Keeping the Peace

Of course people are not surprised when YOU do the right thing. More often than not you are the person who does the right thing. How do I know this? You are reading this message. You are voluntarily receiving notes and articles about handing conflict at work and about compassion in the workplace and about building your strength of character.

This month we tackle how to prepare for conflict given the constraint that other people might behave somewhat randomly.
Q) Margaret you say that when I know I will face conflict or a difficult situation I should prepare in advance. You also say you cannot control others, only yourself. I am confused. How can I [...]

Mary Carol read the email from Tisha and was really annoyed. She had just met with Tisha yesterday and everything seemed fine. Now here was this really harsh email. It made no sense.
The most puzzling thing was that working with Tisha was like working with two different personalities all wrapped up into one person. [...]

“There is no squabbling so violent as that between people who accepted an idea yesterday and those who will accept the same idea tomorrow… “ CHRISTOPHER MORLEY
Wow now isn’t that the truth? Here is another excellent opportunity to sharpen your conflict resolution skills.
Some of you accept new ideas right away in fact you live for [...]

Q) When would a project manager really have time for all this people stuff like stakeholder analysis and learning team member likes and dislikes? Won’t I be too busy managing the project and working on the schedule and budget? You know, doing the real work?
A) Well before I answer this question, I must in all [...]