Difficult
Situation!
In living life, no matter how smoothly it may be going.
One will encounter some difficult situations from time to time. These
situations can occur in your family, relationships with your significant other,
friends and your workplace. The exercise I’m about to break down deals with a
situation involving the workplace. I will break down how I would approach this
employee, anticipate their response, and explain what communication techniques
I would use.
Situation:
“You are a department manager in a mid-sized company that provides technology
support services. You have ten employees who are required to maintain a high
level of technical expertise and deliver excellent customer service. One of
your employees, who have been with the company for two years, is performing at
a substandard level and you have received numerous complaints from customers
and coworkers. In addition, this employee has displayed confrontational
behavior which has created a hostile environment. You must now meet with this
employee and deliver an ultimatum regarding the need for immediate improvement
or dismissal.”
The approach I would take in this situation is conducting
a staff meeting with all ten employees. In the staff meeting, I would inform
everyone that I will be meeting with them one on one. The reason for the
discussion will be to talk about their individual job performance and what is
expected of them. By meeting with everyone and putting it on the table that
way, it doesn’t single anyone out. It will let that person know that everyone’s
job performance is being evaluated. This begins to identify the problem before
it evolves into something else (Abigail & Cahn, 2011, p. 44). It also
allows that person to ask any questions at the time so they know what lies
ahead in the meeting. Giving them a chance to do that, allows them to have
preparation time for their individual meeting. I would end the meeting with the
group by reminding them the success of our company relies on the happiness of
our customers.
In dealing with a situation like this, one has to expect
some hostility. Especially from a person who feels they may doing my job
correctly and you say otherwise. Dealing with someone like this, you have to
remember to stay professional at all times. Even if they become
confrontational, staying professional shows them no matter the situation you
know how to conduct yourself. Another is
a sense of passiveness. A lot of people hear things but aren’t really receiving
it. So you can be handing down some constructive criticism and they aren’t
taking it seriously. The reason for that
is they don’t think the inevitable could happen.
When conducting my one on one meeting, there are a lot of
conflict resolution techniques that I feel could be useful.
Technique 1: Practice
Assertive Communication-to say what’s on your mind in a way that is clear and
assertive, without being aggressive or putting the other person on the
defensive. One effective conflict resolution strategy is to put things in terms
of how you feel rather than what you think the other person is doing wrong,
using ‘I feel’ statements. (http://stress.about.com/od/relationships/a/conflict_res.htm)
By doing this, it will allow you to get your point across
in a professional manner. It also leaves no room for confusion.
Technique 2: Use of a mediator- The mediator will then help the
parties assess the relative merits of the different options and draft an agreement
that works best to satisfy everyone’s interests. It is up to the parties,
however, to decide whether to accept the final agreement or not. (www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/mediatn.htm).
Using
a mediator allows the situation to be viewed outside the box. The person will
be objective and get an understanding from all sides.
Difficult situations or conflicts
occur on an everyday basis. It’s how we deal with the situation that determines
what kind of person we are. Being a communication major, I honestly believe I
have what it takes to deal with any situation.
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