Alex, Yvonne and Joelyn are the co-leaders of a youth expedition project (YEP) to Cambodia. All three of them know each other well from a previous youth expedition project. Alex and Yvonne are also involved in a relationship and it was their common passion for overseas volunteer work which brought them together.
However during the trip itself, Alex and Yvonne began to have differences over how the team should be managed as well as the itinerary of the project. Alex had inhibitions about allowing the participants do a 2 day home-stay at the villagers’ homes as some of the houses were situated quite far away. He had felt that safety of the participants would be compromised should any emergency occur during the night. Yvonne had a different perspective, feeling that the participants are old enough to take care of themselves. She insisted on letting the participants have a home-stay, as it would greatly enhance their YEP experience and allow them to better relate to the villagers through closer communication.
Both refused to budge from their stands and Alex even tactlessly criticised Yvonne in front of the participants. Yvonne felt that Alex was undermining her position as a leader and was deeply offended. Alex on the other hand, felt that Yvonne was being too stubborn and taking things too personally. Over the next few days, they were constantly bickering and even during team meetings, they did not see eye to eye over the little issues. It was plain that this was not just affecting their personal relationship, but also beginning to affect the team’s morale.
Everyone in the team is concerned that this episode may hinder or obscure the real objective of reaching out and helping the village. Now imagine you are Joelyn, as their friend and fellow co-leader, how would you advise them to put aside their differences and resolve the conflict?
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3 comments:
Since Joelyn is also a co-leader of the project, she should voice out her stand on the issue of home-stay. If a consensus still could not be made between the co-leaders, perhaps they could explain their individual viewpoints to the participants and have a team discussion. Gathering the opinions of the other participants could help in finding the best solution. A voting could have been done to decide on the solution.
Alex and Yvonne should step back and take a look at the bigger picture. This project is not just about the two of them but concerns the other team members. Their constant bickering will certainly affect the team’s morale. Joelyn could act as a mediator between Alex and Yvonne to mend their relationship. Many a times, people tend not to think and act rationally in conflicts. Joelyn might want to remind them to be more aware of each other feelings and also the morale of the team. It is important for Alex to apologize to Yvonne for the criticism on her in front of the participants. In addition, Joelyn could reassure the team members to ensure that they still trust the co-leaders to make the project a success.
Hi Ho Teck, as a co-leader, I would perhaps remind them of the real objective of the expedition project. With the initial objective in mind, we would be able to come up with compromises or even other alternatives to enhance the participants’ YEP while taking care of their safety. In addition, we could even gather feedback from the participants and perhaps vote to decide the outcome.
As a friend, I would have to gently remind Alex to be tactful of how he criticized Yvonne, as some people may not be able to handle such criticizes in front of other people. Being a straight forward person, I have learnt to hold back my honest opinions sometimes as some of them may not welcome such feedback.
Lastly, I would suggest to them to try to be rational and weigh the pros and cons of the other person’s suggestion. Only then will the team be able to resolve the conflicts and make the most out of this YEP.
Jimmy
ES2007S Group 2
Hi Qiyuan,
I agree with you that Joelyn, being the coleader, can play a bigger role im resolving the conflict between Alex and Yvonne. Sometimes personal feelings may into the way of work and a neutral party is needed to act rationally.
Cheers
Ho Teck
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