Managing Conflict Discussion

 

 

Competency

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:

• Determine appropriate ways to communicate information to internal and external stakeholders
• Apply communication techniques to effectively negotiate and manage conflict

Scenario

You are the manager of a team of 10 software developers working on a new application for your company, Optimum Way Development, which is based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. Your organization recently acquired a smaller software company based in San Jose, California. You have been informed that your team will be bringing on five people from this newly acquired company; all five people will be moving to Raleigh to join your team.

You schedule a phone call with the five new team members and discover that they are upset about the recent impersonal message they received from human resources informing them that they would have to relocate to Raleigh in order to stay employed; no one expressed excitement about joining the team. During this conversation, you also discover that many of the new team members have more education and experience than the people currently on your team. Based on the conversation, you notice that most of these team members are likely older than you, whereas all of the current Raleigh team members are younger than you.

After the call, one of your current senior team members approaches you about rumors that are circulating concerning the Raleigh team being required to train the new team members from San Jose. They heard that there are plans to eliminate positions and are concerned the new hires will ultimately be taking their positions.

The director who oversees your division has requested that you create and present a recommendation report that documents your plans for managing the conflicts that currently exist or may arise on your team. The director has an advanced degree in a computer science-related field and has worked in technology for over a decade.

Directions

In order to identify and resolve existing and future conflicts, you have been asked to compose and present your plan for managing conflict for this project. In addition to identifying and resolving the conflicts, you are also responsible for keeping the development of the new application moving forward by continuing to meet scheduled milestones.

To do this, you will create a recommendation report and corresponding presentation. The audience for both deliverables is your director. As you create your report and presentation, remember to use communication techniques and platforms that are appropriate for your audience’s preferences and motivations.

Both deliverables should be based on the above scenario and include the following:

1. To start, explain the major elements of the software application, including background, audience, functions, and features.
2. Next, explain the areas of conflict for the team. Make sure to include contributing factors and the possible impacts.
3. Articulate the desired outcome of any conflict resolution activities.
   • How would you like to see this conflict resolved?
   • What is the “best-case” scenario?
4. Recommend action steps for managing areas of possible conflict with a detailed explanation on how the action steps contribute to conflict resolution.
5. In the presentation only, use dialogue to communicate the appropriate main ideas to the audience. Although you will not give this presentation over video, you should use the speaker’s notes section in PowerPoint to write the accompanying speech.

What to Submit

To complete this project, you must submit the following:

Recommendation Report
Your report should be at least 2 full pages in length (not including a title page), single-spaced and submitted as either a Word document or PDF. Outside resources are not required, but any resources used must be appropriately cited using APA style. You may use the Recommendation Report Template for this submission.

Presentation
Your presentation should be in a presentation format (such as PowerPoint) and provide an overview of the main ideas from the recommendation report. Using the speaker’s notes section of PowerPoint, include the speech that would accompany the presentation. Outside resources are not required, but any resources used must be appropriately cited using APA style.

Supporting Materials

The following resource(s) may help support your work on the project:

Resource: Software Design Documents
Use one of these software design documents to summarize the application in your report and presentation.

Shapiro Library Resource: APA Style
This Shapiro Library guide goes over the basics of APA-style formatting and citations.

Project Two Rubric

Criteria	Exemplary (100%)	Proficient (85%)	Needs Improvement (55%)	Not Evident (0%)	Value
Application	Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Explains the major elements of a software application, including background, audience, functions, and features	Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include addressing additional elements of the application or providing additional detail to some sections	Does not attempt criterion	15
Conflict Factors	Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Explains the areas of conflict, including contributing factors and the possible impacts	Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include discussing missed action steps or further developing explanation	Does not attempt criterion	15
Conflict Resolution	Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Articulates the desired outcome of conflict resolution activities	Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include further developing the desired outcome	Does not attempt criterion	15
Action Steps	Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Recommends action steps for managing areas of possible conflict with detailed explanation on how the action steps contribute to conflict resolution	Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include discussing missed action steps or further developing explanation	Does not attempt criterion	15
Audience	Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Uses communication techniques and platforms that are appropriate for the audience’s preferences and motivations	Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include changing language or composition to meet the needs of the audience	Does not attempt criterion	15
Messaging	Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Uses dialogue to communicate the appropriate main ideas to the audience	Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include selecting too many, too few, or unnecessary main ideas	Does not attempt criterion	15
Articulation of Response	Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Clearly conveys meaning with correct grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, demonstrating an understanding of audience and purpose	Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, negatively impacting readability	Submission has critical errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, preventing understanding of ideas	5
Citations and Attributions	Attributes sources where applicable using citation methods with very few minor errors	Attributes sources where applicable, but with consistent minor errors	Attributes sources where applicable, but with major errors	Does not attribute sources where applicable	5
Total:					100%