Communication with Difficult People - Essay Example

Communication with difficult people Introduction Conflicts are part and parcel of everyone’s life. It is especially true in the contemporary timesof rapid globalization and fast changing pace of the technology. The process of globalization has brought in pluralistic society and changed the dynamics of organizational behaviour which has become more challenging and interesting. The human behaviour has became more formal and often less predictive and therefore, all types of relationship, personal or professional, come across conflicting situations at one time or other. To maintain a semblance of peace and harmony in the working relationship, it is important that the interpersonal problems, that give rise to conflicting situation at the workplace, be resolved be done at the earliest. The conflicts in workplace must be resolved early because if left long to fester, the situation can become explosive and critical for the organization and adversely affect the performance outcome. 1. Description of workplace problem with difficult colleague I have had a major interpersonal problem with one of my colleagues. I was a teacher and he was looking after the laboratory. For the practical sessions, I needed his help in preparing chemical solutions with specified concentration so that the children could experiment successfully. I was quite perplexed when I found that the experiment was always successfully concluded when I made the chemical solution but failed when the solution was made by the said colleague! When I discussed the problem with the colleague, he not only refused to thrash out the matter but became aggressive and accused me of harassment. Later, it was found that other colleagues were also facing the same problem with him. Taking matters to the principal just resulted in worsening the relationship with the person. To keep peace, I stopped taking the help of the said lab technician but realized that the problem with the colleague needed to be resolved early for long term better relations. 3. Resolution of inter-personal problems or workplace conflicts The workplace problems are basically external in nature and may arise due to differences in personal and work ideologies among the workers. For effective communication it was important to identify the situations and issues that are seemingly created by others and which threaten personal and professional goals and desires of a person. Noted authors Hitt et al have asserted that conflicts and workplace problems can usually be contributed to four major factors: lack of understanding; different assessment; self interest and envy; and low tolerance (Hitt el al, 2005). 4. Identification of organizational and Contextual issues The various aspects of the interactive elements of the organization, work together to produce a cohesive, output representing the organizations’ unique objectives and goals. The different contextual factors vis-à-vis size, technology, environment, diversification and globalization are vital elements that have significant impact on the decision making. Organisation’s performance outcome is directly related with its workforce that may be working within well defined parameters of organizational structure. The stratified but focused division of labour within the organization is an intrinsic part of management strategy that transforms the workforce into human capital is being accepted as an inherent part of organisational culture. The colleague in question held important position that directly impacted on the overall performance of the other colleagues and the organization as a whole. 5. Identification of the various aspects of the problem To resolve the problem, it is important to identify the various aspects and perspectives that could have contributed to the burgeoning misunderstanding and worsening workplace situation. I worked towards the resolution and used the following conflict resolution techniques with considerable success. Effective communication techniques were the key factors and therefore, efforts were made to understand the different organizational and contextual issues so that a more efficient communication strategy could be applied to build mutual trust and understanding. 5.1 Identification and understanding of issues Social scientists have corroborated that the psycho-analytical perspectives are important tools for understanding the hidden dynamics of human relationship, especially with regard to corporate culture, social defences, leadership imperatives, motivation and other paradigms associated with organizational behaviour (Levinson, 1972, 2002; DeBoard, 1978; Czander, 1993; Gabriel, 1999). The understanding equips the leadership with the necessary knowledge to promote confidence building and strengthen interpersonal understanding with the group, within the organization. The fast changing socio-economic paradigms have made it imperative that more consideration be paid to socio-cultural and political environment so that the requirements of the people became the focal point in the development of strategy. Effective communication has become the most important tools to meet the challenges of the fast transforming socio-economic equation. Understanding of cross cultural values is one of the main barriers to effective communication. Hence, changing human behavioural pattern and the various barriers to communication that are detrimental to the organizational effectiveness need to be understood for prediction and improvisation in work place, leading to improved performance. This became a crucial lesson primarily because the difficult colleague belonged to a different culture and it was found that lack of understanding of cross cultural values had created insecurity that lead to his under performance and aggressive behaviour. The low level of tolerance and self interest was yet another reason which had put under tremendous mental and emotional upheavals, leading to anger and frustration. 5.2 Elements of personality traits that impact work performance The various social scientists have asserted that the traits of the people are directly co-related with five major imperatives of organizational behaviour concepts that have considerable impact on the performance outcome of the organizational goals and objectives. They are emotions; moods; team learning; and group dynamics. 5.2.1 Emotions Emotions and feelings are intrinsic part of human behaviour and emotional stability of the person in an organization is extremely important for rationalized decision making processes within the work environment. Eminent scholar William Whyte has said that effective business people are logical, reasoned and rational decision maker (Whyte, 1956). 5.2.2 Moods Mood of the persons defines their socio-psychological well being that reflects positively or negatively in their work performance. Social scientists have recognized the importance of psychological well-being of the employees (Cropanzano & Wright, 2001). Hence, mood are important aspect of personality traits that has considerable impact on the overall organizational behaviour and needs to be addressed with appropriate psychological needs and paradigms. Quick et al. have stressed ‘it is possible that psychological well-being and employee performance are related’ (Quick et al, 1997). 