Work environments and working in teams often do come with conflicts because of the idea of bringing together different personality and leadership types. The way that different people address problems are different and often the importance of working in a team and understanding each members strengths. I have definitely experienced this during my internship and RSO experiences over the last few years.
The most prominent group dynamic conflict I have ever experienced was during my internship last summer. I was working at an Artificial Intelligence Marketing start-up and was in a small team of three and then our manager. Despite being in a small team, there was still room for conflict and different opinions on how we carried out some of the tasks that my manager wanted us to complete. I started my internship around the same time as a new grad full-time employee and as we were both being on-boarded on to the marketing team of the company, I realized our responsibilities would be similar. Around four weeks into the internship, my team was given a project to create a marketing test to see which messages and content was going to create more traction.
We were each given a specific group of managers and executive members to contact at hundreds of different companies. We were tackling different methodologies and using different versions of the same message and content to see which was more effective. I was splitting this project with the girl who began working at the same time as me and seeing that she was full-time and I was just an intern there were a lot of times in those first few weeks already that I noticed her immediately taking leadership. It seemed okay at first but slowly I felt like my voice was not being heard and I was not being taken as seriously because she would automatically put her ideas first due to her age and position. This was made worse during this specific project. We planned to send out our versions of the content on the Monday of the week after this project was assigned and I spent all day creating the perfect excel to make sure I can track all engagement. We were each working remotely because our manager was out of the office that day and we planned to carry out our parts of the project by the end of the day. I sent out my content at a time that I thought would be optimal for people to read and let my team member know as soon as I did. I was excited to have finished and told her that I would keep her in the loop as I saw any traction and when people began to open and click on my email and content for the company. Her immediate response to that was anger because she told me I should not have taken any actions without talking to her first. This really upset me because each of us had our individual parts and planned to finish things that day but because of her position she assumed I had to check in with her before I did anything on my own. I understood that I was just an intern but I also was given the job because of my qualifications and knew I was doing the right thing. I initially apologized but after talking to my mom about what to do, I realized I should stand up for what I believed in too. I told my coworker that the reason I went ahead with my part of the project was because later in the day is when managers and executive members stop checking their emails. I gave her a reason and justified my action and it paid off when she apologized and told me I was right. This taught me a good lesson in that there was a conflict in my team but by being honest and confronting it in an honest and reasonable way, it was handled and not just avoided.
Often people have conflicts within groups at work and in school and do not speak up because it is only a temporary problem and sometimes hard to speak up to very dominant leaders. As someone who doesn't always defend my opinion, this situation was hard for me. I initially wanted to apologize and let it go but I also knew that is not always the best way to handle conflict especially in professional settings where your reputation is on the line. The best way to do it is to stick with what you believe in and be as honest as possible. Emotions are a huge factor in conflict resolution and by using the right words and being as nice as possible, I was able to communicate my perspective without offending my coworker yet still having her understand it.
The source of the problem was the hierarchy that my coworker believed existed within the company when in fact a team also means you work hand in hand with each other. I believe the conflict was handled well and although I did not see it happening because I did not think she would react that way, it ended up all working out. We worked together the rest of the summer and she grew to respect my work and opinions more and more as I provided value to the team. This situation made room for opportunity since she could see I was someone who was confident in my work and decisions and I am thankful I handled the conflict in this manner.
The most prominent group dynamic conflict I have ever experienced was during my internship last summer. I was working at an Artificial Intelligence Marketing start-up and was in a small team of three and then our manager. Despite being in a small team, there was still room for conflict and different opinions on how we carried out some of the tasks that my manager wanted us to complete. I started my internship around the same time as a new grad full-time employee and as we were both being on-boarded on to the marketing team of the company, I realized our responsibilities would be similar. Around four weeks into the internship, my team was given a project to create a marketing test to see which messages and content was going to create more traction.
We were each given a specific group of managers and executive members to contact at hundreds of different companies. We were tackling different methodologies and using different versions of the same message and content to see which was more effective. I was splitting this project with the girl who began working at the same time as me and seeing that she was full-time and I was just an intern there were a lot of times in those first few weeks already that I noticed her immediately taking leadership. It seemed okay at first but slowly I felt like my voice was not being heard and I was not being taken as seriously because she would automatically put her ideas first due to her age and position. This was made worse during this specific project. We planned to send out our versions of the content on the Monday of the week after this project was assigned and I spent all day creating the perfect excel to make sure I can track all engagement. We were each working remotely because our manager was out of the office that day and we planned to carry out our parts of the project by the end of the day. I sent out my content at a time that I thought would be optimal for people to read and let my team member know as soon as I did. I was excited to have finished and told her that I would keep her in the loop as I saw any traction and when people began to open and click on my email and content for the company. Her immediate response to that was anger because she told me I should not have taken any actions without talking to her first. This really upset me because each of us had our individual parts and planned to finish things that day but because of her position she assumed I had to check in with her before I did anything on my own. I understood that I was just an intern but I also was given the job because of my qualifications and knew I was doing the right thing. I initially apologized but after talking to my mom about what to do, I realized I should stand up for what I believed in too. I told my coworker that the reason I went ahead with my part of the project was because later in the day is when managers and executive members stop checking their emails. I gave her a reason and justified my action and it paid off when she apologized and told me I was right. This taught me a good lesson in that there was a conflict in my team but by being honest and confronting it in an honest and reasonable way, it was handled and not just avoided.
Often people have conflicts within groups at work and in school and do not speak up because it is only a temporary problem and sometimes hard to speak up to very dominant leaders. As someone who doesn't always defend my opinion, this situation was hard for me. I initially wanted to apologize and let it go but I also knew that is not always the best way to handle conflict especially in professional settings where your reputation is on the line. The best way to do it is to stick with what you believe in and be as honest as possible. Emotions are a huge factor in conflict resolution and by using the right words and being as nice as possible, I was able to communicate my perspective without offending my coworker yet still having her understand it.
The source of the problem was the hierarchy that my coworker believed existed within the company when in fact a team also means you work hand in hand with each other. I believe the conflict was handled well and although I did not see it happening because I did not think she would react that way, it ended up all working out. We worked together the rest of the summer and she grew to respect my work and opinions more and more as I provided value to the team. This situation made room for opportunity since she could see I was someone who was confident in my work and decisions and I am thankful I handled the conflict in this manner.
Let me note a few things here:
ReplyDelete(1) The incident you told about may have been uncomfortable, but I would not term it a conflict. If there had been prior incidents that were similar or subsequent incidents, each within a certain pattern, that would be a conflict. A difference of opinion, in other words, does have to be resolved. It doesn't mean there will be fighting after the resolution. With a conflict, that's what will happen.
(2) It was unclear to me from this story whether you had a manager and, if so, how the manager saw your relationship with this full-time employee - horizontal, vertical, or something in between.
(3) I have been retired for more than 9 years. But I still get (a lot of) emails from marketing types from a variety of companies who think I have purchasing power for IT on campus. These are all from people I've never met. I did participate in a listserv for CIOs after I retired (but I haven't for the last several years) and people may have lurked there to see whom they should contact. But it is an odd job to try and sell things to people who have not expressed a prior interest in buying the good or service.
(4) It was unclear from this story whether you have an interest in working at this company after graduation. If you do, it's possible that your then co-worker may now have been promoted to manager and you really would be working for her. So I hope you ended up with her on a good not.