Part IV: Simulation Scenarios
Workplace
Scenario 1
You and another manager, B, are working together on a complex project that requires weekly meetings with the department manager. On several occasions, you have made statements in these meetings that B disagrees with. You believe B’s comments imply that you are not fully on top of things. You are not sure why B is doing this but you want it to stop. You would never say anything to make B appear incompetent and you want the same professional respect. You approach B to talk about it.
Scenario 2
You need to meet with your assistant, C, to address some problems that have been surfacing. C has been arriving 10-15 minutes late for work one or two days a week for several weeks. This does not present the image that is expected in the office. You value C’s usual level of efficiency and quality of work. You decide to talk with C about this.
Scenario 3
Your job requires you to travel occasionally. In order to be reimbursed for expenses, you have to turn in an itemized expense sheet and receipts. There are policy guidelines for what is considered to be reimbursable. On your last trip, you bought dinner at the airport, since your flight left at 5 p.m., but you wouldn’t be returning home until after 7 p.m. The policy says that dinner cannot be claimed if your flight leaves before 6 p.m., but the accounts manager has been reasonable with these sorts of situations in the past. Now there is a new accounts manager who returns your form with a note saying, “Rejected: inappropriate expense.” You resent this kind of cold, formal response and think the rejection is quite heavy-handed.
Scenario 4
You have confided a personal problem to a colleague with whom you have a friendship. You are a private person, and generally do not reveal personal things to many people. Recently, in a conversation with another colleague, you discovered that your friend told other people at the office this personal news about you, and you are very uncomfortable. You decide to approach your friend to talk about this.
Scenario 5
Your department is undergoing severe cutbacks. You are trying to manage it the best you can, and have asked a few employees to join a committee to discuss layoffs and the best process for handling them. One employee dislikes you and has convinced the others that this committee is nothing more than a ‘feel good’ exercise, and now none of the others will join. You believe it is in their best interest to be a part of the decision making process on something that will affect them greatly. You decide to talk to the employee who got the others stirred up.
Scenario 6
You need to talk to an employee, D, about personal style in dealing with clients. You have had several complaints that this employee speaks in a rude and abrupt manner to clients.
Scenario 7
Many people in your office, including you, are grumbling about F’s management style. F gives little direction or support to the staff, and then wonders why people are confused and unmotivated. F has decided that a good way to improve things around the office is for everyone to take a workshop on time management. F wants your opinion on this idea.
Scenario 8
Your manager, G, wants you to join a task force. The last time you joined one of these committees, you and others put in a lot of work and, in the end, G appeared to ignore your recommendations. G has said, once again, that the committee will play a major decision-making role. You decide to tell G that you don’t want to be on the task force.
Scenario 9
You have just finished a project, the success of which was greatly due to your work and leadership. You recently heard that your project partner, H, is taking credit for its success. Many people are talking about the project, and some have told you what a fantastic job H did. You want to talk to H because you are getting angry about this.
Scenario 10
You are at a meeting that was supposed to be a final review of a project that has been underway for some time. There have been tensions among people during the course of the project, but, for the most part, the team has struggled through it without really addressing these concerns. At the meeting, you notice that J is making comments that indirectly target you as a problem person on the team. You don’t say anything at the meeting, but decide to talk to J afterward.
Scenario 11
Because of an argument several months ago, you and K have an icy but civil relationship. You are increasingly uncomfortable with this situation, since you have to work with K quite frequently and you want to talk with K to see if something can be worked out so your dealings with each other can be more cordial.
Scenario 12
You share a small office with a co-worker. The co-worker’s level of orderliness is a problem for you and you are increasingly resenting the messiness, especially when clients come in to meet with you.
Scenario 13
Your colleague, A, frequently complains about other staff members when you two are talking together. A attacks and gripes about people you work with, which you find upsetting, irritating, and unethical. Lately, you find you are putting distance between yourself and A to avoid your discomfort.
Scenario 14
The office manager, M, feels it is essential that all employees use the same computer program. Employee, E, has expressed an unwillingness to change to the new program because he/she has spent years trying to learn the old program and is overwhelmed by the change.
Scenario 15
You have been hired by Apex Inc. and have to share a small office with T, who has been with Apex for seven years. Neither of you like the situation, but there won’t be another free office for at least six months. After two months of sharing the office, your tolerance for T has been stretched to the limit. T tells jokes that you think are in poor taste, and talks loudly and often on the phone, making it hard for you to concentrate. T generally behaves as if you aren’t there. You finally decide to talk with T about these problems.
Scenario 16
An employee you supervise tells clients inappropriate details about his personal life. You have to give the employee feedback about being too informal and personal with clients.
Scenario 17
You want to speak to an employee about what you consider an inappropriate style in the workplace. The employee wears casual dress and a nose ring.
Scenario 18
You sit on a board with S, who has just taken on the role of chair. You’ve worked with S on the board for the previous two years, and you two have often had very different opinions on issues. S has now chaired three board meetings, and you have noticed that S asks for your opinion in front of the other directors, but then follows up by implying that you are wrong. The tone is condescending, and you feel humiliated. S can be too defensive, and responded this way when you once gently tried to bring the issue up during a board meeting. You want to discuss this issue privately with S before it escalates further.