Question

Describe relationships among the medical assistant the employer and coworkers and how to resolve conflict?

Answer 1

RELATIONSHIP AMONG THE MEDICAL ASSISTANT, THE EMPLOYER AND COWORKERS

The relatioship among the medical assistant,the employer and coworkers should be professional and trustworthy. Trust, teamwork, communication and respect are keys to effective working relationships.It is to enhance learning and group outcomes, including effectiveness or performance in their institutional setting. They should attempt to co-ordinate their activities and use their knowledge, skills and resources to fulfil the various tasks and goals of their institution  as efficiently and effectively as possible.

THE RELATIONSHIP MUST BE AS FOLLOWS:

• Support and lend a helping hand.
• Use proper channels of communication and never out step the chain of command.
• If you are sharing resources, communicate your requirements well in advance.
• Say "No" politely when it is not possible for you to meet their demands.

• If your coworker attraction has upset you with his/her behavior or actions, confront him/her directly instead of complaining to the boss.

• Keep Your distance From Whiny, Negative Coworker Appreciation.

• If you are on close terms with a co-worker, don’t always choose to stick to him/her :

You will always have some preferred coworkers, those who vibe well with you and you build great friendships with. While it is normal to choose to collaborate with friendly and supportive colleagues, make it a point to work with everybody in teams and groups. Friendships and personal relationships must not be allowed to overpower professional equations in office. Don’t let other coworkers appreciation resent your closeness with one or two colleagues.

The management can happen in different ways:

• Integration: It involves openness, exchanging information, looking for alternatives, and examining differences to solve the problem in a manner that is acceptable to everyone.
• Obliging: It is associated with attempting to minimize the differences and highlight the commonalities to satisfy the concern of the other worker.
• Dominating: Here one goes all out to win his or her objective and, as a result, often ignores the needs and expectations of the others.
• Avoiding: Here one in the group fails to satisfy his or her own concern as well as the concern of the others of the team.
• Compromising: It involves give-and-take whereby everyone gives up something to make a mutually acceptable decision.

Some of these ways may lead some conflicts between the members in the team. It is necessary to resolve the conflicts as early as possible for the smooth functioning of the institution.

HOW TO RESOLVE A CONFLICT

When a group of people  work as a team, there will always arise conflicts between the coworkers. So there must be proper conflict management for the proper functioning of the instituion.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT:

It can be possible in three ways.

1. PREPARE FOR RESOLUTION

• Acknowledge the conflict :The conflict has to be acknowledged before it can be managed and resolved. The tendency is for people to ignore the first signs of conflict, perhaps as it seems trivial, or is difficult to differentiate from the normal, healthy debate that teams can thrive on. If you are concerned about the conflict in your team, discuss it with other members. Once the team recognizes the issue, it can start the process of resolution.
• Discuss the impact :As a team, discuss the impact the conflict is having on team dynamics and performance.
• Agree to a cooperative process : Everyone involved must agree to cooperate in to resolve the conflict. This means putting the team first, and may involve setting aside your opinion or ideas for the time being. If someone wants to win more than he or she wants to resolve the conflict, you may find yourself at a standstill.
• Agree to communicate :The most important thing throughout the resolution process is for everyone to keep communications open. The members involved need to talk about the issue and discuss their strong feelings. Active listening  is essential here, because to move on you need to really understand where the other person is coming from.

2. UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION:

Once the team is ready to resolve the conflict, the next stage is to understand the situation, and each team member's point of view. Take time to make sure that each person's position is heard and understood. Remember that strong emotions are at work here so you have to get through the emotion and reveal the true nature of the conflict.

The following should be carried out:

• Clarify positions: Whatever the conflict or disagreement, it's important to clarify each member's positions. Whether there are obvious factions within the team who support a particular option, approach or idea, or each team member holds their own unique view, each position needs to be clearly identified and articulated by those involved.
• List facts, assumptions and beliefs underlying each position :While dealing with a particular conflict these questions must taken into consideration.

What does each group or person believe?

What do they value?

What information are they using as a basis for these beliefs?

What decision-making criteria and processes have they employed?

• Analyze in smaller groups : Break the team into smaller groups, separating people who are in alliance. In these smaller groups, analyze and dissect each position, and the associated facts, assumptions and beliefs.
• Convene back as a team: After the group dialogue, each side is likely to be much closer to reaching agreement. The process of uncovering facts and assumptions allows people to step away from their emotional attachments and see the issue more objectively. When you separate alliances, the fire of conflict can burn out quickly, and it is much easier to see the issue and facts laid bare.

3. REACH AGREEMENT

Now that all parties understand the others' positions, the team must decide what decision or course of action to take. With the facts and assumptions considered, it's easier to see the best of action and reach agreement .

following these the conflicts can be resolved easily.

PREVENTION OF A CONFLICT

As well as being able to handle conflict when it arises, teams need to develop ways of preventing conflict from becoming damaging. Team members can learn skills and behavior to help this.

Some keys include:

• Dealing with conflict immediately – avoid the temptation to ignore it.
• Being open – if members have issues, they need to be expressed immediately and not allowed to fester.
• Practicing clear communication – articulate thoughts and ideas clearly.
• Practicing active listening – paraphrasing, clarifying, questioning.
• Practicing identifying assumptions – asking yourself "why" on a regular basis.
• Not letting conflict get personal – stick to facts and issues, not personalities.
• Focusing on actionable solutions – don't belabor what can't be changed.
• Encouraging different points of view – insist on honest dialogue and expressing feelings.
• Not looking for blame – encourage ownership of the problem and solution.
• Demonstrating respect – if the situation escalates, take a break and wait for emotions to subside.
• Keeping team issues within the team – talking outside allows conflict to build and fester, without being dealt with directly.