CONFLICT IN WORKPLACE BETWEEN

EMPLOYEES

NARRATION
Emily is the chief of mission of an medium size office on top of her duties he
and her team are running a very important project and its deadline is
approaching the team gets along well and begins there day with a coffee
meeting.
Emily- we are making a great progress! Remember we have to finish the
project on time.
Anna - the deadline is approaching so the workload is getting heavier , but I
am sure we will manage to get it all done.
Roman - I used to passionate about this project but now with this deadline
approaching , working hours have gone beyond what I can manage…….

NARRATION
At the end of the day Emily is surprised to receive a message from anna in
which she complaines about an offensive email she received from roman.
EMAIL
I am always obliged to complete or finalize your task ! are you unable to carry
out ur duties ? stop making me do your work on top of my own.
Anna- its as if he is trying to tell me I am incompetent ! I am forwarding this
email to Emily , so that we can talk about it.
Emily- I can tell the pressure is getting in them. I will send them an encouraging
msg telling them I understand they must be tired , but they are doing great
work.
NARRATION
The next morning anna and roman receive there supervisors email.
Roman- that’s just great instead of talking to me about it , you go directly t
COM!
NARRATION
Over the next few days the atmosphere in the office was not good
Roman- lucky you , leaving at this time , have a great evening.
Haaaahuhhh…… I am so tired of having to stay after hours to do every ones
work. Anna could me doning her job better.
She just dosent care.
NARRATION
Emily notices that her team is not doing well and that she needs to go
something for the atmosphere to improve and to reach the deadline of the
project.
Emily- I though my email would have settled the issue, but everything has gone
worse. They don’t speak to each other, nor do they attend our coffee meetings
aymore. This is effecting our work, I must do something.
NARRATION
Emily decides to get advice from another chief of mission on how to manage
conflict.
ANOTHER COM- from my experience I learned that , as managers, we should
take workplace conflict seriously,and address the issue with each person
separately first , so that it does not escalate.
Emily- you are right . I have to start over and address this issue differently.
NARRATION
EMILY starts over and begins by asking open ended questions. She speaks with
each and proceeds individually first and listens actively. She then asks both
employees. Separately first if they would be willing to meet for a disscusiion .
Roman – sure , we can try that , but I am not sure anna will accept, since she
didn’t talk to me about this in the first place…….
NARRATION
Anna accepts.
Anna- yes of course, I was thinking to discuss this with you before talking to
roman , I was afraid to approach him on my own.
Emily- as I heard them speak I discovered that the issue came from lack of
discussion and lack of clarity in defining there role and task. And I did not
understand what roman needed from anna , well roman wasn’t aware of the
scope of annas responsibilities I realise that it might have been my fault since
I did not clearly define there roles
NARRATION
Each employees realises that they have a part to play in this conflict even if it
wasn’t intentional.
Anna- I am sorry that you felt like you were being overworked. I just did not
realise that you found the work to be incomplete when I send it to you roman.
Roman- I guess I never explained clearly what I needed from u in order to carry
out my own work . I am also sorry for sending you that disrespectful email.
NARRATION
Once the discussion was over they begin exploring options
Emily – we agreed on a few solutions . anna and roman both decided to
communicated their needs to one another , I insisted on having a followup
meeting 3 weeks later. They both said it was not necessary but I kindly insisted
NARRATION
After a few days the atmosphere in the office was improved . the follow up
meeting allowed Emily to verify if the solution put in place were working or not
and they were working.