A key message from Coaches is that we control only ourselves. Managing ourselves sounds easy and simple, and is hard and complicated. When someone’s in our face we get defensive.… Read more TV guide to conflict competence →
“How to make good choices” can be the wrong question When my conflict coaching clients produce a choice of either X or Y, and agonize over the decision, I ask:… Read more How to make the choices better? →
TED’s short talks are a gift to those with curiosity plus limited time and/or attention. During cancer treatment and ensuing brain fog I couldn’t read, write, or converse. TED was perfect… Read more Stand up to what bullies you →
Question posed: Two people in the office had a disagreement about a work assignment, which is challenging for the office manager. How do they fix the communication break down between those two so the work flows seamlessly again? Answer: Sounds like there’s more than one conflict in your office. In my conflict analysis I’d include the two employees’ work issues, communication issues, supervision issues, and also any barriers the office manager perceives to supervising. Let’s sort some of that:
Question posed: is it seemly for a manager to apologize to someone he supervises? Answer: It happens, as an intervention proceeds, that parties in conflict learn more about the other parties’ perspectives. Often, the result is that someone wants to apologize for behaviour that seemed reasonable at the time. Learning from the discussion in the mediation what the impact of that behaviour was on the other people, can put that behaviour into a whole new light. Has that happened in this case?
Deborah Sword 