You are a Senior Data Analyst on a project team responsible for a brand new product. The product here involves gathering healthcare data and creating reports for pharmaceutical clients.

You began with the organization 3 months ago. Everything started out well. In the first two months, you felt like you were learning and being productive. You developed a strong relationship with your manager, Lori. You are able to talk transparently, ask questions, and share ideas for improvement. In addition, youve developed a close relationship with the other analyst, Jane, on your team who has been with the organization for 2 years. Jane previously worked on a different product so shes new to the project team and this product as well. Interestingly her title is Analyst, whereas you were hired in as a Senior Analyst. Youre aware that Jane has requested a promotion, and as far as you know that is in the works.

In the last month, there has been a lot of change. You learned that your manager Lori will be transitioning to a new role. Your new manager, Ellen, was hired from an external company, and started a few weeks ago. Lori will be spending 50% of her time with your team through the transition, until January 15^th. However, you immediately began reporting to Ellen when she started. In addition, three new junior analysts have been hired 2 started the same day as Ellen, and 1 the week after. They require a lot of support, as they are all right out of college and for all of them, this is their first full-time position. Thankfully youve at least had a few internships and you graduated with a business degree.

You are feeling overwhelmed in the midst of all of this change. Ellen is very nice, but she has a very different style than Lori. Ellen has a lot of experience in the industry but does not understand the tools and systems that are being used. She is new enough that she doesnt understand the reports and the data, or the workflow involved in getting the work done. In meetings, Ellen is not structured and goes off topic. She focuses on details such as color and capitalization in reports rather than roles/responsibilities and timelines. The frustration is building.

The junior analysts are hesitant to speak up in meetings when the whole team is present, but constantly are reaching out to you individually for questions. You feel like they are starting to feel badly about taking your time. Ellen has asked you to quality check the junior analysts tasks and constantly asks you for status of their work. Its beginning to feel like you are managing the team, and you are stressed because you also have your own data and report tasks to take care of.

On top of it all, the organization as a whole has been claiming that employees should expect a greater focus on career pathing and employee growth, but your new manager hasnt mentioned this to you once. Actually, you still meet with Lori and she has been setting up meetings still to help you network throughout the organization.

Youve been having conversations with Jane and she is clearly frustrated as well. Everything came to a head last week, when Jane was leading a meeting and accidentally shared her Teams screen. She displayed a message she wrote, unprofessionally expressing her frustration to you, stating Ellen has no idea what shes doing. This is a mess. Thankfully you didnt respond. Ellen and other leaders on the call saw the message and have already talked to Jane. The conversation was professional on both sides, and Jane was apologetic, but youre not sure that the real issues were raised.

You are literally starting to lose sleep. You know something needs to be done.

QUESTION: Analyze the situation based on what youve learned about Conflict.

Be sure to address the following.

1. What Types of Conflict are apparent in this scenario?
2. Is the conflict in this situation positive or negative? Why?
3. How would you diagnose the Sources of Conflict?
4. How would you characterize Janes Conflict Handling Style?