for anyone

CM310-Communication and Conflict

Unit 4: Power: The Structure of Conflict

Che Baysinger, Ph.D.

“Finding Your Voice”

“What is this?” shouted Roland Brewster as he read the report and laid

it down on his desk. Amanda Ortega, one of the primary medical

transcriptionist in the office, heard him over the quiet sound of her MP3

player. “I wish he wouldn’t raise his voice that way,” she thought.

“Everyone can hear him.”

Roland was now on the telephone to Karen Myers, his business

partner. Karen was the nice one, Amanda knew. Karen appreciated what

Amanda performance and respected her ideas. She never yelled the way

Roland did. What’s the matter with him, anyway!

“The next time he needs me to work late,” she thought, “I am going to

refuse. I’ll tell him I am taking a class or something. He doesn’t deserve

my extra time.”

Just then, Karen walked into the main office area and asked Amanda

about the report. “What do you think about changing these last few

paragraphs? I just spoke with Roland and he doesn’t like the way they

read. I think you can figure this out, but I’ll check with you later to see

what you’ve come up with.”

“Sure, Karen. I’ll look them over first thing in the morning,” Amanda

replied. It was nearly time to go home.

“I really want to quit this job,” Amanda told her domestic partner,

Chris, later that evening. “I would, too, if Karen wasn’t so nice. I know

Roland thinks those mistakes on the report are my fault. He always does.

I wish I didn’t have to work with him, at all.”

“Have you talked with Roland about how he treats you?” Chris asked.

“Think of all you do for them. You know how to run all the equipment,

where the supplies are kept, and when you need to reorder everything.

You welcome the clients and explain things to them. You know all their

crazy medical terms better than anyone in the office, and can make

customers understand what’s going on. They’d lose half their business if it

wasn’t for you, and it would take them a long time to train someone new.

Maybe you can ask Roland to come to you directly when he has a

problem. He doesn’t need to go through Karen, and he doesn’t need to

shout. Just talk to him honestly the way you talk to me, but a little more

formally.

“I always feel nervous around Roland,” Amanda admits. “He’s so loud

and demanding. He makes me feel like I don’t have any sense. I know

I’ve worked there for three years, but I don’t know … I am not afraid to

share my ideas with you or with Karen. It’s just him.”

“Well, it seems to me that the more you struggle against him without

letting him know, the less likely your will ever be able to talk with him,”

Chris responds. “And, you’ll always want to quit.”

The next day, Amanda rewrites the end of the report. She sends Karen

a text message asking her to come look it over so they can determine if

her changes are suitable. She also decides that she wants to improve her

relationship with Roland, keep her job, and enjoy her time at work.