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Activity 1
Write a collaborative response to the following scenarios.
Nursing Scenario
You share a nursing role with Anita, which involves alternating the work week so that you work the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday one week and Anita works the end of the week the following week. This alternating-week schedule works well so that both you and Anita have every other Friday off, which is why you both took the shared role. Lately, Anita regularly asks you to switch your Friday off shift with her to help her out with childcare for her three-year old daughter, which seems to be a problem recently. You don’t mind helping her out in these emergency situations, but it is happening every Friday. You feel like Anita is taking advantage of you and do not want to switch your Friday shifts anymore.
You are Anita. You have taken on an extra job to afford being at work full time. Childcare is so expensive and in order to meet the demands, you need to ask for the occasional Friday off at your primary work in nursing. You have been working only a few blocks from home and are so happy the office position came up. You are actually making more money when you meet your sales quotas to help out your team at your new job. It is the ideal situation. You just haven’t had time to let anyone know at the hospital yet because you wanted to be sure you would be doing this second position long term.
Business Scenario
Esteban, a co-worker in your office with whom you have become friends, has been one person with whom you have been able to share some of your private and personal troubles. Esteban has been helpful in providing you with advice and regularly checks in to make sure you are doing okay. You have just found out that Esteban has told a few other people at work about some of your personal issues. You feel betrayed and embarrassed about this.
You are Esteban. You feel bad for your co-worker, but you get what you give. As far as you are concerned, there were times you felt bad about your colleague’s situation, but when you dish it out, it is going to come back to you. You have told your cousin, who also works with you, because you wanted advice on how to ask your colleague not to share such personal issues with you at work. You are starting to feel uncomfortable and want to set healthy boundaries in your work relationship.
Communication Scenario
Kayla and Michelle have been neighbours and friends for about three years. A few weeks before the holidays, Michelle offered to lend Kayla some money to help her afford gifts for her family after talking about her money trouble a few weeks before. Kayla accepted the offer and promised to pay Michelle back after the holidays when she received her first paycheque in the New Year. It has been several months since then and Kayla hasn’t paid Michelle back or even mentioned the money. The other day Kayla was excited to tell Michelle that she has just booked a trip to Mexico with her sister. Michelle is ready to bring the issue up with Kayla over lunch this week.
Kayla has been having a difficult time managing a budget since her boyfriend moved out three months ago. She went from only having to pay fifty percent of the bills to one hundred percent of the bills in a matter of days. She was worried and was telling her good friend Michelle about it. Michelle was so great. She offered to help out for gifts for Christmas. When Kayla was unsure about taking the money, Michelle insisted and when Kayla got home from work, she found an envelope in her mailbox with cash and a note from Michelle that said, “Don’t worry about paying this back. Friends are friends through thick and thin.”
Activity 2
Conflict Management
You and your roommate live in a dorm room on campus. Your roommate has a friend who is on fall break at a different time than your school. She wants to invite her friend to visit and stay for two nights. You know that you have three tests and a paper due that week. You would rather not have a guest that week.
How would you work out this situation with your roommate?
What conflict management style would you use?
What would you do if your roommate did not want to use this style?
Activity 3
Approaches to Conflict
Which approach to conflict is being used in each of the following scenarios? Explain why the approach used is effective in the given situation.
- Avoid
- Accommodate
- Compete
- Compromise
- Collaborate
Scenario 1:
Bill and Juan are both on their school’s soccer team. They also have the same birthday. When they realize that they have both planned parties on the same night, and each invited the whole team, an argument is sparked. At first, Bill and Juan order their teammates to choose between one house party or the other. Eventually, Bill and Juan decide to compromise and combine parties to throw one giant birthday party for both of them at a local arcade. They each have to spend a little more money than they want to, but it is worth it for everyone to be there.
Scenario 2:
Rita and Kara are standing in line at the movies, unable to decide which film to see. Rita wants to see Dog Mountain, an emotional drama about a group of orphans who adopt all the stray dogs in their small town and raise them together. Kara, however, wants to see Taco Tuesday, a slapstick comedy about the unrequited romance between a public school cafeteria lady and a taco vendor. Rita and Kara debate the decision for a while until eventually Rita agrees to see Taco Tuesday, deciding it is more important to Kara than it is to her.
Scenario 3:
Five different members of a school’s cheer squad are in a conflict over who should be chosen to choreograph a new, original cheer for the homecoming game. The five team members each insist they are the best person to develop the choreography. However, instead of choosing just one member, their coach assigns them all to work together to create a new routine. Working together, each member contributes their ideas for the new cheer, and the group decides which ideas to incorporate into the routine. Once the final ideas are agreed upon, they take turns choreographing different sections of the new routine.
Scenario 4:
Charlotte is taking the subway home from school with her friend Leon, who gets off a few stops before hers. Once alone, Charlotte notices a man move spots in the nearly empty train to sit in a seat behind her. The man, who appears to be intoxicated, attempts to talk to Charlotte in ways that make her feel uncomfortable. When the man reaches out his hand in an attempt to touch Charlotte, she moves seats, but he stays focused on her. At the next stop Charlotte quickly exits the train and switches train cars.
Scenario 5:
During his last semester, Noah receives a grade report that shows he has a ‘D’ in math. Noah is aware that math is not his best subject, but he is certain that his scores add up to a grade higher than a ‘D.’ He begins to suspect his teacher has graded him unfairly. After several unanswered emails and phone calls, Noah meets in person with his teacher to discuss the grade. The teacher refuses to listen to Noah’s concerns. Angered and determined, Noah arranges a meeting with his counselor to discuss the problem. After the counselor confirms that Noah’s scores deserve a higher grade, the teacher is forced to change his grade.