Managing Difficult Conversations

Kevin Claven

Milestone Three

WCM-620-10073-M01

Professor Victoria Frye

September 15, 2024

While reviewing the given transcripts of interactions, conflict resolution was achieved through the use of communication to foster understanding between Kareem and the representatives. The representative used open-ended questions in the interview process, for example while asking Kareem, “can you tell me what in particular made you have that feeling”, this prompted Kareem to explain the details of his experience in ABC Corporation. This approach empowered Kareem to freely vent his frustrations and provide detailed information that could help the rep in collating details.

Various words that are used vocally comprise of paraphrase so as to enhance comprehension of different parts of the transcripts. For instance, Kareem shocked the Rep by narrating that he was let off-guard by his termination, and thus the rep reaffirmed with Kareem and said, “You were caught off-guard and thought you were doing a good job based on feedback you received.” This technique cements the comprehension of the speaker’s words by the listener and summarizes the conceptualized understanding of the statement made in a concise manner (Rogelberg, S. G. 2018).

Here, what Kareem did, especially his walking out to pray excessively, had a paradoxical effect or influence compared to his goals. The reason Kareem embarked on this journey was a desire to practice his faith while also meeting his work commitments. However, the free time he would earlier spend at his desk and the overall low performance that followed was a negative outlook to his supervisors. Janet and Thomas fired Kareem without understanding his religious beliefs; they only considered his actions as unconstructive and unhelpful. Another factor was that Kareem did not express how he was required to have breaks which added to the conflict.

The following ways, derived from conflict solving procedures, can be adopted to enable the department to gain the confidence of the society; There should be communication without prejudice, workers should be able to talk about issues like personal or religion without any form of discrimination. If supervisors are trained on cultural competency and diversity, they would not allow any incidents such as Kareem’s dismissal to occur in the future. Ensuring that there are periodic performance evaluations at the workplace, including introducing reporting for new employees, would also solve such issues at an early stage. These practices cultivate an environment that is open and based on trust so that the team and its individual members work cohesively and efficiently (Robertson, R. W. 2023).

In the future, ABC Corporation should have a more definitive policy of respecting religious beliefs. If there were formal procedures for requesting an accommodation, Kareem’s case could have been prevented. In addition, by establishing a culture of diversity sensitivity and offering training on the steps we need to take to avoid such circumstances, similar unfortunate incidents will not take place again. Moreover, there is a need to enhance leadership management style by being empathetic, which fortunately, the rep exemplified since he listened to each party’s version of the incident diligently. These steps will assist in the conflict solution and enjoy a better working environment.

References

Rogelberg, S. G. (2018).  The surprising science of meetings: How you can lead your team to peak performance. Oxford University Press, USA. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zdB2DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Rogelberg,+S.+G.+(2023).+The+surprising+science+of+meetings:+How+you+can+lead+your+team+to+peak+performance.+Oxford+University+Press.&ots=awYwto9dcI&sig=W8oBrnEmiCoVAnPyw1RFzXVLdsU

Robertson, R. W. (2023). Developing and Implementing a Framework for Dispute Resolution: Key Elements of Negotiation.  Florida Political Chronicle,  30(1). https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=15491323&AN=176853212&h=oiSSxpXs6Xqik7HjOQEpNqCHQ2EYmFA3Fv%2BtEauMLD0pi4VRuxNKPJcKTIWR7KVPBEpUmGeJ6VVp9fULAK93Bw%3D%3D&crl=c