Case Assignment 11

Sample Case Analysis for SOWK 718

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CONFLICT ON THE HUMAN SERVICES COORDINATION TEAM Terry A. Wolfer

Introduction

As Director of Field Services for the Human Services Coordination Team (HSCT) of the State Services Department (SSD), Jerry Feldman supervises Arthur Harris, who he recently promoted to Northeast Regional Director. In turn, Harris supervises Frances Carpenter, a former peer and a specialist with the African American community. Feldman, the protagonist, is meeting with Carpenter and Harris to discuss their conflict on the job.

Problem Statement

Shifting organizational priorities have resulted in some confusion, uncertainty, and disagreement among HSCT staff. Feldman apparently selected Harris as a new regional director to implement the new priorities, and this internal promotion and interpersonal differences between staff members contributed to tensions resulting from the changes.

Contextual Analysis

The rather amorphous mission of HSCT is to promote citizen involvement with and coordinate services provided by a variety of private and public agencies, including SSD itself. The mission requires that staff use creativity and initiative in solving problems.

In the past, HSCT worked toward this mission by providing case management services for individuals, intervening to improve coordination between agencies, and helping agencies develop their own capacity for coordinating services. Based on Harris’ comments, it appears that Feldman wants the team to focus more on organizational-level coordination and capacity development. Nevertheless, their mission will no doubt continue to require a diverse set of strategies, selected on a case-by-case basis. The case does not identify what efforts Feldman made to educate and prepare the staff for the shift in strategy, and his response to Harris on this point is vague. Indeed, it is not clear whether HSCT has job descriptions spelling out the new staff roles, responsibilities, and intervention methods, and providing a written basis for evaluation.

The expressed disagreement between Harris and Carpenter suggests that they are not clear about the shifting priorities and associated strategies. To some extent, the changes seem a better fit for Harris’ preference for organization-level interventions than Carpenter’s preference for case-level interventions. But both have demonstrated previous skill in resolving problems across systems levels. And it is not clear the Feldman is insisting on a complete change of strategy; there will likely be continued opportunity and need for multiple approaches.

However, the underlying confusion and disagreement between staff members has been worsened by differences in their cultural backgrounds. As suggested by a diversity perspective, differences in how one manages stress, interpersonal interactions and methods of communication in the workplace can create workplace conflict (Thomas & Eli, 2001). Harris is a youthful white man with military experience and graduate education. In contrast, Carpenter is an African American woman with children, college education, more work experience than Harris, and seven

Sample Case Analysis for SOWK 718

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years older than Harris. Furthermore, under the stress of organizational change, these cultural differences probably undermined their trust for each other.

Because they started at HSCT as peers only 1.5 years ago, the internal promotion likely caused additional tension in their relationship. Not only was Harris a new and inexperienced supervisor, he was younger and less experienced and asking Carpenter to adopt strategies with which she was less comfortable and familiar. Her negative reactions provided severe challenge to his nascent authority and shook his confidence.

In the midst of this transition, it will be important for Feldman to affirm Harris’ supervisory leadership but without encouraging rigidity and control on his part. If he does not, this will undermine Harris’ ability to guide the northeast region team, in general, and Carpenter, in particular. How Feldman handles the conflict between the two staff members will likely influence their ability to accept and implement the organization’s new strategic priorities and their future working relationship. He may unintentionally undermine a new supervisor’s authority or alienate a competent, specialist employee.

Alternative Strategies

Upon returning to the meeting, Feldman has several immediate options for resolving the underlying confusion and conflict.

1. Feldman could meet with Harris alone to review the preferred goals and strategies for HSCT and to provide guidance for dealing constructively with Carpenter. Then, Feldman could allow Harris to meet with Carpenter for supervision and then provide further guidance as needed. This coaching approach could encourage Harris to assert appropriate supervisory authority and, more importantly, help Harris to increase his supervisory skills. However, it may delay resolution of the conflict and risks further alienating Carpenter, especially because she is at the present meeting.

2. With both Harris and Carpenter, Feldman could explain the shifting organizational priorities and strategies in an effort to clarify his changing expectations for their work. This educational strategy could spell out what Feldman thinks needs to be done and how. On the assumption this has not been sufficiently explicit before, doing so may produce new understanding of their work (especially for Carpenter) and defuse the interpersonal conflict. However, this joint approach may undermine Harris’ supervisory authority.

3. Feldman could invite Harris and Carpenter to articulate their individual understandings of the agency’s mission and preferred strategies, and lead them in a mutual effort to resolve their misunderstandings of the new approach and of each other. This more collaborative problem solving approach would both model what Feldman wants them to do with other agencies and may elicit both substantive contributions and buy-in from the two staff members. As a result, they may reach a new and different agreement about the agency’s goals and strategies for working with multiple constituencies. But this approach may take longer (i.e., multiple sessions) and may end up in a different place than Feldman intended.

Recommendation and Evaluation

I recommend the third alternative because it represents the most powerful effort to coach both Harris and Carpenter in collaborative problem-solving and reflects a genuine openness to

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both their contributions. Specifically, it maintains openness to the possibility that Feldman’s proposed approach for HSCT may not work well with the African American community and it allows Carpenter to educate Harris and Feldman about that. Further, it affirms Harris’ leadership without actually taking a side in the conflict.

This strategy would be considered successful if it restored working relationships within the HSCT itself, helped Harris and Carpenter to grow professionally, and helped them to see past their personal differences.

Rationale

My recommendation is based on experience with organizational change processes and the conflict that often results.

Reference

Thomas, D. A., & Eli, R. J. (2001). Cultural diversity at work: The effects of diversity

perspectives on work group processes and outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly. Retrieved January 16, 2010, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4035/is_2_46/ai_79829822/