Priscilla – Finding New Paths to Resolution

Priscilla is the manager of the College of Engineering Human Resources office. In response to a 360 evaluation that revealed numerous significant interpersonal conflicts, Priscilla has initiated and is leading a conflict resolution process for her team. Priscilla hopes to transform her office culture in which current employees are frustrated and unhappy. Pricilla hopes to mediate potentially high rates of attrition in the near future.

In a series of meetings, Pricilla continually asserts that direct communication and open sharing of concerns and conflict is the best way to resolve the team’s issues. Pricilla underscores that if staff members have a problem with someone, they should go directly to that person and share their concerns to quickly resolve their issues and return to their work.

Priscilla’s conflict resolution series does not appear to resonate with her team, and she sees little evidence that the concepts she implores are being integrated into her team’s regular interactions. Priscilla inquires with some of her staff individually to gather their feedback. A few of the employees share that the conflict resolution guidance Priscilla is giving is culturally specific and is mostly resonant with the white people on her team – specifically white men. They share that members of the team who identify as people of color with Eastern heritages are socialized to communicate indirectly and that direct confrontation does not reconcile with their tendency to respect hierarchy.

From these conversations, Priscilla begins to recognize the limits of her knowledge regarding conflict resolution. She seeks additional advice from her colleagues in central human resources and chooses to invite outside expertise in intercultural communication to facilitate conversations on conflict resolution.

Key Take-Aways
  • The Issue: A manager seeks to transform her office culture, specifically her team’s approach to conflict and conflict resolution.
  • The Deliberation: The manager’s conflict resolution series fails to gain traction, so she seeks feedback from her team. She learns that her guidance for conflict resolution is indicative of a white western paradigm and does not resonate with all members of the team.
  • The Growth: The manager recognizes the limits of her knowledge and the resulting imposition of a particular worldview upon her team. She seeks additional support and invites intercultural expertise to help her team grow and learn together.