Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts

I have been working at a pharmacy as part time sales assistant for a few years and I have seen a fair share of interpersonal conflicts that arise between some of my colleagues and the pharmacist. Since Sunday is an off day for the pharmacist, I never really get to work with her but almost every colleague that I worked with, often complained of the ill treatment they experienced. 

The most brought up issue was the blatant favouritism shown towards some of the staff, who complained of having their every action closely monitored by the pharmacist as though they were incompetent and distrustful. Other staffs who are clearly in good terms with pharmacist however, do not share the same problem which consequently prompted gossips that they have been trying to win favours through unscrupulous methods. Personally, I cannot solely judge her based on my colleagues’ grievances as I did not see the incidents myself. The pharmacist probably did so to ensure that mistakes are avoided although her method is left to be desired.

The only thing I can do is to console my colleagues and advised them to do their job honestly in the hope of  gaining the pharmacist’s trust. Eventually, some could no longer put up with the micro managing and aired their discontent which often ended in a heated argument resulting in either having their complaints dismissed or being transferred to another outlet. Therefore, without having to resort to these outcomes, what can be done by both parties so as to maintain a harmonious working environment?

Effective communication- Why it is important to me

As I went through the various topics and skills that we are going to cover in the coming lessons, I began to realize that this module is not merely about learning to create resume/cv, proposal letter or the highly anticipated mock interviews. Like many 4th year students, these skills are much sought after to get ourselves that 'dream' job. However, I believe there is more to that and effective communication will play a major role in that respect. Some of the topics that caught my eye are the recently covered communication and listening skills, the 7Cs of writing as well as the preparation for oral presentation.  

Getting the job and maintaining it are two different matters altogether which explains why effective communication is important to me specifically with regards to the latter. For instance, one of my weaknesses is that I require a considerable amount of time to adapt nicely and warming up to new colleagues. Thus, through effective communication, I can not only pass the message clearly but also engage in a meaningful conversation to create a positive lasting impression.  With the confidence in doing so, I would also hope to be more vocal in voicing out my opinions. Besides verbal communication, I can also aim to improve on expressing my ideas in writing which I believe is still not up to scratch. Finally and most importantly, however is the need for me to conquer my fear of public speaking which is plain for all to see during past oral presentations.