Workplace Drama - Free Paper Sample

Introduction

Workplace drama has a detrimental impact on both the short-term and long-term objectives of an organization. Nowadays, the pressures of both the workplaces and homes have created an overworked, tired, and stressed out workforce, which requires optimal human resources management to ensure that their short fuses do not blow (Overton & Lowry, 2013). I recently witnessed such a tense instance of workplace drama that I found particularly insightful.

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Working Relationship

A certain pair of my colleagues are women who had not worked together for very long. However, they had developed a close working relationship and impeccable teamwork that I found enviable. In the few months they had been working together, they had become friends. I was in my cubicle one Monday morning when I heard a commotion in the reception area. When I walked out of my office to investigate I found them shouting at each other in anger, and some of my colleagues had gathered around to watch. I did not immediately establish the cause behind all the shouting but there was a lot of tension. Within a few seconds, they started pushing each other and it was evident that the incident would blow into a physical fight. However, our manager walked in and intervened. He approached the two ladies and calmly asked them to follow him into his office.

They hesitated and continued shouting at each other. However, he gently put his hand on the arm of one and requested them again, albeit in a conversational tone to follow him. When they got into his office, the first thing he did was offer each a glass of water, and they started to calm down. It seemed that they recognized how shamefully they had acted by losing control. The boss told them that regardless of the cause of the spat, there were better ways to handle the issue in ways that did not affect those that worked with them and the organization as well. It was established later that the cause of the drama was idle gossip; one of the ladies had talked about the other one negatively behind her back. I heard that the two women apologized to each other at that point and later apologized to us via a memo through a management.

Management Response

I believe that the response of the manager was effective because he managed to diffuse a very tense situation. He calmed them down sufficiently enough to make them see the ills of their behavior. Apart from paralyzing the office for a while, the incident had a detrimental effect on teamwork. For instance, the rest of us had to shoulder their responsibilities for the time it took them to cool down sufficiently to start working again (Sofield & Salmond, 2003). The incident also created tension in the office since nobody wanted it to seem as if they were taking sides. Gossiping affects the feelings of others and erodes trust (Quinn et al., 2010). The people in the office have started becoming more cautious and some of the more talkative colleagues are being shunned, which affects teamwork.

Conclusion

If I were the manager, I would have ensured I am a model of showing my subordinates that creating drama is a poor way of handling issues. Primarily, I would have remained calm and invited the two antagonists into a private area where I would correct the errant behavior. I would also be very clear about how workers are expected to communicate and maintain professionalism when dealing with each other at the workplace (Rosanne, 2019). I would also refer to this instance when reinforcing preferred interpersonal behaviors during employee training sessions. This would ensure know the organizational policies regarding workplace conflicts (Chism, 2011).

References

Chism, M. (2011). Stop workplace drama: Train your staff to have no complaints, no excuses, and no regrets. John Wiley & Sons.

Overton, A. R. & Lowry, A. C. (2013). Conflict management: Difficult conversations with difficult people. Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery, 26(4), 259-264.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1055%2Fs-0033-1356728

Quinn, R. E., Faerman, S. R., Thompson, M. P., & McGrath, M. (2010). Becoming a master manager. John Wiley & Sons.

Rosanne, R. (2019). Workplace drama: There’s no place for theater. Nursing Management, 50 (3), 6. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.numa.0000553499.47779.a4

Sofield, L. & Salmond, S. W. (2003). Workplace violence. A focus on verbal abuse and intent to leave the organization. Orthop Nurs., 22(40), 274-283.
https://doi.org/10.1097/00006416-200307000-00008.