Don't Call Him Boss Lael and Waheid both work for a small software de- velopment firm. Both of them have strong rsums and both have about the same number in the "years of experience" column. However, when Waheid was hired, Lael had objected strongly. When she was asked why, she said that Waheid was not quali- fied for the position. She believed that other appli- cants who were not hired would have been better in the position. Six months after Waheid was hired, the man- ager (Barbara) left to start her own company. As Barbara was leaving, Lael had demanded that it was to be clear that she would not take orders from Waheid. All three agreed. At first, things seemed calm and workable. After a month had gone by, however, Waheid called a meeting of all seven members of the proj- ect team, which included Lael. As Lael saw things, Waheid was usurping power and "trying to run the place." At that meeting, Waheid reviewed every- one's job in detail. He also sent out e-mails, signing himself as project director. The new manager who had taken Barbara's place had not commented on Waheid's signature as project director. Waheid: Lael, you are all hung up on power issues. Heck, I don't want power. I just want this team to operate effi- ciently. Just because I sign myself as project director doesn't mean I want to take things over. Lael: Get real. Just yesterday, two people referred to you as "the boss." And I've heard that from several others. Notice that I didn't ask them to call me that. Lael: Well, you obviously didn't tell them not to, either. Waheid: I give up. Waheid: Case Study Questions 1. These two people seem to be having more than one conflict taking place at the same time. Explain. 2. What could you do to settle the conflict in this case? See if you can come up with more than one solution. 3. What could they have done to avoid this con- flict in the first place? What would you have done, as the manager, to set up conditions to avoid a conflict?