Interactive Behaviour at Work

Inter travelive Behaviour at WorkCheniere Energy was founded in 1983 and is a world leading liquefied natural brag (LNG) confederation. Through its subsidiaries the high society engages in the development, construction, surrenderership, and operation of onshore LNG receiving terminals and natural gas pipelines in the disconnect Coast of the United States. It excessively engages in oil and natural gas exploration and development activities. Cheniere Energy is based in Houston, Texas with sites in Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, and capital of the United Kingdom called Cheniere International UK Branch. The London affair consists of six good deal who argon exerciseable for sourcing and trading LNG cargoes for Cheniere as well as managing the day to day trading operations and activities of the office.Purpose of the musical themeThe purpose of this report is to examine model issues at Cheniere International UK Branch government issueing from office worrying and specifically the participation among an office assistant and the operations autobus. It foc handlings on the interactional behaviour themes relating to intercourse, work kindreds and leading. translation of Interactive Behaviour at workThe term interactive behaviour at work refers to the reciprocal communication need of both or more persons. It covers both their overt behaviour and the factors and functi champions underlying it. It withal extends to the use of communication for purposes such as self-presentation, co-operation, influencing separates, working in groups and lead. (Guirdham, 2002)Definition of the themes conferenceAccording to Guirdham (2002) communication is a affect of transferring information from wizard entity to a nonher. Inter personalized communication at work may be personal or in cipher, formal or informal, and transmitted verbally or non-verbally. Communication is affected by language, communicator style, the differences amid unmatchable- and two-way commun ication, power and status, culture, gender and disability. These effects on communication pay up rise to barriers, which rump be basinvass as intrinsic, individual level and inter-group. To be high in quality, communication must overcome these barriers.Work affinityInterdependence and social orientations, roles, norms and compliancy as well as co-operative, competitive and involvement behaviour argon all concepts that help us to understand and be more rough-and-ready in work relationships. Other valuable aspects related to the issues discussed cover involution resolution, cultural differences, coping with prejudice, discrimination and badgering. (Guirdham, 2002) Harassment is defined as conduct which is unreasonable, unwelcome and offensive, and which creates an intimidating, foreign or humiliating working milieu. (Mullins, 2005) Harassment is a potential cause of stress. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines stress as The adverse reaction people have to excess pressure. It is non disease. save if stress is intense and goes on for some time, it screwing lead to a mental and physical ill health. lead leadership dejection be defined as the ability of an individual to go, motivate and enable others to leave towards the effectiveness and success of the face of which they be members (Guirdham, 2002) There is a turn up relationship between leadership and management, especially in work organisation, and an change magnitude tendency to see them as synonymous. However, arguably thither are differences between the two and it does non follow that every leader is a charabanc. Leadership might be viewed in more general price, with emphasis on interpersonal behaviour in a broader context. According to Mullins (2005) due to its involved nature there are many alternative ways of analysing leadership. Leadership may be examined in terms of qualities or traits approach, in terms of the functional or group approach, as a behavioural category, in terms of styles of leadership, through the built in bedal approach and contingency models, and in terms of nonation between transactional and transformational leadership.Problem ac have it awayledgmentThe issue discussed in this report involves the deteriorating relationship between a motorcoach and an assistant (myself) in a polished office environment. In addition the report looks at the behaviour of a manager of the company involved to whom the employees were directly responsible to.Matters discussed include the identification of key points of conflict between the two persons involved, the style of management, the reaction of fellow worker employees, the interaction with the director involved and steps blastn to resolve the issue. basis and causes of riddlesI joined the Cheniere International UK Branch in 2008 as an office assistant. Working at their London office in Mayfair where there were trinity other employees at my level, two were English and one was an Americ an. I was the lone(prenominal) one having English as a second language.The operations manager was a mature English lady with a very voice little personality and an accretive attitude. I noticed that I was organism asked to do takeably more work than the other assistants and that the manager was querying my efforts every day. At start-off I thought this was because I was new to the argument and that it was a way of measuring my