Jane Sutton, general manager of Caffeine and Crullers, has noticed that her grou

Question

Jane Sutton, general manager of Caffeine and Crullers, has noticed that her group of managers is not as united as it used to be. In fact, it has broken down into two subgroups, Jason Wong and Carrie Fishman in one group and Carlos Hernandez and Heather Car reau in the other. At meetings, the two sides tend to snipe at each other and discount what is said by the other group's members. Jane has asked them to stop, but they just look at her with a blank stare and keep saying there are no cliques, that everybody is the same Jane sees it differently. And she knows until she can break down this subgroup friction, she won't get the productivity the management group is capable of. Initial Thoughts 1. If you were Jane, what would you do? 2. What factors do you think might cause two subgroups to form on Jane's management team?

Explanation / Answer

Answer) With reference to the above stated example, the team of managers at Jane's organization seem to have a 'Conflict of interest' that divided them into two sub groups. Conflict of interest in it's simplest sense is defined as a situation of disagreement and incompatibility amongst parties. It is more common that not in a boardroom or a professional situation since the competitive streak is high. Jane can take the following measures to combat this situation and end the drama.

A) Have a process in place by foreseeing a situation that may occur in the future as it might have occurred before. E.g shuffling the opposite groups and then holding separate meetings with each in order to break their in group cohesiveness and pressure and encourage individual contribution from the managers.

B) Openly discussing about the conflict of interest and the troubles it has caused in planning ahead for the organization. Making both the groups understand the damage it is causing to the interest of the organization and to the work culture might help the managers acknowledge that their instinctive reaction is driven by their own personal preference and biasness and this will not be the best in the long term for the organization.

C) Educating and training the groups to direct their energies towards more constructive ways of improving the processes of the organization by showing them inspirational videos and conducting team building exercises (can opt for indoors or outdoors) by shuffling the groups.

The above ways can help Jane in combating this situation and to create a comfortable work environment.

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