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Unit 26 :
Discussing Staff Issues
Pre-advanced
Vocabulary
Repeat these word/ phrases after your teacher.
1. to get to the point (phr)
to go directly to the idea/ ideas you want to say
2. call it quits (phr)
to agree with someone that a debt has been paid and that no one owes anything more
3. overworked (adj)
having to work too much
4. to go over (phr)
having to work too much
5. pitch (n)
an area painted with lines for playing particular sports, especially football
6. strategy (n)
a detailed plan for achieving success in situations such as war, politics, business, industry, or sport, or the skill of planning for such situations
Dialogue
Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.
Cam
Annette
Well Annette, it certainly sounds like you’ve been pretty busy.
For sure. Lots of exciting changes. And a few challenges as well. But getting to the point, I just wanted to let you know about something that’s come up…
It looks like Kevin has decided to call it quits.
Kevin? Well, that kinda sucks. He was quite the hard worker, if memory serves. And so… tell me, is this somehow connected to the new strategy?
Uh, no, I don’t think so… He had some pretty good offers. But I think the main thing was that we might have expected a bit too much of him. I think he felt overworked.
And to be honest, I should have recognized that sooner. I mean, the signs were there, and we could have actually split his position into two.
Well, you can only push people so far. In any case… do you have a plan going forward? I guess his departure will leave a pretty big hole.
It certainly will. And that’s why I really think we need to split that position now. That would mean we’d need budget approval on a new position here though.
Well… from what you’ve explained it seems reasonable.
But I’ll need a bit more info before I can commit. I’d love to see two distinct job descriptions, and some written rationale for this.
Of course. I can have that to you by Friday.
Great… and I guess I’d also like to know how we can prevent things like this down the road. I mean, we want to keep good people around, right?
For sure. And I think there are a few different ways we can improve retention. For one, like you said, we need to pay attention to workload.
But I’m also thinking about a wellness program and loyalty bonuses.
Okay, interesting. Although of course, these kinds of things would have to be part of a larger budget discussion.
Right. And I’d be happy to discuss these ideas at any time. But I’m curious… what’s your sense of how something like this would go over at head office?
I want to say yes, because I’m open to these ideas. But the best I can do is a firm “maybe.” It would require a good pitch, and the right timing.
Anyway, let’s come back to this another time. I’d like to talk a bit about some of the overtime if we can…
Article
Read the article with your teacher.
Handling co-worker’s Conflict
1. As you might expect, you need to control your emotions. You aren’t going to make good decisions in an emotional state. If a co-worker has made you totally nuts, take a timeout and go someplace where you can calm yourself and review the situation.
2. Make sure you have the facts and understand the situation. Is it possible that you got emotional and are misinterpreting what is going on? It might be helpful to jot down the situation as you see it and review it a day later just to see if your perspective has changed.
3. Is it really a problem? This is totally up to you. Maybe after reflecting for a day, you’ll decide that whatever is going on isn’t really a problem for you. In that case, forget about it. If it is a problem – you need to do something about it. No problem in the history of human relations was ever resolved by being ignored.
4.Don’t go to your boss with every issue. First try to resolve the problem with your co-worker before escalating to your boss. Your boss will appreciate it.
5. Talk to your co-worker. You knew that was coming, didn’t you? Don’t email them, don’t phone them if they are in the same office – find a time when the two of you can be alone and say “I think we are having some challenges in the way we are working together. Do you have some time now to talk about it?”. Email is an especially bad way to deal with problems. The tone doesn’t come across and email can be easily misunderstood.
6. Give them your perspective from your point of view. This is really important. Don’t say “You are making fun of me in meetings.” Use ‘I-phrases’. “I interpreted your comments in the meeting as minimizing my contribution. Do you feel that I’m not pulling my weight?” Don’t accuse your co-worker, or you will quickly get into an escalated confrontation. Tell them how you see the situation and how it makes you feel.
7. Suggest solutions. Make positive statements (“I would like it if you would take the time to consider my suggestions”) rather than negative statements (“I hate it when you ignore me”).
8. Be prepared to accept criticism. Maybe you are doing something that is driving your co-worker to act out. Listen carefully and use agree-empathize-inquire.
Source: https://www.dougsguides.com/conflicts
Discussion：
Answer the following questions to your teacher.
1. What is the advantage of solving the problem immediately?
2. Did you encounter such problems in your workplace? How did you handle it?
Let’s practice
Fill in the blanks with words from the box below. Be sure to put any verbs in the right tense.
Push point forward
Give serve call
1. We just need to figure out how we can avoid this type of problem going
_____________.
2. Come on Harold, we don’t have all day so could you just get to the_________?
3.I really can’t_____________ the green light to your idea until the budget is approved.
4. Why have I decided to _____________ it quits? Well, I guess I’m just feeling much too tired and stressed.
5. You just need to _____________ Ronaldo a bit and he’ll do a much better job for you.
6. If memory_____________, this is the third time you’ve been late with a big proposal.
