Conflict
It
is common for disagreement, discord or some other form of friction to arise
among individuals in a group. This is very true, when the actions or beliefs of
a given person or more people are resisted by one or more individuals in the
group. Conflicts may arise within a group or among several groups. Variation in
opinion often leads to disruption in routine group interaction. Such disruption
may also be as a result of scarcity of resources and may result to violence as
division arises between members of the same group or different groups. I have
had an experience of conflict in the workplace during my internship at one of
the leading financial institutions. The experience was bad at first with both
sides to the conflict, failing to reach a common ground as we sought to find a
solution that was, however, achieved at the end of the ordeal.
The
source of the conflict was a colleague’s mobile phone on which some water had
accidentally poured into making it go off. The owner of the phone who happened
to be a lady and the firm’s procurement officer was someone we had been very
close as we worked from the same office, though serving under different
departments. She went by the name Naomi. Naomi was out of the office, but
within the premises at the time of the incident. There were some workers who
had been hired on a temporary basis to help in sorting out information
contained in some old files in the firm and had been stationed in our office
from where they did their work. The temporary staff had gone through numerous
files which they arranged in stacks that went so high that they did not balance
well. At some point, as I was moving out, I closed the door behind me. This
caused some light breeze resulting from the action of propelling the door,
making one of the stacks of files to come down falling hitting a glass of water
on Naomi’s table. I had been drinking water from the glass while at her table
as she was away running some errands. The glass fell over splashing the water
on the items on the table, Naomi’s phone inclusive.
When she came back and learnt of what had
transpired, she was very furious. It was a Samsung smart phone that meant a lot
to her as it contained valuable contacts and information. Her fear was that the
phone might not resume normal functioning. This made her angry and she demanded
to know the persons responsible for the incident. She was informed by the
temporary workers that I was responsible. I came but to be faced with endless
questions and accusations. This attracted the attention of other staff members.
I tried giving my version of the story, but she was too blinded by fury to
listen to whatever I had to say.
I
had to seek the indulgence of two other staff members, Andrew and Dominic whom
I respected so much and found to be wise and mature to help us in solving the
matter amicably. I knew they would not depict any racial bias considering the
fact that I am Chinese while the rest of the people in the room were Americans.
They first advised Naomi to take her phone to the IT department where it could
be dried and sorted out. She obliged and came back a few minutes later. We all
gave our versions and perspectives on the whole issue as the two gentlemen
listened carefully. Later, after we were done, they requested for a few
clarifications which we offered promptly. They ruled out malice in the
incident, calling for new approaches to the way we conducted ourselves within
the office. We all agreed that each one sticks to his or her workstation and
only moves to another person’s desk after obtaining permission from the
relevant person. There was an exception in terms of the senior staff as they
had to express authority over their subordinates.
Fortunately,
the functionality of Naomi’s phone was restored. We also went back to good
terms, respecting each other. Looking back, I think that the incident made
things better as the staff seem to be more responsible in their actions, taking
utmost care of company property and the property of their colleagues. One no
longer has to worry about someone disorganizing items on their desk.
As
highlighted, the experience was bad at first as both sides to the conflict
failed to reach a common ground as we sought to find a solution, which we
achieved finally. Naomi’s mobile phone incident had been purely accidental with
no malice intended. Both Dominic and Andrew handled the conflict maturely. They
helped each one of us appreciate the value of respecting other people’s
workplace as well as increase our degree of responsibility and accountability
when it comes to both the firm’s property and that of other employees. As long
as people continue interacting, conflicts are always bound to occur. However,
with proper handling of conflicts warring parties are able to resolve their
issues peacefully for the better.
