ACTIVITY: Other elements of conflict

Read the following conflict scenario and identify elements of Mayer’s conflict circle (Interests, relationship, structural, value, data) that may be impacting on the conflict.

Three co-workers have two weeks to complete an important application for a competitive tender during a very busy period. They are each knowledgeable in a different area of the application and cooperation is very important. They really want to win this tender.

Two weeks before the due date, they decide that each person will do one section and that they will meet again two days before the submission date to finalise the application. John, who likes things to run smoothly, offers to put the application together, but wants everyone to email their part to him one day before their final meeting (i.e. three days before the application is due), so there is enough time to make any changes.

It is three days before the tender application is due and John only has two of the three necessary sections: his own and Ling’s. Ling sent her section to John three days early and although it is obvious that she worked really hard on it, there are many grammatical errors and the section is rather incoherent. She has not felt confident about her contribution as English is a second language for her and she has anxiously been waiting for John to acknowledge her contribution and help her make the necessary corrections. He has not responded even though she submitted her contribution early.

Sam has not sent his section to John, even though he agreed he would. Sam is apologetic for the delay and really does not want to get into an argument, but he has many other commitments and is unsure whether he can actually submit his completed section on time. He hopes the other team members understand that he is busy and help him out where they can. As far as he is concerned the most important thing is to get the application in by the due date. It does not matter if small details are omitted.

John is feeling stressed and overwhelmed and regretting that he offered to put the application together as it places undue responsibility and pressure on him. The worst thing is that he will not be rewarded for any extra work that he does, even if they get the tender. However, he does pride himself on his high quality of work and therefore he feels he has no choice but to pick up the slack for the other team members.