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Saturday, August 30, 2008
Interpersonal conflict situation
A group was formed and assigned a project to design medical devices. Xiao Ling was the group project leader while John and Sabrina made up the members of the group. As such, Xiao Ling majors in engineering, while John and Sabrina majors in Business and Arts respectively. In their first meeting, all group members gathered for brainstorming, and eventually came up with a few designs. After collaborating and assembling all the ideas, they dropped a few ideas which seemed not viable. Then, they voted for the best design. Eventually, two designs were selected. However, they encountered a problem in choosing the best design amongst two designs. One of design came from Xiao Ling and the other design was voted by John and Sabrina coherently. As the group leader, Xiao Ling commented that she had the best design because she had a strong knowledge foundation and vast experience in that area. Nevertheless, John and Sabrina chose the alterative design which appeared to be aesthetic and functional as well as Xiao Ling’s preferred design. In this situation, if John and Sabrina’s design was chosen, Xiao Ling would feel indignant as she seems to have more superior knowledge with regards to engineering. However, if they chose the alterative design, it would be contradicting as most votes always win. In short, as a group leader Xiao Ling, what would you do to solve this problem, which design will you adopt?
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5 comments:
How about ask for opinions from other people from various backgrounds?
Analyze the pros and cons of each design. Decide together on criteria important for the successful of the project, then evaluate both designs according to the criteria set.
Find ways to combine the good points of each design in a new design? No matter which design gets chosen eventually, all members have to apply their expertise to continue improving the chosen design. So try to settle on one choice quickly.
It would be the best if they could modify their design to incorporate the essence of both designs. However, if this is not possible, Xiaoling can try to explain to the other two members why she thinks that the design she chose is the better alternative. Likewise, the other two members can also do the same. This allows everyone to get a better picture of each design and help the group to decide on the best design for the project.
What's your question, Carolyn? This is clear and concise, but....
Thanks!
Thanks for the edit and adding the question!
Yes, I totally agree with the constructive approaches suggested to this conflict. Here is another alternative, my professor advised us always set and enforce a rule before any design group meeting. The rule was decision is always based on crowd. The most votes win. This instill a norm for everyone to abide by, thus prevent potential disputes.
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