The chief operating officer COO has noticed that production

The chief operating officer (COO) has noticed that production employees in the company’s Mexican manufacturing operations are unhappy with some of the production engineering decisions made by engineers in the company’s headquarters in Chicago. At the same time, the engineers complain that production employees aren’t applying their engineering specifications correctly and don’t understand why those specifications were put in place. The COO believes that the best way to resolve this conflict is to have a frank and open discussion between some of the engineers and employees representing the Mexican production crew. This open dialogue approach worked well recently among managers in the company’s Chicago headquarters, so should work equally well between the engineers and production staff. Based on your knowledge of communication and mutual understanding as a way to resolve conflict, discuss the COO’s proposal.

Solution

The purpose of the proposal is to establish a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities regarding conflict training, and the value of the training is based on a proposed training engagement.

The proposal includes the following topics/exercises in order to fulfill the objective of conflict managemnt:

I. The Conflict Cycle

II. Assertive Listening Skills

III. Reframing A Stressful Situation

IV. Conflict Styles

V. Conflict Management

VI. Discussion of Specific Situations

VII. Reducing Employee Conflicts

VIII. Effective Company Plans for Conflict Prevention

The outcomes are as follows: Reduced conflicts in the workplace resulting in increased productivity in the operations department Participants will increase their recognition of what “triggers” negative reactions and practice alternative positive solutions in a safe mutual learning environment with skilled staff so participants can be more “proactive” instead of “reactive” Resolve what issues can be “packaged” in common priorities, what conflicts exist, and what approaches are most tenable for resolution Increase in communication skills and resolutions to conflict, with emphasis on positive behavior modification Increase in common vocabulary, “shared- experience” and knowledge of other employees (personally & professionally) to better frame conflicts, develop solutions and improve work place atmosphere Participants will heighten their awareness of diversity issues and gain new insights about cultural assumptions and their own interactions.