plan a Tshirt design competition.
The events team worked happily together initially but recently, they realized that the response for the competition has been quite poor.
One day Christine told Betty that she wants to participate in competition, but this is against regulation as members of the club are not allowed to participate. Apple heard of this and spoke to Christine, and she found out that her reason was that she wanted the entire department to have a better design.
Apple was in a dilemma, on one hand she wants to uphold the integrity of the competition, but on the other hand she feels that letting Christine submit her design might benefit the club.
Finally, Apple suggested to Christine that she should let someone else that is not a club member to submit her design on her behalf if she does want her design to be considered for the competition, but Christine reacted strongly. Christine wanted recognition for her work.
Apple felt frustrated that Christine kept insisting on her personal submission. The team was in a tense situation and Betty was beginning to complain about the heavy workload that she is handling since Christine has stopped helping.
Eventually, Apple told Christine that the only way she can participate is to quit the organizing committee and leave the team. However, the students in the club protested strongly as it isn't fair that she can do so.
Apple was under tremendous pressure and soon the club president became aware of the situation and has to react quickly to relieve the tension in the club.
What do you think the club president should do in this case? How can he/she help ease the situation?
Hi Shu Yan,
ReplyDeleteI think the club president should
1) Assign one more person to help Betty to relieve her workload and assure Betty that the situation is under control.
2) Have a private conversation with Apple and Christine together. I will let Christine know that she cannot take part due to the regulations and will not let her quit in order to participate. This is because if Christine takes part in the competition, this can be seen as a breach of trust by the organizing comittee. And if she won, people may see it as "cheating" etc. On top of it, the other students are unhappy if she is allowed to quit. As a club president, he should make decisions while considering the welfare of the club.
I will also suggest to Alice that the club can still use Christine's t-shirt design for some other purposes instead of this. This way, Christine's well thought efforts will not be wasted.
Some minor comments about the blog. I feel that maybe you can mention that Christine and Betty are the 2 executives helping Apple. This is because I was wondering who Christine and Betty were when they appeared on the 2nd paragraph.
And also the colour of the right column of the blog. I feel that the colors for the names of the class blog does not look good on the purple background. For example, the colour of the visited links is only of a different shade of the background making it hard to read. :)
Well, I deleted the first post as I didnt put "Hi Shu Yan" in the beginning. Haha
Regards
Kenneth
Hi Shu Yan,
ReplyDeleteThis is indeed a very perplexing conflict you have at hand as I feel that both parties are right in their position and it is hard to cater to the demands and needs of both.
Firstly, as has been done, Apple needs to listen and speak to both Betty and Christine separately. However, she needs to do it calmly without giving Christine an ultimatum of quitting to be able to take part in the competition as it only aggrevates the problem. Apple should calm both of them down, get them to put their feelings aside and think from the other person’s perspective to understand their stand and reasoning better. Next, she should ask them to suggest a course of action to be taken to pacify both parties. This way, it is possible that by understanding each other’s feelings, they reach a compromise on their own.
Another suggestion would be to look at the outcome of the competition. The reason for Christine’s insistence is due to the poor response as well as inferior and unsatisfactory designs submitted because of which her design might be a better choice. Is it possible that with the consent of the other participants, Christine’s design be considered and a fair, unbiased judgement be made for the good of the department? If this is possible, then the conflict can be resolved with a good outcome for all.
Lastly, I would like to point out that you were switching between the past and present tense at some points. You started with the present tense but then switched to the past in the second line and reverted back to the present tense. I think it is better to narrate something in the past tense as it is easier to describe. Otherwise, a well-written and coherent post.
Hope the suggestions help :).
Regards,
Prameet
Hi Shu Yan,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Prameet that this is a very tacky problem indeed! Anyway below is my proposal of how the conflict can be resolved by the club president:
The club president could have a private talk with Christine and show appreciation that she had the interests of the club in her heart. However, remind her of her role when she first joined the committee. And that is that she had to follow the rules set, including not participating in the competition and also that she had the responsibility to fulfil her task. This is to address the issue of her leaving the work for Betty to do alone. Perhaps a reminder of the stress she had caused to Betty, who did not wrong her in the first place, might help her see that she should strive to complete her own responsibility.
Then the club president should re-energise the team by reminding them to tackle the problem of poor response and poor submission head on together. One possible solution to suggest is to offer sufficient incentives to attract more students to participate in the competition. In this case the additional funds may be obtained by a proposal to NUSSU. This new direction will give something positive for the group to focus on and help to get the team spirit going again.
I very much liked this problem you had presented as it is a very realistic situation that most of us would face at one point or another. Overall you presented your problem clearly though you might want to rephrase your first sentence "To reach a successful negotiation .... aspects." as it is not very clear what you were trying to say due to problem with sentence structure.
sixiao
Hello to all,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your inputs to resolve this conflict =). I have to say, the solutions are very impressive and relevant, I just wish I had such good advice when the conflict occurred.
As for the technical aspect of my blog post, I am glad to have improved on the coherence of the blog post and would definitely watch out for the tenses in my upcoming post.
Starting the post with "To reach a successful negotiation..." sentence again brought up my problem of using weird sentence structure. Yes, will be more aware of that.
To end off here, I must say that the all have given very good suggestions to resolve this conflict. Indeed, speaking to both Betty and Christine individually first is important to understand the situation better and to devise the most suitable strategy. That strategy should result in the optimal outcome that is to not lose Christine in the team as well as to keep the morale of the club high.
Once again, thank you for your comments and looking forward to hearing more from you for my next post!
Regards,
Shu Yan
Dear Shu Yan
ReplyDeleteI know you need to explain the story, but to practice succinctness is necessary.
It is best to write and rewrite till you get the key points.
Regards
Happy