Donna is a CLS with several years of experience. A few months ago, you hired her to work in your new laboratory which already has several MLTs. She has good technical skills, impressive credentials and interviewed well. She talks to the other staff in a way the other staff describe as "superior" because of her national credentials. Most of the staff you have hired have some college training, a mix of credentials and some front staff have on-the job training. Donnaworks well alone and often ignores the requests of coworkers to help with the backlog of work in the laboratory. She gets her own work assignments done on time and well, but when she needs to interact with the other staff members she is abrupt, impatient and often rude. Several of the other staff members have complained and asked you to do something about Donna. You see the value of her technical skills in the laboratory environment but need to step in to manage the situation.

1. What is the background of the conflict?

2. What are the major issues that are contributing to the conflict?

3. How would you identify the conflict in this case?

4. What conflict resolution style would you employ in this situation?

5. What could go wrong with your resolution strategy and how willyou handle if that problem if it occurs?

6. How will your conflict management solution solve the problem?

7. What is your implementation strategyand the time line?

8. How will you know if your solution worked?

Pros and cons to consider

You want to avoid creating or perpetuatingan "Us versus Donna" approach. Both the existing, older staff and Donna have something to learn about and from each other.

1. Do you want to speak only with Donna or bring everyone together for a meeting, or both?

2. Do you want to keep Donna on staff? She is within the 90-day probationary period. If you elect not to keep her, what are the pros and cons of the decision.