Dear Greg,
Given your team’s recent mismanagement of HS Holdings, I suggest you consider the following two key elements. First, ensure psychological safety within and between the teams. Psychological safety is “the belief that one will not be rejected or humiliated in a particular setting or role,” and is needed so people feel free to express work-related thoughts and feelings (Edmondson & Roloff, 2008). Praveen had felt insulted by Nick in the past and lacked the psychological safety to freely express his thoughts and concerns; this dissuaded him from confronting Nick directly.
Additionally, you should identify what issues are caused by interpersonal conflict versus task conflict (Hinds & Mortensen, 2005). The perception that you are playing favorites with the US team leads the other teams to feel undervalued and disrespected (which may result in hostility and miscommunication). Task conflicts, like Jamal thinking the queue should not be used for emergencies and Praveen believing that it should, are different opinions about the work.
To implement these two concepts, you should foster an inclusive environment by introducing policies that outline the expectations of respectful language and support between the teams. You must identify what conflicts are “interpersonal”, and have those individuals resolve those issues on a personal level as best they can. The conflicts you identify as “task” can be resolved by communicating information, standards, and protocols that are consistent to all teams and schedule monthly check-ins between the teams to maintain consistency.
Good luck,
Group 9
This makes a lot of sense. The team would be able to work better together if they promoted a work environment which was more psychologically safe because they would be better able to speak out about problems and to fix problems which arise. Additionally, the group would be better able to fix conflicts with each other if they knew whether their conflicts were interpersonal or task related because they might need to use different strategies to fix each. Overall, great work!
I really like how you addressed the essay directly to Greg. It sounded very concise and personal to what he should do in the future. You gave great ideas and defined them for his ease. Greta job!
I really liked how y’all directly addressed Greg, it’s important for him to know he is the leader and needs to work on the things you discussed. Y’all made a really good point about the importance of Psychological Safety for all team members. Nice job writing clearly and concisely while addressing major issues for the team!
I definitely agree that there was no psychological safety in their environment, they weren’t comfortable expressing their thoughts or feelings without feeling like they would be judged for their opinions. I also really liked your idea of identifying interpersonal and task conflicts so that you would be able to use the correct strategies to solve those conflicts. That will probably be a good way to solve all the tension and problems between the different teams and hopefully make them feel more psychologically safe and comfortable with the other teams.
Hi! I like the citations. I think they are very well introduced and integrated. You also explained task and interpersonal conflict well. A very succinct paper. You could have explained why psych safety was low? Otherwise, it’s perfect. Way to go, group 9!
These are effective methods to resolve both task and interpersonal conflict in the team, leading to increased productivity. The policies of respect would help focus the team’s communication towards work and allow people to speak to each other without worry. While having monthly check-ins keeps people on the same page about work, maintaining consistent work opinions.