The following scenario took place after a national day concert in my secondary school. Both the chairperson of the event planning committee, Hui Qi, and one other member, Ming, were involved in this conflict.
At the backstage of the concert hall, the teacher-in-charge praised Hui Qi for being a detailed and competent chairperson who organized the event very well. Hui Qi boastfully said that it was due to her leadership that this event was successful. Upon hearing these, Ming felt jealous. He felt that he was not recognized despite having done eighty percent of the work, such as seeking sponsorship, liaising with different organisations and working out the programme details. On the other hand, Hui Qi had claimed credit for all the work despite contributing only to the main layout for the concert hall, coming on the day of the rehearsals and for the actual event. Ming then confronted Hui Qi to ask her why she took all credit for herself. Hui Qi claimed that she had the authority to do so as she was the chairperson of this committee. However, Ming felt that she did not deserve this. He felt that, even as a chairperson, she should not claim the committee’s work all to herself. With none willing to give in, an argument broke out between both parties.
This conflict arose not just because Hui Qi was being insensitive to others by claiming all the credit for the work, but also because she did not contribute her fair share of work. The latter could be main reason why Ming felt unfair. One way this conflict could be avoided was to make sure that all the team members were given fair distribution of work and that everyone should be recognized for the work they did.
Have you encountered such a situation before and how did you resolve the conflict?
I think a similar, albeit typical situation I have encountered is while doing project work. Whether with or without fair distribution of work, there are always some people who do more and some less. Yet in the end, all group members receive the same grade.
ReplyDeleteTeachers often try to provide a fairer assessment by asking all members to fill in evaluation forms of other groupmates, so there is at least a direct channel of feedback in case of problems. One could either make use of this to complain about a groupmate that did not do any work, or simply pretend that all went well and write the perfunctory comments about how each groupmate contributed fairly and how everyone cooperated with no problems.
Personally I usually take the defensive rather than the offensive route, and keep my feelings to myself rather than have a conflict blow out.
For the situation you wrote about, if I were Ming, I would probably not pursue the issue. However, another way of dealing with it would be to speak to the rest of the committee to see what they think, and if they agree that Hui Qi had not contributed her fair share, they could all speak to the teacher-in-charge and explain the real situation.
Hi Seow Peng,
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs a form of acknowledgement or recognition for the hard work. As a leader, Hui Qi should have acknowledge the contributions of each and every member in the team, no matter how small or great their contributions were. If I were not recognised by the leader of the committee due to her pride, I might just leave the committee and stop associating myself with that person. If this is not possible, I would just do my part and minimise personal contact with him/her.
At the same time, I also agree with Jin Rou. If there were many other students who felt that they have been treated unfairly by the leader, they could feedback to the teacher-in-charge collectively. Having a "higher authority" to intervene and mediate is usually a better solution when the other party (in this case Hui Qi) refuses to give in, or when the situation gets out of hand.
Just my two cents worth.
Yong Qiang
As a committee, teamwork counts and each and every effort should be recognised. Furthermore, since Ming had contributed to eighty percent of the work, Hui Qi should have mentioned the effort of Ming to the teacher-in-charge.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Ming could have pointed out that she was given too much workload before the start of the planning of the concert. She could have raised the issue beforehand so that there will be a better distribution of work. In this way, the conflict could have been avoided.
Also, the secretary of the event planning committee should update the teacher-in-charge after every meeting so that the teacher would be informed of the work distribution.