capabilities and ability to cope with the stresses of the work. It became clear however that this was more more of a particular attitude toward me as compared to the other employees. by chance write something intimately working in a multi-cultural environment or possibly highlight that there was predominance of white Anglo-Saxon employees and as such no exposure to different cultures or ethnic diversity.Inter-cultural businesss wax when members of an in-group perceive members of an out-group as inferior. This can promote in-group favouritism, increas ed tendency to class members of out-groups and disallow attitudes to actual or perceived cultural differences. It can result in exclusion of members of out-groups, negative evaluations and torment.In a small office environment it would be unusual for someone in a locating of authority to feel threatened by a single younger employee.It is exhausting to give any clear instances of torment, as such, as this was a subtle besides constant undermining of my nonplus on a workaday basis. This was apparent in her constant criticism of my work and references to my Polish scope and English not being my native language. I made a point of enquire the other assistants to check my work and they always verbalise it was fine and that was just her way and not to worry. One occurrence that began to give me an insight to her behaviour was when she asked me, in front of all the other assistants, wherefore I did not work as a nanny or cleaner as all other Polish girls did.This indicated to me that there was the hatchway that her actions were not actually based upon my performance yet upon a a tie deeper prejudice and possible stereotyping of Polish people (either collectively or by gender).In a strange way this was a relief as until then my confidence had been undermined and I felt under stress at work. It seemed nothing I ever did was right, I was frequently depressed, both at work and at home and it was difficult to understand why she picked on me and what was causing the problem. It to a fault made it difficult for me to try to see how I could resolve the problem.Being aware of the personality clash between us I was trying to understand what caused her hostile behaviour and I blasted myself that it was I who caused the conflict, plainly on the other hand I knew I normally never have any major problems engaging with people, being an easygoing and friendly person. The Thoms-Kilmann Conflict Mode Questionnaire can be efficacious in explaining my stance in the c onflict. Scoring 9 in avoiding and 9 in accommodating styles shows that I am not an assertive person, do not bid to hurt peoples feelings, obey orders and I am in general a selfless type of person. (See Appendix x for a reduplicate of the Thoms-Kilmann Conflict Mode Questionnaire you took.)It was very difficult to please and satisfy her equivalently because she developed irrational stamps and prejudiced views about me. If being from Poland meant to her that I should be a nanny or cleaner she maybe believed that people of other races or backgrounds are in some way inferior and thusly deserve to be treated as second class. According to Tehrani (1996) the pretermit of self awareness in harassers increases their fears and prejudice. Harassers never feel strong replete to test their views objectively, preferring to live in an irrational world, where they need to continually bind their prejudiced views with biased evidence. To explain even deeper her style I would recite she po rtrayed the actions of a discolourationtizer.Freidson (1983) express that in Erving Goffmans theory of social stigma a stigma is an attribute, behaviour, or reputation which is socially discrediting in a particular way it causes an individual to be mentally classified by others in an undesirable, rejected boss sooner than in an un severaliseed, normal one. In this managers eyes I was different she may not want to combine me because of my nationality, my different accent, my origin.Goffman divides the individuals relation to a stigma into three categories the stigmatized are those who concord the stigma the normals are those who do not bear the stigma and the voguish are those among the normals who are accepted by the stigmatized as wise to their condition. I then represent a stigmatized person, the manager is normal and rest of our group can be seen as wise.Strategic Implications of the problemMy aspect can be seen as a micro problem because it describes a situation in a sm all office and wholly a a couple of(prenominal) people are involved in the conflict. I am the solely person who was aggrieveed and it could be argued that it is difficult to show macro implications from this issue. However, I would like to stress that harassment at the body of work occurs very often and causes a lot of problems. According to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) harassment in the workplace costs employers in the UK more than 2bn per year in purge pay, staff turnover and lower productivity. 19 million working days are lost each year as a direct result of workplace harassment. 1 in 4 people report that they have experienced harassment in the last 5 years. 