You are a manager who has been co-leading an important project with Adam, a fellow manager. The project involves rolling out updates to the user experience for your company’s most important software product. At project kickoff, you and your counterpart, Adam, agreed to the aggressive rollout schedule provided by upper management. Just this week, however, you have discovered that Adam has prevented shipping the most recent update, which you had already signed off on, as he didn’t feel it was ready. Word has gotten back to you that Adam has been making comments such as “this company doesn’t care enough about quality” and “I’m the only one who really understands what our users want and need.”
After speaking to your supervisor about the issue to get their advice, the two of you agreed that your next step is to reach out to Adam to address the situation. Your goal is to arrive at an agreement on how you will work together going forward to ensure both a successful project and an effective working relationship. You have also agreed that you will send your colleague an email after the interaction to continue building your collegial relationship and to ensure that your agreed-upon plan is in writing.
To begin, you have scheduled an in-person conversation with Adam to discuss the delays and to reach agreement on how you will work together going forward. You want to be sure to fully explore his concerns and priorities and make appropriate adjustments, if they are needed, while also clearly expressing your own concerns and priorities.
Simulation Challenges and Objectives
• Challenge/Objective 1: Frame the purpose of the conversation, describe the situation that necessitated the conversation, and set a tone of mutual respect and problem solving.
• Challenge/Objective 2: Ask for your colleague’s concerns and priorities related to the situation.
• Challenge/Objective 3: Share personal observations, concerns, and priorities related to the situation.
• Challenge/Objective 4: Explore solutions and strategies to reach mutual agreement on how to work together going forward.
Important Note: In the simulation experience, you will not be notified when you have met or not met a challenge and its objective. However, the avatar will respond positively when you “hit” the challenge and will react in a more negative manner if you “miss” the challenge. Please consult the WMBA 6695 Simulation Preparation (PDF) document for more information about the avatars.
Part 1: Handling Difficult Conversations Checklist
_ State the purpose of the conversation briefly and succinctly by telling Adam you want to make sure any quality concerns are addressed and that your working relationship is on track going forward.