Although conflict is a normal part of every workplace, if unresolved, it can create hard feelings and

Question:

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 11.6. Choose two of the scenarios to role-play, with two of your team members taking roles.

a. A warehouse manager and a maintenance manager frequently yell at each other, fuming as they clash over policies and procedures.

The fighting has become so personal and intense that the two departments no longer are able to collaborate. The supervisor overseeing the feuding parties wants to fire both managers.

b. Baby boomers and Generation X employees working for a biomedical research facility repeatedly lock horns with the millennials on the staff. The lab workers from different generations don’t view each other favorably. The boomer and Gen X cohorts consider the millennials lazy, criticizing their work ethic. The millennials view the older colleagues as inflexible and hostile toward change.

c. The author of a lengthy report refuses to collaborate with another colleague on future projects because she feels that the review of her document by the peer was superficial, short, and essentially useless. The report author is angry at the lack of attention her 25-page paper received.

d. Two management team members disagree on a new company social media policy. One wants to ban personal visits to Facebook and Twitter totally. The other thinks 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.

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