The average person spends 20-35% of their life at work and the people who surround you at work, particularly your manager or managers, can strongly colour how you feel about this huge chunk of your everyday life.
Interpersonal discord can dilute the quality of your work life, distract you from primary objectives, and hinder your development within an organization. Remember: keeping the lines of communication open is often the best way to strive for change no matter where you work.
Lyndsey Jones, the university programs co-ordinator for GE Canada, says, “It’s important to view workplace relationships as an on-going development, so rather than just giving up on the relationship at the first sign of trouble. Work through it to find a resolution.”
It’s important to take responsibility for your relationship with your manager and peers. Even if they behave inappropriately, it’s never productive to respond unprofessionally – as satisfying as it might feel in the short run.
Debora Filippi, who works in film post-production, says she experienced a situation in which changes made by a manager were not communicated to all parties involved. She says she resolved this by increasing information sharing to ensure everyone was on the same page.
Is there a difference between a larger corporation and a small, privately owned company?
Dara Del’re, a former regional analyst says, “At a larger corporation, you can talk to HR or request a transfer. At a smaller organization, that really isn’t an option.”
But Jones says in spite of the possible lack of resources available to associates at smaller organizations, the principles should remain the same.
What is the most frequent mistake most recent graduates make in dealing with clashes at the workplace?
“Taking the conflicts personally,” Jones says. “Just because your manager doesn’t agree with your opinion on something, doesn’t mean he or she thinks you’re a bad employee.”
Imagine yourself face to face with a prospective employer, months or even years from the time of conflict. What would you like to say you did in an interpersonal dispute with your supervisor or peer?
If you took the first step toward reconciliation, it only looks better on you and might even help you advance your career by giving you a reputation for conflict resolution rather than conflict initiation.
I found a few interview questions that pertain to these kind of issues here: http://bhuvans.wordpress.com/2006/08/19/50-common-interview-qa/
Here are the questions related to workplace conflict, and how to answer them:
What irritates you about co-workers?
This is a trap question. Think real hard but fail to come up with
anything that irritates you. A short statement that you seem to get
along with folks is great.
What kind of person would you refuse to work with?
Do not be trivial. It would take disloyalty to the organization,
violence or lawbreaking to get you to object. Minor objections will
label you as a whiner.
Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor
Biggest trap of all. This is a test to see if you will speak ill of
your boss. If you fall for it and tell about a problem with a former
boss, you may well below the interview right there. Stay positive and
develop a poor memory about any trouble with a supervisor.
Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute between others.
Pick a specific incident. Concentrate on your problem solving technique
and not the dispute you settled.
I was actually looking at that website yesterday! Yes you have to be careful about slandering either your former company or your former supervisor. You never want to leave anyone with the wrong impression and it is a small world, you never know who might be friends with your ex-employers.
You want to sound like a solution not a problem.
Speaking from personal experience, I believe that taking things personally sometimes goes with being younger and less mature.
Most of us are not properly trained on how to deal with conflict in a productive way.
As a result, we learn along the way, sometimes the hard way.
It would be extremely helpful if young adults were given instruction on how to deal with conflict early in their careers, so they get that skill under their belt and can use it whenever needed.