Week 5 – Solving Problems/Improving Leadership

Going into week five at my internship site, the office changed its policy to require all staff to be in the office at least two days a week, in accordance with CDC and PA state guidelines.  As a result, I observed the first all-staff meeting, where two of the current staff members met the remote workers for the first time, as they had been hired earlier in the year while the stay-at-home order was still in effect.  This made for an interesting observation of first impressions for myself, as the intern, and for the new office dynamic.  During our all-staff check-ins, it is common for everyone to report on their work for the week to keep everyone informed and check for areas they can assist others in the office; however, in our smaller meetings, I observed more conflicting interactions regarding work processes.

Later in the week, we had a meeting that required the attendance of eight staff members, including our CEO who was not leading the meeting but was contributing.  About halfway through the meeting, two staff members were respectfully disagreeing with each other over how to go about completing the objective, which is healthy and good in the workspace.  However, it became apparent that one of the staff members was closed off to other processes that conflicted with her own, and she was not respecting the other staffs’ input.  In this situation, I observed an under-use of leadership by the staff who was facilitating the meeting.  I didn’t think it was the responsibility of our CEO to be the mediator of a meeting he was not running; however, I did expect that from the staff member who was.  Unfortunately, that did not happen, so there was no solution met between the two staff members.  I believe if the staff who was leading the meeting had intervened, it could have been a more productive conversation.  

Following this meeting, I spoke with my supervisor about how to mediate between two contrasting viewpoints.  While he expressed that constructive conflict in the workplace is important and healthy, he stated that the work topics that are specific to subgroups are to be discussed in smaller meetings to have more productive conversations with the directors of that work issue.  In the more intimate settings, staff members can get a better understanding of the issues being discussed, speak to each other with more respectful tones, and avoid escalating tensions.  This was a way that I, as an intern, identified an issue and shared a strategy to resolve the issue.