Resolving Interpersonal Conflict
A hypothetical case:
X, Y and Z were group mates for a project in a university. X and Y are best friends since Secondary School and are very close to each other. Y and Z knew each other from a previous module that they had taken before last semester. X and Z just got acquainted through Y. As the project required 3 in a group, the trio became group-mates. However, while Y and Z did their tasks well, X did not contribute much to the project. Individual task assigned to X was not completed on time for any meeting arranged beforehand. Therefore, the group often had trouble collating everyone’s work. Y and Z did try to remind X about the tasks she was assigned, but to no avail. Deadline to the project was near and Z could not bear with X anymore. She was annoyed and angered by X’s attitude towards the project. She decided to report to the lecturer about X and informed Y about her decision.
Z’s thought was that it was unfair that X be given full credit for the project when she had not contributed much.
X’s thought was that since Y is her best friend, she would definitely help her in the project and would not mind anything.
Y was troubled and confused. X might be given zero for this project! But X has been her best friend since Secondary School and was afraid that this incident could cause her to lose X’s friendship. However, she understood Z’s feeling and was annoyed by X’s behavior herself too.
What should Y do?
X, Y and Z were group mates for a project in a university. X and Y are best friends since Secondary School and are very close to each other. Y and Z knew each other from a previous module that they had taken before last semester. X and Z just got acquainted through Y. As the project required 3 in a group, the trio became group-mates. However, while Y and Z did their tasks well, X did not contribute much to the project. Individual task assigned to X was not completed on time for any meeting arranged beforehand. Therefore, the group often had trouble collating everyone’s work. Y and Z did try to remind X about the tasks she was assigned, but to no avail. Deadline to the project was near and Z could not bear with X anymore. She was annoyed and angered by X’s attitude towards the project. She decided to report to the lecturer about X and informed Y about her decision.
Z’s thought was that it was unfair that X be given full credit for the project when she had not contributed much.
X’s thought was that since Y is her best friend, she would definitely help her in the project and would not mind anything.
Y was troubled and confused. X might be given zero for this project! But X has been her best friend since Secondary School and was afraid that this incident could cause her to lose X’s friendship. However, she understood Z’s feeling and was annoyed by X’s behavior herself too.
What should Y do?
posted by Elaine Lim at
1:42 PM
3 Comments:
I think Y should have a heart to heart talk to X to know what caused her behaviour. Was she facing any family or relationship problems which explained her laid-back attitude? Was she having problems managing her time with the overloading homework and activities? Was there any valid reason from X that Y and Z can empathise and perhaps let the matter go? A decision should always be made after considering all the factors. If X was facing some problems, Y could advise Z not to report to the lecturer and instead let X have a chance to explain. If X was being plain-lazy and not remorseful about her actions, Y should put her friendship aside and support Z’s decision to report the matter even if this may cause the relationship to turn sour. It’s a difficult decision, but everyone needs to be accountable for their own actions.
By
Xue Xin, At
August 30, 2008 at 8:00 PM
Hi Elaine,
Interpersonal conflict happens very frequently in school especially in group project. It’s hard to force your project mates to do their fair share of work, instead they should take their initiative to contribute to the project.
Though friendship came first, Y should shows empathy towards X by asking questions like “what happened to you?” or ‘do you need some help with the part that is assign to you?”. If the situation shows no improvement, worse come to worse, Y then should approached the lecturer for help instead.
On the other hand, Z felt angry with the little contribution from X. Z should have a meeting arrange for the three of them, to let X know that he/she is not contributing much. Y and Z could help him out if he/she has problem, if not remind X that the datelines for the project is near.
This might worked out better, rather than Y and Z feeling angry after all the credits had been given to X at the end.
Wendy
By
-wendy-, At
August 31, 2008 at 9:07 AM
Since Y is the “middleman” here, I think she should be more initiative in this situation. Y should have a talk with X and discuss what causes the delay of showing them the tasks that was previously assigned to her. I believe X and Y should have similar work etiquette since they are best friends since Secondary School. Thus, I feel the main cause of problem here is the mode of communication used. For example, did Y and Z remind X by using a sms or a phone call? A phone call would mean that Y and Z are taking this project very seriously.
If they have already used all types of communication they could, the problem might be due to other reasons like the difficulty level of the tasks assigned to X. If X finds it hard to complete, three of them can brainstorm together during the meeting.
By
Wen Jie, At
September 1, 2008 at 10:15 PM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home