Problem solving is the ability to work through problems by using critical thinking skills to arrive at a solution (Janowiak, III, The Conover Company, & St. Norbert College, 2019). Being able to solve conflicts in the workplace is a great way to show leadership. Numerous issues emerge at work environments because of misguided thinking and misconstruing thus there is a requirement for critical thinking (Baldwin, Rubin and Bommer, 2013). There are many ways issues at the workplace can be handled. For one, you must be able to acknowledge what is going on with your employees and the work environment. As a leader, fairness and equality is extremely important.
Allowing everyone to express their views concerning the problem lets them know that everyone is being heard and that you are not being bias. Once the issue is discovered, you will be able to know the differences that the workers have and a better idea as to how you can overcome the problems that they may have over each other. Another way is by coming up with possible solutions to ensure these problems are resolved. Before jumping into major decisions, a leader must come up with temporary solutions. Thinking things through allows you, as a leader, to be able to put all things into perspective. After developing a couple of temporary solutions, you can then implement or pick the best solution from the temporary ones (Parrott, 2009). As a leader you must determine the best solution that will resolve the issues amongst employees. The final solution should appear to be fair and considerate and employees should be able to apply it to the issue.
When an individual has poor judgement, it is when the individual fails to use sound judgment about the things and people around them as well a lack of value and consideration. This prevents a person from performing admirably in their everyday obligations. There are several ways in which people exercise poor judgment in the workplace. One of them is an inability to control emotions. Some people transfer their problems to work. This causes disagreement among the workers and the employers which leads to poor work performance because of disunity caused by lack of sharing ideas. Inability to control emotions leads to impulsive decision making (Parrott, 2009). A person only caring about their own accomplishments and their goals are one of the ways that people exercise poor judgment at work. Some people would rather tear someone else down than to help build someone else up. This makes them be famous and receive praises which are supposed to be for other people (Baldwin, Rubin & Bommer, 2013). When coworkers lack communication, they are showing that they have poor judgement as an employee and a person. Workers sometimes fail to communicate with each other due to some issues among them. When there is poor communication the employees submit incomplete or poor work as well as giving the wrong impression of themselves or others. Self-centeredness is major way that a person can appear to have poor judgement. This causes them to be acclaimed and get acclaims which should be for others (Baldwin, Rubin and Bommer, 2013).
I would say, I have experienced a few judgment mistakes of my own. One of them is being too in touch with my feelings and not being able to control them. I have encountered poor judgement from professionals in the medical field. Once I visited the emergency room with a fever and sore throat. The doctor ran no test and jokingly said that I was faking. He and his nurse argued in front of me about rather or not I should have a test done. I visited my family doctor and learned that I had the flu. The doctor was very inconsiderate of both his nurse and I. That situation possibly created tention among the doctor and his nurse which probably made the workplace atmosphere tense and stressful.
There are a lot of factors in the work environment that can lead to poor judgement. Some people tend to take their problems with them wherever they go. If someone had car trouble, spilled coffee on their favorite blouse and locked her keys in the car, this can transpire negative energy to the workplace. Stress causes employees to feel uneasiness and creates poor work execution and this energy could easily be transferred to others, basically creating a domino effect of negative energy and poor work performance. Rivalry becomes sometime rough especially knowing that employees want to be recognized as the best. Employees can go as low as refusing to help others to get an experience like them. This cause not only that person but the entire department to eventually suffers. Friendly competition is great to have and initiates the drive amongst coworkers but when it becomes unfriendly and spiteful it becomes a real problem. Competitions make workers uncooperative since everyone wants their work to be better than the next. When they become uncooperative, some workers are creating tension in the workplace. Insisting on personality and specialization is also one way of minimizing poor judgment at work (Parrott, 2009). In conclusion, poor judgment in the workplace can cause a great deal of loss than gain. When a real leader implements effective problem-solving in their work as well the employees and the workplace, it shows. Effective problem solving creates a better workplace and eliminates future problems that arise from poor judgement.
References
- Baldwin, T. T., Bommer, W., & Rubin, R. S. (2013). Managing organizational behavior: What great managers know and do. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
- Janowiak, A., III, A., The Conover Company, & St. Norbert College. (2019, September 30). Teamwork: Solving Problems. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://www.conovercompany.com/teamwork-solving-problems/
- Kerns, C. (2017, October 30). Why Good Leaders Do Bad Things - A Peer-Reviewed Academic Articles: GBR. Retrieved April 17, 2020, from https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2010/08/why-good-leaders-do-bad-things/
- Parrott, R. (2009). The longview: Lasting strategies for rising leaders. Colorado Springs: David C Cook.