Best Answers to the question:(ranked by the quality)
1. incola - September 11 2008 (Answer ID: 579)
First, make sure you know the facts and the situation. Second, get all of the involved parties' perceptions of the situation. Look at all perspectives, then discuss the situation with all parties and reach viable solution. Most of all monitor the post-discusion resolution to ensure that the resolution works. Sometimes it may require some adjusting.
2. Cynth - October 09 2008 (Answer ID: 662)
First I would never take sides. If it did not involve my department I would not get involved; however, if it was a problem within my department, I would ask the individuals if there was anything that I could do to resolve the issue. If yes, I would help, if no then of course I would not. However, if it began to hurt the department’s efficiency I would speak to my supervisor.
3. Evelina Martin - August 06 2008 (Answer ID: 154)
It is inevitable that tension and disagreements will occur among co-workers. It important to approach it as a professional, nonperson issue.
4. pancake529 - November 09 2008 (Answer ID: 761)
Here's an example: At my current job an employee who worked here for a number of years and acted as an administrative assistant to the manager left for a better opportunity, so the manager decided it would best suit the company to hire a new person "off the street" instead of "promoting" from within. Anyway, the new employee had very little experience dealing with hospitality and knew nothing of the systems that we use to ensure the proper operation of the company. The new employee started out making substanial mistakes with booking, invoices, and guest services not to mention that nearly every mistake that was made cost the company nearly thousands of dollars. Each time one of us with seniority would make an attempt to show the employee the mistake that was made without taking it to our manager, the employee would get visibly upset and then behind our backs tell the manager that we were picking on them. Naturally we became upset at these accusations, because they started to become on a more personal level. The employee began spreading lies about their position within the company and the benefits that were given (this company offers no benefits to anyone, not even the manager), one of the mistakes that was made the company lost a client and over 12,000 dollars in revenue per month, there were attempts to get the other employees fired by attempting to make things disappear, speaking unprofessionally to the customers and other employees in front of the customers. Anyway to make this a little shorter, the four of us that have senority took it to the manager after trying to resolve the issue ourselves with no improvement. We held a meeting and discussed all the issues at hand without incident. The employee ended up quitting because they felt that being a team player wasn't for them. Remain calm, discuss the issues, remain professional, and think of positive solutions that everyone can agree upon
5. JACKandJILL - August 01 2008 (Answer ID: 66)
This is a behavioral interview question, one that gives insight to predictive future job behavior. By placing you in a high pressure environment, the employer is testing to see your professionalism, how you prioritize, example of sound judgment, and logic skills.
6. BubbaJones - December 03 2008 (Answer ID: 1100)
I have been asked this and afterwords I was told that I had the best answer of any candidate: Chain of Command....do you know how to follow the installed procedure for any particular event.
7. Teamplayer - August 18 2009 (Answer ID: 2214)
Tension and disagreement among co-workers can come from many sources. For example: egotism, arrogance (believing you know the correct way to do all things at all times), lack of flexibility, insecurity, gossip and even racism. My feelings on this is that there should be a standardized way of doing all procedures and if there is a question about how to do something correctly then take it to the manager - not in a way to get someone in trouble but just to get everyone doing the procedure in the same manner. If someone is hired and dosen't do their job correctly then some training might be warrented. I feel the training does need to be authorized because if this employee has been criticized in the past then he or she might be feeling paranoid or insecure and feel like they are being picked on. This is definitely a delicate situation and one I would refer to a manager but only if the manager were a compassionate and fair person. A manager could refer an employee to a procedure manual and ask a new employee to follow only that procedure in handling a situation. My personal belief is that when you get new employees, it takes more than the new employee making all the effort to become part of the team, it also takes the whole group working together and being willing to teach and cooperate to become a real good working team. This kind of effort is seen when working as a team is encouraged by managers - after all this is why they are the managers. They have to not only recognize human nature but know how to deal with all aspects of it. The same thing goes for gossip. If gossip is the issue than it is a managers job to squash it. All good managers must know that gossip is not good for anyone's morale and just adds to office tension.
Suggest an Answer to the Question or Make a Comment
How would you deal with this kind of situation? [Example: Tension and disagreements among coworkers]
(Question ID: 99) Contributor: JACKandJILL
1. incola - September 11 2008 (Answer ID: 579)
2. Cynth - October 09 2008 (Answer ID: 662)
4. pancake529 - November 09 2008 (Answer ID: 761)
5. JACKandJILL - August 01 2008 (Answer ID: 66)
6. BubbaJones - December 03 2008 (Answer ID: 1100)
7. Teamplayer - August 18 2009 (Answer ID: 2214)