WORKPLACE COLLABORATION
DIVING INTO THE SITUATION
I
n our previous article, you were going to mediate the disagreement between Joe and Mike. You might be thinking, “Is it really that bad? It’s just a minor disagreement and they will work things out — I don’t
have to get involved.” Before we get to any actual discussions or steps you can take, let’s review the implications of the situation to determine if it warrants you stepping in. Let’s look at this from a situation awareness perspective:
your understanding of how each individual’s thoughts and actions collide, and how changing these elements will aff ect others in your department. First, let’s review two important aspects: 1. The levels of situation awareness:
a. Perception: What behaviors are you seeing? What words are they saying? This level is not judging or interpreting behaviors or words, and it is not interpreting these actions to determine an attitude. For you, the person not involved in the discrepancy, it is simply fact based.
b. Comprehension: What do their behaviors mean? What is your understanding of the situation? Are these behaviors normal for those involved? Could there be underlying reasons for their reactions?
c. Prediction: What will happen if this behavior or confl ict (between fl ight department members) continues? This includes outcomes in both the short term and the long term. Will other fl ight department members take sides? Will there be undermining of future projects — either consciously or unconsciously?
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By Dr. Shari Frisinger Most often, the method used to settle any type of
disagreement, confl ict or human error is thinking based. It is looking at the situation from a mental, logical and objective lens. This does not take into account the people side of these situations. It looks into the person’s (or persons’) physical or mental state of mind. This model only looks at what incorrect actions led to the disagreement, not to why it made sense for the person to react in that manner. That is the missing link in this model. 2. The Dirty Dozen contributors to human error (even if no error has been made yet). Five of these can be tied directly to this common situation:
• Lack of awareness. The awareness could be of their surroundings, of the interaction (or lack of) with others, the eff ect their actions and attitudes have on others, or even that they are not focused on the task at hand.
• Lack of assertiveness. Assertiveness means speaking up professionally and calmly to express a dissenting opinion or view. Not speaking up can intensify stress (another contributor — keep reading) and focus thoughts on any perceived wrong doing.
• Teamwork: Working together to accomplish objectives. This requires clear communication (see next bullet point) with and respect for others. Lack of awareness can inhibit teamwork, as can poor communication.
• Communication: Exchanging information in a clear, non- ambiguous and professional manner.
DOMmagazine
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