The Conflict
James, Alfred and Timothy are project team-mates. As they are good friends, it was ideal for them to work on the project together.
During the initial phase of the project, they were open with each other, providing various ideas during the brainstorming period. However, James and Alfred soon discovered that Timothy was critical about their ideas and was insistent on his idea. James, being one who does not like conflict, tried to compromise. Alfred, on the other hand is more vocal and voiced out his displeasure as Timothy seem to be insistent on his idea and is not open to any other ideas.
As the project continued, Timothy decided to do the project according to his idea while James and Alfred did their respective portions according to their idea. However, being the compromising team member, James took the initiative to link the different ideas together and recommended that should anyone has ideas, they can put it into the document. But Timothy never added any ideas until the submission date of the project proposal. He took out a section of James' portion and added in his portion, which was not being discussed with the group and submitted the proposal.
When James and Alfred found out, they confronted Timothy and got into a heated argument.
Main Problem
The main issue in this interpersonal conflict stems from the lack of open communication between the members in the group. All 3 members are guilty of at least a communication problem. James, was too compromising and did not verbally communicate his disagreement. Alfred, being vocal, did not adapt his choice of words and tone appropriately, hence intimidating Timothy into making a drastic action at the end. Timothy, being insistent on his idea throughout the project, did not exercise good listening skills.
Possible Causes
1. Misperceptions
Timothy assumed that James agreed with his idea due to Timothy's silence. As such, he decided to
continue to build on his idea despite Alfred's disagreement.
2. Power Struggle
It is possible that Timothy is seeking to be the leader of the group. However, given that the group is
inclined towards a team leadership, Timothy's inclination to be the leader closed him off from the
group, creating the problem as mentioned above
3. Unwillingness to Disengage
Alfred's vocal approach at all times towards Timothy might have lead Timothy to adopt the last
minute change to the proposal because he felt that he was not being heard and his views would
be rejected.
4. Lack of Compromise
While James did his best to compromise, the other 2 members did not attempt to do so. Instead, they
are caught up in their idea and unhappiness respectively. This did not solve any problem but instead
aggravate it further.
Suggestions
So, if you are in one of this scenario, what is a better option which you will take to remedy the situation according to your personality?
If I was the fourth member of the project team, I will try to conciliate the conflicts by exposing it during a project meeting. We can talk openly and find out the solution together.
ReplyDeleteI think I would talk to them individually to let them know what they have done was right or wrong. During this talk with them individually I will find out how they felt for the whole course of project and the reasons why they did a particular action. After that, I will encourage them to talk to each other in a group to apologise to each other and find a solution to resolve this issue.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think my personality is like Alfred's. Being in Alfred's shoes, I would be extremely angry at Timothy. However, given that the proposal is submitted, I have to leave it as that. My own anger issues have to be put down, as I realise that it's only a proposal and can be changed as the project commences.
ReplyDeleteThus to proceed with the project smoothly I have to solve my relationship issues with Timothy. When confronting him with James, I would try to take the softer approach by asking him why did he do that and why was he not open to any ideas. If he really did that because he thinks his ideas are the best, I would try to convince him that discussion of ideas will produce a better result, and that it is responsible to let his group mates know what he is doing. If he replies that he thinks that his ideas will not be accepted if he discusses them with us, I will tell him that I will try my best to be more understanding of his ideas in the future, and that he should not let this deter him from sharing with us his ideas. Whatever outcome from the confrontation, I will have to leave it as that.
However, in maintaining the good relationship, I would start to initiate more group outings between the three of us so that we can foster more healthy relationship, without talking about the project. If our relationship is better, I would be in a better position for him to accept my ideas as we hang out together and we see each other's personality and point of view. I believe that everyone should be given a chance to learn to communicate better with others, including myself.