Case study on Brodie’s workplace
The case study on Brodie’s workplace was a perfect example of workplace conflicts. When Brodie was promoted to the nursing and ancillary unit supervisor, she had an additional role to play. However, her promotion came with challenges, the main one being how to treat all the nurses equally. Her friends expected favors. In chapter twelve, the concepts of workplace conflicts include competing needs and demands, diverse values, and interests. In the case study, the conflict resulted from differences in thoughts and attitudes.
Assigning duties in a place of work is quite a task for supervisors. Conflicts can arise if the supervisor is not bold to stamp authority where necessary. To keep conflicts at a minimum, a supervisor must assign duties fairly, without listening or considering personal reasons. Genuine reasons like medical clinics are the only ones that the supervisor should consider. Such reasons should be accompanied by reliable evidence.
Conflict management begins with each individual. Avoiding joining or forming opposition groups at work is one way to manage conflicts. These groups often dispute most of the decisions and directives in the workplace. Also, performing assigned duties avoids unnecessary disagreements. When one feels the need to be better than a colleague, this competition often ends in a gruesome conflict, which lowers performance.
The principles of conflict at home are different from the workplace. At home, one may feel the need to tackle the problem because the two parties live under the same roof. However, at work, most conflicts require a third party or a member of the administration to arbitrate. Colleagues at loggerheads often view each other as foes.
In Brodie’s case, the employees’ dominant behaviors were lack of responsibility, diminished respect, and putting personal interests first. Unless the employees were ready to adjust and accommodate the work changes, more conflicts were bound to occur.