Claire worked in a chemical company during her internship a few months ago. She was placed in the Quality Assurance (QA) department and worked with her supervisor who had joined the company not long ago.
Her supervisor is a quiet man and Claire found that she had difficulty communicating with him. Hence, the instructions that the supervisor gave to Claire were often incomplete and this had led to numerous complaints on Claire’s poor performance from the QA department. This created a bad impression on Claire and her supervisor often put the blame on her when things went wrong in the QA laboratory. Claire was absolutely vexed by this issue.
It was one day when the supervisor came into the laboratory and reprimanded Claire for her poor work performance in front of everyone. Claire was sick of being maligned by her supervisor and she voiced out her displeasure to the people in the laboratory after he left. She began to spread rumors about her supervisor and made everyone believed that her supervisor was an incompetent person who kept pushing blames to her. It was not long when Claire’s supervisor found out what Claire had done to him. Ever since then, their relationship was even more strained.
How do you think Claire should handle the issue in the first place? What can be done to improve her relationship with her supervisor?
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Dear Peiling,
ReplyDeleteI think both Claire and her supervisor played a part in aggravating the situation.
For Claire's part, she could have clarified the instructions her supervisor gave to her after knowing that it was giving her problems. It was a mistake for her to spread rumours as this would only create more unnecessary disharmony between the people, and she would lose people's trust if they knew the truth. She could remain calm and apologised to her supervisor instead after her supervisor reprimanded her. It could be better to soothen the situation and be a peacemaker. Relfecting on her part was essential to realise that she was also the cause of the problem.
For her supervisor's part, he could have ensured that Claire received the right instructions and she was clear about it. He could have investigated the matter which have went wrong further instead of putting biased judgement on her. He could have talked to Claire alone about the complaints and not reprimanding her in front of all her colleagues. He could be more respectful towards her even though he was the superior.
If both were more self reflective, understanding, and possess effective communication skills, this might not even happen. :)
Love,
Napalie
Hey Peiling,
ReplyDeleteI think to improve the relationship,both Claire and her supervisor have a part to play.
Knowing that her supervisor has a quiet nature, i feel Claire should have shown more initiative by clarifying any confusion to her instructions.
She should not have badmouthed her supervisor as it would make matters worse.
It is natural for her supervisor to feel angry and upset to have learnt about the rumours.The supervisor should at least talked to Claire nicely,as a warning.This could have been a better approach than to jump into conclusion and assume Claire was not doing her job properly.
Perhaps Claire should try talking to her supervisor over a meal. This way, it would not feel intimidating. Overcoming their differences would be important as both of them work in the same company. To work efficiently, conflicts should be resolved as soon as possible.
Ruth
Hi Peiling~
ReplyDeleteKnowning her supervisor was a quiet person, I feel that Claire should have prompted more when she was not given a clear instruction.
By not asking for clearer instructions, perhaps Claire felt that her supervisor did not care. However, regardless of her supervisor's personality, it was her duty to complete her task correctly. This would also prevent the both of them from getting into trouble.
When things went wrong the first time, Claire could approach her supervisor to clear her doubts instead of bearing the blame silently. Her supervisor may had been reprimanded too because he did not oversee Claire's work done properly.
I admit that it is not easy to find a good superior but to badmouth her own superior is wrong. Even though I could empathize her feeling of being accused but by spreading rumors to other colleagues would affect their impressions on her.
Especially working in industries like Petrochemical and Phramaceutical, the circles are even smaller. Her reputation would be spread to other companies like wildfire too.
Even if the relationship was already too sour to amend, perhaps she could show some appreciation and that she is willing to let go of the incident, hoping her supervisor would do the same too.
=D
~ Yuanhua ~
This is a concise and fairly clear scenario, Pei Ling. You describe the characters quite well and you give good context to the core drama. You also elicit good feedback. Thanks for this effort.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple language problems:
1) who had joined the company not long ago >>> not long before
2) and this had led to numerous complaints >>> this led
3) and made everyone believed >>> made everyone believe
Please take note. Thanks for your work!
Dear Brad,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the correction! I must say that I'm really bad at this. I appreciate your efforts and i will try to improve for the rest of my posts. =)
Peiling