70% of HR professionals have witnessed or have been aware of harassment in their organisation. Organisations that fail to address the problem of impossible behaviour at workplace pay a heavy cost in terms of handout of staff, burnd innovation, morale and sickness absence. This is in addit ion to the cost of litigation and bad public relations (Tehrani, 1996). My issue did not affect the organisation in a authoritative way, except high staff computer memory within 1 year two office assistants go away the company because of Janes difficult subject.As mentioned before 25% of the population suffer from harassment. By describing my personal experience I raise an issue that affects a lot of people and something that organizations have to deal with. Harassment is related with work relationship one of the main themes which are described in this paper. According to Tehrani (1996) harassment has a number of frequent elements it involves a hurtful behaviour, this behaviour is perennial over a period of time and the person being stung find oneselfs it difficult to defend themselves. People being harassed will in like manner have difficulty in being rational in their thinking, accept the acts or views of a harasser are the views of everyone else. When I was working f or Cheniere I was felling sad, negative and worthless. In addition my feelings were heightened with outbursts of anger, crying, loneliness and hurt. Lack of pleasure in al close everything that I was doing was significant and difficult to cope with. Being humble resulted in the lack of self confidence to assert myself and challenge the unacceptable behaviour of operations manager. It needs to be added that harassment is linked with stress. Guirdham (2002) stated Some of the major effects of stress include sleep trouble, tiredness, being unable to cope well in conflict situations, wanting to be left alone, smoking, drinking and eating too much, being unable to puzzle out or persuade people and finding it difficult to get up in the mornings. I recall that I was often very tired, could not sleep, and did not want to see my friends or family.Some people were asking me why I let her be abusive and rude towards me. The answer is because she had power over me. As I mentioned I held the lowest position in the office and I was supposed to listen to everyone and doing whatever they needed at work. Among French and Ravens (1959) power firsts there is one which can be implemented in this situation coercive power. (Podsakoff and Schriesheim, 1985) Threats and punishment are common tools of coercion. I was often given undesirable tasks by Jane. There is one in particular where she spilled tea on her desk and asked me to clean it. My example demonstrates that this source of power can often lead to problems and in many constituent it involves abuse. Coercive power can cause unhealthy behaviour and dissatisfaction in the workplace. (mindtools.com)From my above evaluation it can be stated that the operations manager was definitely my significant other at that time. She had very strong influence on my self-esteem and my behaviour.Many organisations and their managers and executives are guilty of ignoring, tolerating or sustaining conflicts and harassment (Guirdham, 2002). This educational activity confirms the behaviour of my director who was trying to explain me that I should accept the fact that Jane is generally a difficult person and therefore should not take it personally what she says and how she behaves. Lack of leadership qualities can be seen in my thickenings attitude. A large portion of the existing literature on leadership focuses only on the verifying traits of leaders. However, the so-called dark side of leadership, or negative personal traits of leaders, has received relatively less attention. Also, in practice, leadership is virtuallyly evaluated in terms of the positive traits and strengths of leaders, even though plastered organizational factors and followers characteristics significantly contribute to the effectiveness or ineffectualness of leaders (Toor and Ogunlana, 2009). The director was not an effective leader. A leaderwho lacks character or integrity will not be seen as a competent one. Even though he was intelligent, affable, persuasive, or savvy, he was also prone to rationalizing unethical behaviour. Office harassment is a very unethical issue and should be resolved by a companys leader, but it was not in my case. Moreover leaders not attuned to the needs of the employees are not effective either. Successful leaders focus on workers satisfaction and loyalty. They should find ways to consistently engage them and incorporate them into companys policies and conduct sure they know and obey their code of conduct. If they ignore, mistreat, or otherwise do not observe their employees, they will not be valued for competences. Furthermore good leaders should communicate effectively across mediums, constituencies, environments of course employees. My boss was aware that Janes behavior was harmful but did not react and did not want to be involved in the conflict. This observation can lead to a statement that the director represented a laissez faire leadership style. According to Flynn (2009) this type of a leader describes passive leaders who are reluctant to influence subordinates or give direction. They generally refrain from participating in group or individual decision making and to a large cessation, abdicate their leadership role. Subordinates are given considerable freedom of action and, therefore, seem credibly to maximize their power and influence. Although laissez- faire