for JoyMercy

You have probably conducted a meeting at some time in your life – perhaps at school, a religious organization, or at work. You can probably imagine what it is like to prepare for the meeting, set aside time that everyone can meet, and then try to conduct it. The purpose of this activity is to apply correctly the key concepts, principles, and suggestions from Chapter 2 to the case study. 

Read the following conflict narrative and the directions that follow it.

“After retiring from the military, I got a job working with a consulting firm that had contracts with the Department of Defense. They were in the process of moving our offices from a building at one end of the city to the other, so things were a little chaotic. My department was a small one, so the new conference room was rather large for our needs. However, I was trying to conduct a meeting when a guy hired to help with the move came in to replace the computer. He didn’t explain why he was there. I had to ask him. When he told us, I then asked him if it could wait until after we were through with our meeting. He said, ‘No’ he couldn’t because he was on a schedule. I said, ‘Okay,’ rather reluctantly. He left, and then he came back about five minutes later. I said nothing. When he came back the third time (all the while making noise and making it difficult for us to continue with the meeting), I finally said, “This just isn’t going to work, and I must ask you to stop coming in. We can’t get anything done.” He replied, “I’m having a bad day, and this has to be done now.” I got up and positioned myself between him and the equipment, and told him,” Leave now.” He did. My boss called me the next day and accused me of ‘going nuclear’ on the guy! He said he didn’t know now when our meeting room was going to get upgraded.