Co worker conflicts (Very long)Many months ago, I was asked in an interview to describe two conflicts that I had with co-workers and how I handled them. Also, was the resolution good, bad or indifferent and how would I handle the conflict differently. In the case of the receptionist, here is what happened. I was at the front desk and the phone was ringing. Several times. The receptionist was talking to her daughter about something (I can't even remember what). After about 7 rings, I realized that the receptionist didn't intend to put her personal call on hold. I also noticed that she was wearing a headset. I reached over, picked up the handset and picked up the call coming in. Which actually cut off the receptionist and her daughter's call. The receptionist got angry and started to yell at me to never do that again. I very calmly told her that she was on a personal call and that, while she shouldn't have even been on personal call, she should have at least put it on hold to answer the ringing phone. When the second chair receptionist came back from her break, I heard them talking about what a b!tch I was and that the first receptionist was going to her supervisor to complain about me. I decided to let it go and see what became of it because I was so convinced that personal calls came second to business calls. As it happened, I saw the receptionist's supervisor later that afternoon and, just for the heck of it, asked her if the receptionist had been to see her about me. She stated no, why what happened. So, I told her. The supervisor rolled her eyes and said something to the effect of that receptionist needs to get a clue. (Again, I can't remember exactly) and that this particular receptionist thinks she owns the switchboard and her file is thick with complaints from people in the office about her attitude and letting the phone ring. (If you are wondering why she even still worked there, it is because it is a government job and termination from a government job is next to impossible. Plus, the supervisor was a push over and believed in giving chances.) Anyway, nothing ever came of it except that the receptionist gave me the cold shoulder for about a week. But, since I very rarely needed anything from her, it didn't really bother me. The other conflict involved another secretary who asked me to help her catch up on some work she had let pile up and ended up with her screaming (and I do mean literally) at me that when I do her letters I need to do them her way. It actually took two attorney's to come out of their offices and tell her to keep the noise level down. I was so shaken because she had asked me to do HER A FAVOR and then got mad. The letters I did for her are the same letters I did for the attorney's I reported directly to and the few changes I made did not change the context or content of the letter. (instead of using the date as "3/16/2007" as she would I entered the date as "March 16, 2007" like I normally do. Instead of typing "Dear Mister Jones" as she would, I typed it as "Dear Mr. Jones" as I normally do. Instead of typing "Very Truley Yours" as she does I typed it as "Very truly yours" as I would normally do.) I was so shocked that I just sat there and didn't know what to say. I have never had anyone come at me like that in my entire life. After she left, I told the other people around me that I was okay and then a few minutes later started to shake so badly that I couldn't stop. Then I actually started to cry. I ran into the bathroom and a couple of people came after me and when I calmed down enough we all went to my supervisor. We explained what happened and the next day we were told that the other secretary was moved to a different department. In confidence, I was told that she is also being ordered to take anger management courses and needs to meet with a counselor in HR once a week for the next 6 months. And I was asked if I would like to talk to someone. I decided that I didn't really need to. I never received a call back from the person interviewing me. I did email her and she replied with the comment that in her opinion I didn't handle the conflict with the receptionist well. I should have waited until the supervisor contacted me before saying anything regarding the personal phone calls. Okay, this was a long time ago and I have never been asked about conflicts between co-workers since, but what the heck was wrong with how I handled the receptionist? If anything, I would think shaking, crying and running to the bathroom like a baby after the other secretary screamed at me would have been the deal breaker. Quite frankly, that is what I was kicking myself for at the end of the interview. what the heck was wrong with how I handled the receptionist? 1. You shouldn' t have reached over her desk and picked up the phone. 2. You shouldn' t have gotten into a p!ssing contest with the receptionist over it. 3. You shouldn' t have tattled to the supervisor under the guise of pretending that you were asking if she told on you- we both know you knew she didn' t tell on you and therefore tell on herself. Instead- It would have been better to either stay out of it (assuming your job responsibilities do not involve supervising the receptionist function in any way, shape or form) OR at some future time, let the Supervisor know that you are concerned that the phone seems to ring so many times before being picked up. Then it is up to the supervisor to find out why and deal with it or not. Remember, you really don' t know what was going on. For all you know that child was in the ER spurting blood. Probably not, but really, you don' t know. You don' t know if this was a one time thing or an all the time issue. See, it isn' t about whether it is right to put your child on hold and answer the work phone, it is about your place in things and what you should be meddling in and staying out of. This is similar to your issue about the HR chick that yelled at you. It wasn' t about if it was right to let them know there was a problem with the web site or not. The spa receptionist said she' d let them know. It was about you pushing yourself in somewhere that you were clearly told not to go. In the case of this receptionist, you' re doing the same thing- pushing yourself into their area because you' re so sure that you know better. It doesn' t matter that you DO know better, it just isn' t your place to do so. In essence, you created the conflict in the first place, then made it worse when you went to the supervisor. What good did you do? Change the story to where the call you picked up was an emergency, maybe one of the receptionists children was hurt and she wouldn't have found out about it if you hadn't picked up on it. The receptionist then realized the error of her ways, answered calls promptly from that day forward and all was right with the world. I personally wouldn't have told either of those scenarios. Firstly, if you told them verbatim how you wrote them on this board, they're far too drawn out. When an interviewer asks that typical question, they want the story to be succinct, a 90 second - 2 minute spiel. Basically, what the problem was and what YOU did to resolve it. From reading your stories, there were way too many intricate details and a pretty passive way in which it was resolved, if at all....which is not what you want portrayed. That's not to say that both situations were not conflicts. The receptionist should've picked up the business call and was obnoxious, and the HR person needs to calm down, but neither of these show how you resolved them. They kind of resolved themselves, with both supervisors not really doing anything about it either. For future reference, use a situation where it appears that you were mature and calm in the conflict. As an example, the HR woman asked me to help her out by typing up some basic Word documents, but she became extremely upset when it wasn't completely mimicking her copies. I calmly discussed her issue and attempted to placate this volatile situation by updating my copies to her specifications. As things turned out, she had this problem with many other people, and was later reprimanded by a supervisor down the line. There's the conflict, how you calmly handled it in regards to your particular problem, and how she was ultimately caught by a supervisor for her shoddy behavior. Short beginning, middle, and end to the story. 90 seconds, and you portray yourself as a calm, collected individual in such a volatile situation, which is how they're hoping you'll respond if working for them. They don't want to hear about you crying, even if you did. | |
|
Career Tips
|