Question

You and a co-worker rarely see eye to eye. Tomorrow, your co-worker will yell at you for the first time. With what tools will you approach this confrontation? How will the tools that you choose impact your response?

Answer 1

If I and my co worker do not have face to face interaction, we may lack coordination and understanding of each other which can lead to future conflicts. We both may not have idea on the difficulties and the mental stress involved in each other’s work. The reason behind the conflict can be misunderstanding and lack of effective communication between us. Hence I would approach the confrontation with patience, careful listening, empathy and wisdom. Approaching the confrontation with patience would help me to deal the situation effectively. The reason behind the conflict can be a small misunderstanding and if I do not approach the situation with patience, it may develop into an uncontrollable conflict. Careful listening would help me to understand the reason and the mental stress undergone by the other party. Once I understand the situation I will use empathy to console my colleague and assure him that I can find a solution for his problem. I am sure my colleague would calm down through this approach and share the real issue behind his confrontation. I would use wisdom to solve the problem by identifying and evaluating the alternatives and suggesting the better one which would solve my colleague’s problem. These tools would help me to deal with the situation in an effective way through better interaction and would solve the problem from the root.