5.2.3 Team learning Effective team work constitutes one of the most important factors that make valuable contribution to the organization promoting a sense of togetherness and collective responsibility that reflects in the increased output and improved performance of the organization. Argote claims that team learning processes involve collective acquisition, combination, creation and sharing of knowledge and that they are considerable influenced by the internal team dynamics (Argote, 1999). Leadership within the team inspires others to achieve common goals through persuasive communication skill. Leadership motivates and encourages proactive approach to work. Gibson & Vermeulen have asserted that leadership training, feedback and technology are also major factors that significant impact team learning (G&V, 2003). They facilitate in overcoming the barriers to teamwork. The empirical relationship of leaders and the emerging changes become critical for a given situation and a better informed leader is capable of taking initiative and at the same time, he is also able to inculcate confidence in his people to move forward. 5.2.4 Group dynamics Group dynamics play crucial role in the smooth functioning of the organizations. The rapid globalization has ushered in an era of multicultural society with people from different race, culture and nationality. Workplace diversity has become common feature and understanding of cross cultural values for mutual trust building has become important. Group dynamics are characterized by unique code of behaviour that is specific to the group that is developed over a period of time. According to Hartley ‘value congruity between personal values and perceived values ..increased acceptance of that group’ (Hartley, 1960). Vroom, another researcher says that participation within the group has positive effect on both attitude and job performance (Vroom, 1959). 5.3 Elements of interpersonal communication Communication, therefore, becomes an important medium of expressing and explaining facts which may hitherto create unseen problems. The vast scope of communication, in terms of behavioural pattern, language used and non verbal means of contact are important factors which are extremely relevant in the social interaction. It is the communication skill of the man that ultimately decides in his favour in the cut throat competitive professional field. A person, who makes effort to develop better ways of communicating with others in his field, is able to strengthen his professional relationship and facilitate a better understanding that paves way to a success which promises productive outcome. The elements of interpersonal communication are therefore, important aspects that are crucial for effective communication. Transitional model has broadly defined eight main elements of interpersonal communication (Devito, 2008); 5.3.1 Source-receiver The communication involves two persons are intrinsic to the interpersonal communication. Perceived knowledge, beliefs, values, requirements, attitude of source and receiver both significantly influence the outcome (Lau, Chiu & Hong, 2001). 5.3.2 Encoding-decoding These are verbal and non verbal communication means of like speaking, writing, gestures etc. 5.3.3 Messages The communication message is delivered and received through various sensory stimuli and therefore, gesture, touch, spoken and written words, clothes, colour etc. all send specific message. Feedbacks or reactions are natural conclusion of the messages sent or received. These are crucial part that can significantly diffuse volatile situations. 5.3.4 Channels These are key elements of interpersonal communication. The various media used to communicate for the various channels. One to one contact, phone, mails, television, newspaper etc are different media through which messages are sent or received. Use of appropriate channel is intrinsic to conflict resolution. These are especially important if one is dealing with persons with disabilities. 5.3.5 Noise The inherent tendencies that aggravate situations are called noise. Close mindedness, ambiguous approach etc. are few of the instances that create conflicting situation in the workplace. 5.3.6 Context It is important that communication messages are strictly according to the contextual references that are able to convey the right message. Non contextual references promote misunderstanding. 5.3.7 Ethics In the emerging new pluralistic society, ethical behaviour based on understanding of cross cultural values is imperative for effective communication. 5.3.8 Competence Competence is the ability to communicate effectively and primarily comprises of using the various interacting elements of interpersonal communication efficiently and judiciously. 6. Recommendations Erickson says that “If resolution to a conflict is to end properly, it must begin properly – by negotiating a solvable problem. Therefore, the act of successful conflict resolution begins with the way the problem is examined” (Erickson). My personal experience in solving the interpersonal communication with the seemingly difficult colleague became a cake walk, once I was able to understand the wider implications of the cross cultural values and need to create the necessary platform that could facilitate mutual trust building. The following measures are vital ingredients for successful conflict resolution. Understanding of cross cultural values. Creation of congenial atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence building that promotes effective communication and collective decision making. Understanding the issues. Effectively using the various elements of interpersonal communication to promote mutual trust. Looking at the problems from various perspectives so as to understand the wider ramifications of the problems and try to find solutions that would meet the challenges of the conflicting situations. Realizing that managing diversity has become a crucial issue which needs to be addressed urgently if one wants to maintain competitive edge over their rivals. It must be understood that diverse ideologies and opinions promote creativity and therefore, one must encourage creativity and innovative practices that give a unique perspective to participatory approach of collective goal achievement. 7. Conclusion It can therefore be concluded that in order to maintain a cohesive and productive work environment, one must familiarise oneself about other’s cultural highlights and sensitive issues. The world has shrunk into a global village and one must accept the challenges of developing new strategies and models of inter-personal communication that incorporate multi-cultural work environment. Organizational culture and behaviour is distinct in its approach by facilitating better understanding, prediction and improvisation in work place, leading to improved performance. The leadership within the organization is the major factor that is able to exploit the personality traits of the workforce to maximize performance outcome. Reference Argote, L. (1999). Organizational Learning: Creating, retaining and transferring Knowledge. Norwell MA: Kluwer Academic. Cropanzano, R & Wright, TA. (2001). When a happy worker is productive worker: Review. 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