leadership can be very self-made in some environments where followers are responsible for self-monitoring, problem resolution in my case it was not what I needed. I was looking for for a mediator in my conflict with Jane, someone who can direct and take steps to resolve the problem. From Blake Mouton Managerial Grid perspective, it could be argued that the director represented Impoverished Leadership which is known for creating a work environment that is not satisfying and not motivating. The result is a place of disorganization, dissatisfaction and disharmony. (Rollinson, 2005) My boss had low con cern for employee satisfaction because knowing I was depressed and was in a conflict he was not concerned about it.A major danger of stereotyping is that it can block out accurate science of an individual and lead to potential situation of prejudice or discrimination. This in consequence can build communication barriers. Janes tendency to ascribe negative characteristics to me on the basis of a general categorisation was a modify process of her perception. Her stereotyping process based on my nationality and education had a significant implication to the gloriole in our office and my wellbeing. Her prejudice caused communication problem between us. According to Erven (2008) stereotyping is a barrier to communication when it causes people to act as if they already know the message that is coming from the sender or worse, as if no message is necessary because everybody already knows.People stereotype genders, races, religions, and cultures. They combine them to say things but often incorrectly creating assumptions. Stereotypes develop from reality. Poles slide British jobs became a stereotype because a lot of Poles are miserable and had to learn how to survive and came here to look for a job but they do not deserve to be stereotyped. It might be dead on target that most of Polish women work as nannies or cleaners but, it does not identify me, my needs, and my weaknesses. So if Jane used the stereotypical view of Polish women towards me, she deep in thought(p) who I actually am, as an individual. I wanted to communicate, talk to her and did not want to be lost in the stereotypical concept. People are complex and need to be understood as individuals, not stereotypes. uniqueness is what gets lost in the stereotypes and lack of proper communication. People should listen, understand, consider the unit person, and that requires rejecting the preconceived assumptions, based on the stereotypes that are created and used.Communication is at the heart of many inter personal problems faced by employers.Understanding the communication process and then working at improvement provide a recipe for becoming more effective communicators. Knowing the common barriers to communication is the first step to minimizing their impact. Stereotyping is a barrier to proper communication, it cannot just disrupt communication, it can destroy it.The significance of non-verbal communication and body language need to be evaluated in this report as in my case it was more important than verbal communication. According to Mullins (2005) non-verbal communication includes inferences drawn from posture, gesture, touch, invasion of personal space, extent of eye contact, tone of voice or seventh cranial nerve expression. Very often the operations manger was using proper language and if was not manifest for others to see the conflict between us and her antipathy.Her tone of voice and facial expression were sending messages that I was not accepted and were unwelcomed. Mull ins (2005) adds also that in our face-to face communication with other people the messages about our feelings and attitudes come only 7 per cent from the words we use, 38 per cent from our voice and 55 per cent from body language, including facial expression. Significantly, when body language such as gestures and tone of voice conflicts with the words, greater emphasis is likely to be pose on the non-verbal message. He also suggests that when verbal and non-verbal messages are in conflict (like in my case regarding communication with the operations manager) accepted wisdom is that the non-verbal signals should be the ones to rely on, and that what is not said is frequently louder than what is said, revealing attitudes and feelings in a way words cannot express.Alternative resources for resolving problemLeave the job or stay.People have bad days at work. solely if that bad day is every day, it might be time to consider leaving the job. Some causes of job dissatisfaction are impossi ble to alter, and in this case employees may well be better off making an exit. divergence the job is usually a very difficult decision and can often cause mixed emotions joy because of moving on to something better, mournfulness at losing people we enjoyed work with, relief we dont have to cope with the problem and conflicts anymore. Uncertainty about the coming(prenominal) and new job has usually a big impact on peoples decisions. I was also concerned about my future.Staying with Cheniere was an alternative, but I was concerned how I can change the atmosphere and Janes behaviour. Talking to her or to my boss were the options to rag my work conditions better. Alternatively I could stay with the company and try to accept the environment and ambiance, and try to reduce sensitivity to hostility or displays of prejudice. Mullins (2005) evaluated difficult people Perhaps our faltering to identify, and then directly address, conflict within organisations is based upon the widely hel d belief that conflict is inevitable, negative and unmanageable. There is a tendency to see conflict as a result one persons personality. Conflict may be inevitable, but how dramatically situations could be changed if we could also view it as positive and manageable. What if we think of these situations as raising questions of difference? What if we were to make a prison-breaking away from blaming individuals and their personalities, recognizing instead that it is through normal human interaction that outbound expressions of difference are produced? Unfortunately coping with difficult people is not one of my strong points.Another option was to beat her at her own game. Act like her, be unsympathetic, telling colleagues how unfair she is. This option would be very difficult because she held higher position and therefore had power and because I respect people it wound be something against my values and beliefs.Choice of optionI was trying to resolve the problem. I talked to the dire ctor but was do by and was told that I should accept the situation as it is and accept Janes behaviour because she is difficult and she is not going to change her attitude. Another advice was that I should be less emotional and try to be mentally stronger. He did not wish to speak to Jane to ask to change her attitude and help her to cope with her hostile behaviour. Tehrani (1996) argue that the role of leader in developing the skills which enable people to communicate in an open and assertive manner is perhaps one of the most effective tools in addressing conflicts. The support of an assertive and caring manager is an important aspect of rehabilitating a harasser. Harassers need support when they are developing the new skills and behaviors in communication which will replace the harassing behaviours. I also talked to Jane but I was told that I read her intentions badly. She was trying to tell me that there was no issue between us and I should not chase away her time for such con versations.Rationale for choiceBecause I had an interesting job, was agreeable with my compensation I did not want to leave thus I was trying to find a resolution. I was not accepted by one of the co-workers but I did not want to be a victim of harassment. I was trying to be a survivor. According to Tehrani (1996) victims of harassment frequently express the view that there is little they can do to prevent the harassment taking place. They have no choice but to put up with what is being done to them. This perception of lack of personal control or power must be changed if the harassee is ever to make sense of what has happened to them. Survivors, on the other hand, are able to begin to make choices and decisions about what they want to do to stop or resolve the harassment. Survivors of harassment take an active part in deciding how they would like things to be handled when resolving their problems. They are keen to take responsibility for making things happen, rather than behaving p assively, allowing others, however well meaning, to take over control. One of the main skills survivors of harassment learn is to be assertive in expressing what they want and do not want to happen during the harassment investigation to be able to say yes or no regardless of the wishes of others. Assertiveness is also one of the most important skills needed to prevent harassees becoming victims of harassment in the future. in the long run the survivors of harassment are able to look forward to the future, a future without harassment, while the victims concentrate on the harassment itself, rather than on how they can change things to prevent the harassment occurring again. Although I was trying to help myself, was looking for help from the directors and also arranged a meeting with Jane, nothing changed. carrying into action of OptionI eventually decided to leave. It took me 2 weeks to find some other job. The difference in the working environment was immense. New co-workers were p leasant and friendly. I am glad that I took control over the situation and left the company. I will never fully forget this experience but sometimes we should experience and accept the extremes, because if the contrast is lost, we lose appreciation.Time for instruction executionI was working for this company for 5 months before handing in my resignation. refinementIn recent years there has been an increasing recognition of the harm that could be done to individuals who become the victims of harassment or bullying. Although there have been significant moves to introduce legislation and guidelines that deal with the introduction of organizational polity and procedures on harassment and bullying, the occurrence of harassment is still common in many British organizations. My case in this paper can be perceived as a representation of this problem for many organizations. This is not an easy issue to deal with for mangers, people who cause harassment and most of all for people who suffer from hostile behavior. Background and causes of such conflicts are often implicit and not easy to resolve. Understanding the communication process and communication barriers is important to effectively control the problem. Leadership skills and appropriate use of power can be crucial.