Team Chemistry
How do we manage conflict and disagreements; have fully functioning teams; and embrace multiple cultures? Team Chemistry.
I was on the Larkspur ferry this morning on a beautiful day; sun shining; the bay placid; and the view of Marin County, Angel Island, and the Golden Gate Bridge exceptional. Behind me a row starts that I could hear, but not see. A man complains to the woman, sitting next to him, who was reading her newspaper and apparently brushing the paper across his face. The woman responds strongly and gets up and moves in a huff. After the boat docks in San Francisco, a very tall and husky man, who was sitting across the aisle from the row, stands over the seated man and tells him that from now on he should not sit in that section of the boat because of his treatment of the woman. The seated man, now cowed by the husky man, apologizes, but says he tried to avoid the woman’s paper repeatedly, and was only trying to get her to stop. The seated man seemed truly apologetic and I thought maybe I should say something, but walked away and headed for work, rather than to continue to escalate the conflict. I had not seen what the woman had done, nor heard what the seated man had said, and understood the tall man’s motivation for protecting the woman. It got me to thinking about conflicts in the workplace and sure enough I get to work, and overhear an argument in the office next to mine, that appeared to be destructive rather than constructive. There are great numbers of people at work that I really enjoy and I am able to voice my differences without rancor and resolve issues easily and with whom I work efficiently, but others that I honestly do not enjoy and with whom I have a difficult relationship that is very inefficient. Fully functioning teams have great chemistry, enjoy each other, and tend to enjoy each other’s company outside of work. The conflict next door was between two people who do not like each other and have never worked well together. A number of work psychologist suggest that you should voice disagreements and that will help resolve them. My experience is that without the bond of friendship you cannot resolve differences. Friendship overcomes cultural differences, internecine squabbles, and is the best glue to fix arguments and issues. Building great teams takes years and involves finding the right mix of people who respect one another, have different strengths that complement one another, and who genuinely enjoy working with each other. It reminds me of something my daughter said after visiting my work one Friday. “I thought you said this was work. Everyone seems to be your friend and you are all having fun.”
March 16th, 2010 at 10:15 am
The state Department of Labor says the unemployment rate edged up slightly to 9.5 percent last month as Idaho’s pool of unemployed workers swelled to a record 71,600. News reports claim an improvement in the economy. I have not seen any positive improvement, the workplace has developed into an environment of hastily and fear of being cut loose of their income due to cut backs.