[Writer’s Name]
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 4
- 2
- 1
- 2
- 4
- 3
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 3
- 4
Collaborating: 8
Competing: 10
Avoiding: 9
Harmonizing: 10
Compromising: 10
A1: I am a blend of three styles as indicated by the quiz results above. I display competing, harmonizing and sometimes, compromising styles while managing conflicts. But the most dominant of these is probably the competing style because I believe in delivering results and looking at the bigger picture. My approach to some situations may offend some people but I prefer to get things properly rather than worrying about what everyone might think.
The style that is least characteristic of me is the collaborating style, which I accept is a weakness. I should invest more energy and time in deliberating what the other party wants in order to forge long-term relationships. Otherwise, this may create problems for me both socially as well as professionally in the long-run and in the greater scheme of things.
A2: In the past my style of managing conflict used to be harmonizing mostly, but that did not get me anywhere. People would get advantage of me easily and I would never get a chance to express my ideas or feelings, and that put me in the back foot most of the time. Thus, I decided to take matters in my own hands and deal with people the way they deserved. Not everyone is the same and not everyone needs to be treated the same way. Thus, for the cunning and stubborn ones, it was important to adopt the competing style. For the harder ones to crack, wherein advantage lied, I had to be compromising, and for the really powerful but beneficial in the long-run, harmonizing style is very important. At the end of the day, it is all about keeping an eye on the prize and adapting accordingly.
A3: My blend of styles is very important to be implemented especially when I am the team leader in group projects. As a team leader, you need to delegate work properly, mentor them, work equally efficiently and make sure that the deadlines are met. As it is known by many that in group projects in the undergraduate, there are three kinds of people in a group: the very efficient ones who will always do good work on time; those who need pushing but will deliver good work and those who will not turn in work no matter what you do. Thus, when I was leading my Marketing Management group project at the end of the term, we were very tight on time and my group members were not cooperating except one of the four. I was harmonizing initially, but that clearly wasn’t getting us anywhere, so I decided to adapt the competing style and got work done. I told them I would rate everyone honestly according to their efforts for the group appraisal, especially if we get a bad grade. That set them right in an instant and they all turned in their best work since the next day. I believed that had I opted for a collaborative style here, people would have taken advantage of it and made excuses just to dump work on others, but I did not let that happen. I made them realize their loss and in the end, we all got rewarded for our efforts.
