IT Manager Vs CEO: The Battle to Upgrade the OS - Essay Sample

Introduction

I recount being an IT manager in our firm and the major conflict that I had with the Chief Executive Officer of the company was that the general operating speed of the machines was very slow and this was costing the company expenditure costs and reduced revenues in the market. On my view, as the IT manager, I had protested earlier over the renewal of the Operating system of our computers because they were outdated and not as fast as the current ones in the market. The chief executive officer had severally relented on this quest, and that is what had led to the lower speed of the machines and reduced revenues generally in sales (Engels, J. J. 2007)

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The first step I initiated to resolve the conflict was to acknowledge the chief executive's officer's emotional reaction and the reason why he felt so, he is the head of the company, and therefore any failure in any part of the system lies upon him. Secondly, I had to explain to him the matter at hand to present to him a different view and present him with possibilities that would help solve the issue immediately. I explained to him the importance of updating machines, especially the operating system as that was my specialty. My actions to resolving this conflict were practical because the CEO saw the rationale behind my reasoning and therefore, I had a better view of the argument, and consequently he instructed for the purchase of updated machines (Kim, Y., & Silver, R. E. 2016).

Looking at the conversation and the conflict with the CEO, it was a conflict that needed an in-depth understanding of the CEO's approach, and I was the one to ensure that he understood what brought up the battle. The conflict enlightened me to approach conflicting communication with a justifiable basis by which your colleague will be able to reason fully with you and have a better understanding of the matter the same way that you do. The strategies that I would employ to improve my communication skills include learning thoroughly how to manage self. Managing self involves having the capacity to evaluate and transform the various feelings and thoughts that could hinder one's ability to reason calmly whenever conflicts arise (Edmondson, A. C., & Smith, D. M. 2006).

The other strategy is by understanding the means to manage conversations which is the ability to channel conflicted reactions into fruitful discussions, one through which divisive and emotional topics can be harnessed to better relationships and decisions. These strategies would yield better results because they provide means to the evaluation of every step that can n cause a heated debate that might lead to different conversations (Palmer, P. J. 2017)

Today if I were in the same situation, I would employ a calm and not harsh reaction to the conflict but rather face it with better approaches and means to make my boss understand better the situation. Managing conversations and relationships involves understanding the root of the conflict and having better ways of solving them instead of having a heated debate. In her virtual setting, I believe stating the facts, and the basis of growth would be the best approach compared to the face to face setting where it would demand that you convince them otherwise and try to manage their anger and feelings. The situation in a virtual environment would be different from the face to face because in the case of face to face, there are no emotional feelings that can be seen and managed compared to the face to face setting where one has to ensure that they engage in leading the conversation by first operating the emotions and feelings.

References

Edmondson, A. C., & Smith, D. M. (2006). Too hot to handle? How to manage relationship conflict. California management review, 49(1), 6-31.

Engels, J. J. (2007). Delivering Difficult Messages. Journal of Accountancy, 204(1), 50.

Kim, Y., & Silver, R. E. (2016). Provoking reflective thinking in post-observation conversations. Journal of Teacher Education, 67(3), 203-219.

Palmer, P. J. (2017). The courage to teach a guide for reflection and renewal. John Wiley & Sons.