Managing Conflict
Framing messages in response to challenging business scenarios
Directions:
- Review course materials:
Business Communications, chapter 6
Title: Jeff Bezos Confronts Criticism of Amazon’s ‘Brutal’ Workplace Conditions http://www.geekwire.com/2015/full-memo-jeff-bezos-responds-to-cutting-nyt-expose-says-tolerance-for-lack-of-empathy-needs-to-be-zero
Title: How to Tell Someone They’re [sic] Being Laid Off (article)
Article link: https://hbr.org/2015/06/how-to-tell-someone-theyre-being-laid-off
- Read this scenario:
Aimee rubbed her temples. What a day it had been! Managing a call center can be stressful, and today had been no exception. Sometimes her team performed flawlessly, and other times she imagined herself as the mother hen, flapping frantically to shoo her chicks from danger.
“No! No! Don’t escalate that call!” she’d just told Tom. “You can handle this one. Tell him …”
She was going to have to coach Tom about the irate caller with the “fried” hard drive, but it could wait until tomorrow. Before she could leave her office, her boss, Susan, appeared at the door.
“Aimee. Good! I’m glad I caught you. We have a situation.”
Oh, no, Aimee thought. Susan’s tone told her the news wouldn’t be good.
“We need two volunteers from your team to start working the midnight shift for the summer. They need to start tomorrow night,” Susan said.
“I thought all the shifts were covered,” Aimee said.
“We lost two people last night and have to replace them right away,” Aimee said. “You’ll have to pull your team together and use your leadership skills to get this covered quickly.”
The next morning, Aimee faced having to break the news to her team of 10 call center representatives. She knew that they all had other commitments and that none of them would want to take the midnight shift. They’d each worked hard and consequently been promoted to the day shift. This was going to kill morale and cause some of her team members some hardship.
- Take on the role of Aimee . Your task is to break the news to your team in the best way possible and to persuade two of them to agree to work the midnight shift all summer. Be creative and use the communication skills that you’ve learned in this module’s readings. Write out the spoken announcement that Aimee will make to her team (and include her strategies for breaking the news and persuading them to volunteer in parentheses). You may use dialogue, essay, narrative, or any form that meets the assignment criteria.
Write from Aimee’s point of view (use “I” when talking about Aimee , her thoughts, words and actions).
- In the final paragraph, return to your own body! (give up being Aimee ), and reflect on how the principles for breaking bad news and persuading might help you in your own workplace communications. Your paper should be about 500 words.
- Please use APA citations and references as needed. Submit your paper as an attachment to the dropbox.
ANSWER
Managing conflict
“Be direct.” Hello team, a situation developed yesterday night (Richter et al., 2016). Yesterday the company lost two of the midnight shift workers, and two of you will need to go back to working that shift over the summer. I know it is not ideal for any of us, but the positions have to be filled. You all worked so hard to be brought to the day shift, and most of you have other commitments, but this situation is here with us, and we have to deal with it as a team. I know what you are thinking right now, but we will have to develop a strategy and pick out two of you to fill the night shift. I want us to be honest with each other and pick out the person with the least commitments at night. I am not saying that your life is not important. It is that two of you are the most ideal, and considering this situation, that is the best I can do.
“Be compassionate.” I am sorry that this is happening to our team. It hurts me that I am about to lose two of you to the night shift (Richter et al., 2016). It is not that my feelings matter in this situation. I am sorry that this had to come up when we were stabilizing in the dayshift. I promise I will talk to Susan to try and find replacements for the midnight shift as soon as possible, and you will be back to the day shift in no time. As soon as the replacements for the two positions are found, I will personally ensure that I have brought you back to the team. I will not abandon you.
“Allow time for response.” I will now stop talking and allow any of you who have anything to say about the situation to address it (Richter et al., 2016). This is also the chance to pick out the two members of the team who will be moving to the midnight shift. I am here, and I am listening to you. I understand the frustration that comes with changing your schedule and being subjected to maybe not seeing your family during the day and not seeing them in the evening. “I do not understand why the two people filling the position have to be picked out of our team.” Tom complains. I understand where you are coming from, Tom, but from where I am standing, I also do not understand why they picked out our team. I think it was bad luck on our side.
The above principles of breaking bad news, such as being direct, help soften the blow when giving bad news. Beating around the bush or getting distracted while delivering bad news could worsen the situation. This is a good strategy that can be used in any organization while breaking bad news. Compassion helps the employees see that maybe your hands are tied or understand how they feel, but the situation is out of control. It also helps show the employees that they are not alone in the situation and the team leader has got their back which can help improve morale after delivering bad news. Giving time for response gives them an outlet. It is also a good strategy to hear what they are thinking and reassure them that everything will be fine. It also helps them air their frustration which might help them get back to work feeling better despite the bad news.
References
Richter, M., König, C. J., Koppermann, C., & Schilling, M. (2016). Displaying fairness while delivering bad news: Testing the effectiveness of organizational bad news training in the layoff context. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(6), 779.
