case study

A Case Study on Conflict Management ________________________________________ Shirley and Abdul both work for a software development company. The manager of the new product division was originally the leader of the project team for which she interviewed and hired Abdul. Shirley, another project team member, also interviewed Abdul, but strongly opposed hiring him for the project because she thought he was not competent to do the job. Seven months after Abdul was hired, the manager left the project to start her own company and recommended that Abdul and Shirley serve as joint project leaders. Shirley agreed reluctantly? With the stipulation that it be made clear she was not working for Abdul. The General Manager consented; Shirley and Abdul were to share the project leadership. Within a month Shirley was angry because Abdul was representing himself to others as the leader of the entire project and giving the impression that Shirley was working for him. Now Shirley and Abdul are meeting with you to see if you can resolve the conflict between them. Shirley says: "Right after the joint leadership arrangement was reached with the General Manager, Abdul called a meeting of the project team without even consulting me about the time or content. He just told me when it was being held and said I should be there. At the meeting, Abdul reviewed everyone's duties line by line, including mine, treating me as just another team member working for him. He sends out letters and signs himself as project director, which

obviously implies to others that I am working for him." Abdul says: "Shirley is all hung up with feelings of power and titles. Just because I sign myself as project director doesn't mean she is working for me. I don't see anything to get excited about. What difference does it make? She is too sensitive about everything. I call a meeting and right away she thinks I'm trying to run everything. Shirley has other things to do?other projects to run?so she doesn't pay too much attention to this one. She mostly lets things slide. But when I take the initiative to set up a meeting, she starts jumping up and down about how I am trying to make her work for me."

peer 1:

1. In the case study, Abdul and Shirley have problems with each other because they don't agree on hiring Abdul for the project team. Differences in Shirley's unwillingness to work with Abdul as co-project leaders; Abdul's belief that he was in charge of the whole project; Abdul's taking charge of the project without consulting Shirley; Shirley seeing Abdul's actions as an attempt to get her to work for him; Different communication styles and levels of sensitivity

2. Abdul and Shirley's disagreement could be solved by: - Having a talk lead by a neutral third party to make sure everyone knows their role and responsibility; - Setting up clear lines of communication and rules for making decisions and leading the project; - Giving Abdul and Shirley training and support in communication and conflict resolution skills; - Reevaluating the joint leadership arrangement and looking at other options, like giving each team member their own area of responsibility for the project; - Asking other team members for their thoughts and opinions to address any concerns and make sure a 3. These steps could have been taken to avoid this fight in the first place: Abdul's skills and experience should be looked at more carefully and fairly before he is hired for the project team. - Making roles and responsibilities clear from the start of the joint leadership arrangement and setting up clear lines of communication and rules for making decisions and leading the project; - Giving both Abdul and Shirley training and support in communication and conflict resolution skills to help them work together effectively and avoid misunderstandings or assumptions; - Looking over and judging the project team's work and relationships on a regular basis to find problems and solve them before they become arguments.

peer 2:

There are several ways to resolve the conflict between Abdul and Shirley with them fighting over the title of being a project director. One way to resolve the issue is to simply clarify the roles to both Abdul and Shirley and the rest of the team. Communicating the roles and responsibilities of Shirley and Abdul to the rest of the project team will certainly clarify who's in charge. Since Abdul and Shirley are both just becoming project directors, this will help prevent misunderstandings about hierarchy and authority within the project team. There are several other ways to resolve the issue, but simply communicating concisely and clearly can help avoid confusions.

Give substantial, evaluative responses about the solutions that peer 1 and peer 2 made for the case study.