Peeves, Pitfalls and Pickles: Part 4
© Douglas E. Welch 1997
This month I have discussed various situations and problems that
computer people face every day. This week, though, addresses one
of the most troublesome and difficult to solve problems, personality
conflicts.
Usually a personality conflict arises when 2 people have different
ways of working. One might be extremely security conscious while
another is more casual. One might be more fanatic about organization
than another. Whatever the problem, situations like these can
usually be resolved by adjusting duties so that these people have
less contact with one another. The situation grows worse, though,
when one employee's personality grates on many staff members or
even the entire company.
Personality Events
More problematical than simple personality conflicts, personality
events are usually driven by someone in management or other position
of power. They can occur for any number of reasons but usually
focus around particular hot spots for each person. This person's
reaction to perceived violations of their commands is usually
to lash out verbally, no matter what the situation or environment.
In one case, the troublesome person was an owner and manager within
the company. He would often have screaming fights with other managers
and employees within the common areas of a very small office.
Every employee was able to hear every word. Company morale and
work productivity plummeted whenever this occurred.
If you're an employee, your job may be in danger if you speak
out against this person. On the other hand, working under someone
such as this goes well beyond the breadth of most job descriptions.
Addressing this type of problem requires some hard thought on
everyone's part. You can make your objections known to the manager
or you can take the issue to his/her superior. Either way, you
need to be prepared to look for another position if the problem
is not resolved to your satisfaction. No one has to suffer under
the tyranny of personality events, especially in the plentiful
job market that exists today.
Be careful what you offer
Another personality-related problem can arise out of your own
desire to do a good job. Employees often place their own lives
on the back burner in order to complete a particular task.
If there is truly a deadline emergency then it is expected that
every employee will give a little bit more until the emergency
is past. Unfortunately, work life can often degenerate into a
series of endless emergencies that don't allow you to ever recover
your equilibrium or sleep. Constant emergencies point to larger
problems in any company. Someone is over-committing their resources
(you) and every project, no matter how small, turns into an emergency.
Most companies will take whatever extra effort you are willing
to provide. Be very sure that your workload will return to normal
somewhere in the future if you may be committing to a work load
you cannot sustain.
Douglas E. Welch is a freelance writer and computer consultant
in Van Nuys, California. Readers can discuss career issues with
other readers by joining the Career Opportunities Discussion on
Douglas' web page at: http://home.earthlink.net/~dewelch/
He can reached via email at dewelch@earthlink.net |