Your task: Analyze the following two scenarios, and answer the questions that follow each. You should use appropriate conflict resolution strategies found in the lecture notes or handouts (in D2L course shell). Scenario #1 Gulf Petroleum employs staff from many different countries who speak many different languages, however the business language at Gulf Petroleum is English. There is a group of staff who speak Arabic, and they often converse in their native language at work. Kelly, an employee who doesn't speak their language, feels self-conscious and sometimes wonders if they are talking about him. He frequently complains to his friend at work about other staff not speaking English. One day Kelly walks into a meeting room and several staff are already there, speaking in Arabic. Kelly walks in and says, "Hello." The other staff say "Hello" back and then resume their conversation, which Kelly does not understand. Kelly rolls his eyes and sits down on the other side of the room to wait for the meeting to start. Questions: 1. Why might the bilingual staff choose to speak in their native Arabic language? [2 marks] 2. How could Kelly address his feelings in a positive way? (2 Marks] Kelly What might work better? Kelly feels self-conscious and sometimes wonders if they are talking about him. He frequently complains to his friend at work about other staff not speaking English. 3. How might his coworkers respond? [2 Marks] Kelly What should they say? When Kelly complains to his friends about the non-English speaking co- workers. Scenario #2 Mary has been a Chemical Engineering Technologist with Gulf Petroleum for 12 years. She loves her work, is very driven and would like to progress into a leadership position. Mary is single with no children and puts a lot of extra hours into her work and volunteers for overtime shifts whenever needed. Mary is often frustrated when some of her colleagues don't complete all their duties during a shift as she feels she has to pick up the slack. Dana has been a Chemical Engineering Technologist with Gulf Petroleum for 5 years. She is married with 3 small children. Her husband has a demanding job and works a lot of hours. Dana often struggles as she wants to do her fair share of the work but she finds child care a challenge and usually has to leave work immediately after a shift and can't volunteer for overtime. Situation: As a result of a resignation, the production department is short staffed. The manager has asked Mary, as the senior chemical engineering technologist, to organize a team meeting to work out who will cover the overtime shifts until they are able to hire a new technologist. Before the meeting, Mary drafted a proposed solution to the problem that suggested each employee volunteer for an equal number of overtime hours to make up the difference. Mary also decided she would like to address at the meeting that some employees don't complete all their duties during a shift, such as the proper clean-up and completing work order reports. This information was provided to the employees at the meeting. There were some raised eyebrows but most employees agreed to the equal division of overtime shifts. Dana, however, refused to do any overtime, saying that she has childcare responsibilities. She also felt personally targeted by the comments that some employees don't finish their work during a shift. Mary said things like "everyone has to do their fair share" which made Dana angry. Since the meeting, Dana has become less engaged at work. She refuses to speak to Mary at work and leaves immediately after her shift is over. Mary has made comments to Dana about this to which Dana has replied "mind your own business, you're not my boss". Dana is considering going to Human Resources to make a complaint against Mary. Mary feels that she needs to have a conversation with Dana to address what's been going on. Questions 1. In your own words, describe the conflict(s) in this situation? [2 Marks] 2. What could Mary have done differently to have avoided the conflict? (3 Marks) 3. How could Dana have done differently to have avoided the conflict? (3 Marks) 4. If you were Mary, what steps would you take to resolve this conflict? [4 Marks] 5. Propose a "win-win" resolution to the conflicts presented. (2 Marks]