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Local authority social services department
(Details have been changed in this account
to preserve confidentiality.)
It was the spread of a dispute between
two assistant directors in a local authority social services
department that led to the involvement of Mediation at Work.
The performance of the whole department was being undermined
by the lack of communication and trust between the two, who
were both members of the senior management team.
Initial private meetings were held with
each manager to explain about mediation and to discuss their
situation. In these meetings, both expressed the feeling that
their colleague did not appreciate the pressures they were
working under, and that they were unsupported. They were also
both vulnerable to criticism of their performance and were
often defensive. And it also became clear that each had markedly
different ways of communicating. One preferred ad hoc face-to-face
meetings, while the other liked using email. Each found the
other’s approach difficult to handle.
At a subsequent round table meeting, each
explained their perspective and how the other’s behaviour
was affecting them. Through this, they both gained insights
into how they themselves were contributing to the poor atmosphere.
It also became clear that the behaviour of a third party -
the director of social services - was aggravating the situation.
As a result, both parties agreed on a
number of ways to change their working relationship, including:
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regular
meetings to appraise each other of progress, new initiatives
and current pressures
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how
to jointly manage their director more effectively to ensure
they were not ‘played off’ against each other
in future.
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Both were visibly relieved and energised
by outlining a way forward. As they found ways to communicate
more easily and to draw on each other’s skills and experiences,
senior managers quickly noticed the knock-on effect of their
improved relationship on the morale and performance of their
colleagues. The pressure that the dispute had put on them
both was lifted, and one party sent Mediation at Work a postcard
stating, ‘There are no answers in life; only further
questions’. On the back, he simply wrote, "Thank
you".
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studies index.
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