Who's Doing Your Job?

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A common problem bedevils any of us who "wear two hats" — inherent conflict between the roles we play. If your job requires that you play two or more roles that inherently conflict, it makes sense to ask "Who's doing your job?" Is one of the roles dominant? If you can achieve the right balance, you can be more effective at all of the roles your job requires.

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et's say you run a small business. You have a CEO, a CFO, a VP of Sales and Marketing, a VP of Human Resources, and so on. For many small businesses, all of these offices are filled by one and the same person — "me." For other companies, there might be several people involved, but some people might still be responsible for multiple roles. Whenever one person must satisfy the demands of more than one role, there is a potential for inner conflict.

Or suppose you are a project manager, and at the same time, you are the supervisor of some of the project people. As the project manager, you might want them to work in an unhealthy way. As supervisor, you might want to urge them to work more sensibly. The best fix for this problem is organizational — don't put people in such situations. But what do you do if you are there? How can you be sure which part of you is doing your job? For a more complete discussion of the issues, see my essay "Who's Doing Your Job?"

Program structure and content

In one full-day session, we explore the structural sources of inner conflict, and examine why we are so often unaware of it. We'll use techniques pioneered by Virginia Satir that externalize the conflicting parts inside us. The externalization can be accomplished in a variety of ways. Examples include modeling, role-playing and journaling. One of my clients even uses poetry. All of these techniques share a common objective: to give you better vantage points from which to observe your own inner conflict, by moving the conflict out into the open. The method is highly interactive, and it has great potential for removing the obstacles to your own success.

Using these techniques, we'll find answers to questions such as:

• How can I manage my inner conflict?
• How can I detect it, deal with it, or better, resolve it?
• How can an organization avoid placing people in roles with inherent conflicts?

Each simulation is oriented to the project environment, yet is simple enough to provide safe and effective learning opportunities. Our techniques are derived from the techniques of Gerald Weinberg, Jean McLendon, and Virginia Satir.

Learning model

In the project environment, we usually apply new knowledge in situations that have little emotional content. But knowledge about how we manage inner conflict is most needed in highly charged situations. That's why we use a learning model that differs from the one often used for technical content.

Our learning model makes the principles of human dynamics accessible even during moments of stress. Using a mix of presentation, simulation, group discussion, and metaphorical team problems, we make available to participants the resources they need to make new, more constructive choices even in tense situations.

Target audience

Leaders, managers, project managers and project team members.

Program duration

Available formats range from 50 minutes to one full day. The longer formats allow for more coverage or more material, more experiential content and deeper understanding of issues specific to audience experience.

At this time, there are no public events scheduled for this program. But if you would like to observe the program, I might be able to arrange an opportunity with a current client. Contact me for details.