INTERPERSONAL PROCESSES
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course explores theories of interpersonal behaviour and processes, as they apply to
managerial situations. Emphasis upon individual behaviour and change, group dynamics,
leadership attributes, and communications.
The aims of this course; to understand the interpersonal processes at work when people
interact, and secondly, to develop more effective strategies and behaviours that will
benefit students throughout their lives and working careers.
Assignment 2
Format: 5-6 pages, doubled spaced, 12 pt font
Background
Think of a work situation where you experienced some form of significant inter-personal or
task- related conflict. Describe the situation in a word document (about a page) that you can
share with your team members. Include your reactions, behaviours and any steps that were
taken to address the issue.
Gain Perspectives
Read the scenario to your Team of 2 or 3 members, and then share your thoughts about the
situation and your reactions. Discuss, and record the opinions of your fellow team members.
What would they suggest as alternative courses of action/ how to improve?
Would there have been any way to anticipate the situation or prevent it from occurring?
Will it or something similar potentially happen again, perhaps under different
circumstances?
Is there anything that you might want to alter about your approach?
Reflection Self-reflect.
How did you benefit from hearing their perspectives?
What elements did the other members consider that you did not?
Why do you think that their opinions might be different than yours?
Critically assess your approach and the learnings related to conflict management.
Assignment 2 (1 pager)
During a performance review at Amazon in 2021, where I served as a transaction risk
investigator, a significant interpersonal conflict arose. Tasked with identifying and
mitigating e-commerce risks, my performance metrics suggested my output lagged
from my colleagues. Despite my manager’s confidence in my abilities, particularly in
secondary tasks, I struggled to meet primary responsibilities.
The review meeting, meant to broaden my perspective for potential improvements,
turned contentious when I defensively addressed my perceived shortcomings. I argued
that discrepancies in performance metrics, notably my colleagues disabling their auto-
assign feature, unfairly affected my performance evaluation. This claim, intended to
justify my performance and align with company policy, was viewed by my manager as
an excuse rather than a legitimate concern, leading to a defensive and unproductive
exchange.
Reflecting on this incident, I recognize my unreflective and egocentric approach
hindered my growth. Instead of appreciating constructive feedback, I focused on
defending my position, missing an opportunity for personal and professional
development.
The experience taught me the importance of embracing feedback and the need for
critical self-reflection. It highlighted the detrimental effects of egocentrism and the
value of open communication and understanding different perspectives. Consequently,
I have committed to a more reflective and open-minded approach to feedback and
conflict, emphasizing the collective goal of improving workplace dynamics and
performance.
This conflict served as a learning experience, underscoring the need for effective
communication, and openness to change in resolving interpersonal or task-related
conflicts, fostering a work environment conducive to growth, collaboration, and mutual
respect.
Team Member Perspective
1) Roger:
This reflective paper has an open-ended statement on the concept of an interpersonal
conflict. It has elements of an intrapersonal conflict that arises from the engagement of
an annual review. It has reflective statements that are sound in their delivery of
explanation. It appears that the conflict was minute, but its impact was largely affective
to the mentality of receiver of criticism. It is interesting to read on how minor words of
criticism can have a large impact on an employee.
2) Andrew:
My initial reaction to reading this is how unfair that your manager would conclude
immediately how you were using this as an excuse. If your other colleagues were
adjusting their performance numbers to inaccurately reflect their performance, this
should be a major concern and red flag for your manager. Personally, I feel that as your
manager, I would have looked into your claims before accusing you of making excuses.
To follow, I would have wanted to work with my manager to how to get past the lower
performance numbers. I think that if an instance like this happens again for you to
express your concern earlier to your manager to allow them to look into these
performance numbers ahead of your meeting. This would also aid in more accurate
numbers and eliminate the opportunity for you to fall into such a situation again.
I would like to know how exactly that conversation went between you and your
manager. Was there any egocentric views from his part as to why he concluded that you
were making excuses and the performance numbers were not the issue? When
reflecting on conflicts such as this, I personally feel it is important to understand how
we approach the situation and not only how we handle the situation. Was this the first
time these inconsistent numbers were brought to your manager?
I could see various similar situations where this may occur again due to inaccurate
data. As a manager, I believe you must rely on data but only as long as it is accurate.
These performance numbers may have been the only measure they had to evaluate
each member and may have faced pressure from above to improve the teams
performance overall and not just your own. There are many other situations that may
arise where the data does not tell the whole story and so it is important to communicate
the importance and insights that the data is showing, both individually and as a team.
