This is the second in a two-part Business English Podcast lesson on resolving conflict, in which we’ve been focusing on solving everyday disagreements in the office. Ben, a new training specialist at a manufacturing company, feels that he is doing an unfair share (that is, too much) of the work in his department. Gerry, Ben’s manager, talks with him to solve the problem.
In the first episode, we studied how Gerry opened the discussion in an informal, non-threatening way, and we looked at how he listened actively to Ben to win his trust.
In this episode, we’ll pay attention to how Gerry and Ben work together to come up with a solution. In particular, we’ll focus on how they state common goals, raise concerns, and agree action.
Where we left off last time, Gerry had just asked a question to resolve the conflict: Gerry wants to know what Ben would suggest doing to fix the situation.
Listening Questions
1) What solution does Ben propose?
2) In which area does Ben feel he could make a real contribution?
3) What action do Ben and Gerry agree on?
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