The Cohesion Group Summary

One communication problem that comes up between Gordon and Gil is that they have two different communication styles during their meeting about the safety memo. Gordon has more of a private communication style while Gil has a dominant communication style. People with a private communication style tend to be more productive when allowed to work alone, are uncomfortable around people, and tend to avoid conflict with others. People with a dominant communication style is seen as authoritarian and demanding, motivates others through criticism, and handles conflict by force and making all the decisions themselves. A solution that The Cohesion Group came up with is having other co workers with different styles of communication, like Bob or Joan,

be involved in the communication process between Gordon and Gil. A key to good communication is a flexibility of communication styles within the conversation. Having others in the conversation would give Gordon, who has a private communication style, more freedom to speak and give his ideas without Gil shutting him down and dominating the conversation. Having other people that have either open or sociable communication style would facilitate the conversation more and lead to more ideas being brought up by others and not just Gil. Implementing this idea would be a relatively easy task. When Gordon and Gil are meeting about the safety memo, make them have group meetings that include Bob and/or Joan to mediate the discussion. Considering the fact that Bob has an open communication style, he would be able to use his participation to handle any conflict and communicate the expectations of the meeting between them. Having Bob mediating the conversation would lead to a better discussion and will solve the communication problem of having two different communication strategies.
Another communication problem that happens between Gordon and Gil is that Gil uses a competition / suppression conflict strategy during his meeting with Gordon.

According to the article, An investigation into the relationships between psychological sex role, management experience, and preferred interpersonal conflict style /strategy in the workplace, a suppression conflict strategy “is based on the view that conflict ‘must be brought under control before it becomes unmanageable”’(Eckstat, 2002, p. 10). It is mostly used when a party needs an immediate decision, expects and appreciates a show of force, and the power between the parties are clear. One solution that The Cohesion Group came up with is having Gil try a different conflict strategy when he is reaching out to Gordon. A conflict strategy that Gil can try when talking to Gordon would be compromise. Compromise is “finding a middle ground between two opposed alternatives” where “the final position does not meet the full requirements of either alternative, but it does provide a middle position that people with different positions find better to accept than to retain their own position and to continue the argument” (Eckstat, 2002, p. 10). Compromise is mainly used when both parties stand to gain an advantage. The Cohesion Group came with this solution because Gil used a suppression conflict strategy with Gordon and it did not work. Trying a different one might solve the communication issue between them. To implement this plan, the Cohesion Group would show Gil several other conflict strategies and recommend to him to use the compromise strategy when talking with Gordon. If Gil compromises with Gordon, Gordon would be able to speak his mind freely without feeling overwhelmed by

Gil.