Business Comm. blog entry #1 (Module2)

Of all the ideas presented in Module 2, it was conflict resolution that struck me the most as I find conflict evident in almost every situation regardless of the economic status, gender and religious affiliation of the people involved. This happens when trust, respect and accountability among persons in an organization no longer exist. When I was working in a government institution, I observed how older employees negatively react as newly hired ones give their suggestion or comment on a certain plan no matter how good the suggestion is. Sometimes, the person is not even given the opportunity to finish his statement before another interferes. Understanding and rapport could not be established between the seasoned and new employees as trust and respect were not extended by the former to the latter. Most seasoned employees regarded new ones as overbearing and lax whereas new ones regarded their older counterparts as bossy and insecure. Accountability was another factor. Nobody wanted to take the blame when an output turned out to be a failure. The company ended up having two opposing sides rather than a united workforce. Hence, realization of projects for the company became impossible and the situation was seemed to be chaotic every time employees gather for an event or conference. Thus, I resigned and later on joined in a private institution wherein I found peace. Item no. 1 of the lecture, conflict resolution reminded me of the situation and gave me the idea that it could have been the conversation styles, interpretations and faulty inferences which brought about conflict among my fellow workers and not anything else which I assumed to be. I related the idea to my language lesson and realized the fact that people, who differ in age, differ also in language and conversation style despite their similarity where field of interest is concerned. Yes, both might have used identical medium of communication; however, variation in terms of delivery occured. That, could have caused misunderstanding/misinterpretations, which led to conflict between the parties involved.  And because nobody gave way it remained unsettled. After reading the lecture, I realized that repairing negative feelings is really necessary for understanding among conflicting individuals would be attained. Had this been done by people in my previous workplace, the company could have kept its good reputation and status.