Situation 1
Juile:'Nick, can I have a quick word?'
Nick:'Yeah, sure.'
Juile:'I've just spoken to Sally from the Finance Department. She told me that you refused to do a report for her.'
Nick:'I didn't refuse, I told her that it's not my responsibility to do the report.'
Juile:'I appreciate that, but it's a very urgent report and it wouldn't have taken you that long to write.'
Nick:'She didn't explain that to me. She only told me that I had to finish it by the end of today. Bear in mind that I'm really busy at the moment with writing the annual sales presentation. I explained to her that, but she didn't seem to care. I don't know what else I could have done.'
Juile:'You do realise that she has told the director of the Finance Department about this. He's not very happy with us.'
Nick:'I'm sorry to have put you in this position, but what would you have done in my position?'
Juile:'Sally mentioned that you and her had a relationship last year that didn't end well.'
Nick:'Are you suggesting that I didn't do the report because I have a personal problem with Sally?'
Juile:'No, I'm not. But make sure that if in the future they ask for a report to be done, you speak to me before saying anything. Is that OK?'
Nick:'I will.'
Situation 2
Geoff:'It's been brought to my attention that there's a problem with the Waterford project.'
Joe:'What is it concerning?'
Geoff:'I received a complaint from the company's owner about the behaviour of a member of your team working at their office, Peter.'
Joe:'It's the first I have heard of this. What has he done?'
Geoff:'He has arrived at the customer's office a couple of hours late every morning since last week.'
Joe:'I can explain what happened. Although he didn't arrive at their office until about 11 in the morning, he was working on the project from home before he arrived there.'
Geoff:'Well, the client was unaware of this. Put yourself in their shoes, what impression do you think this gives them of our company? It doesn't look very professional, does it?'
Joe:'I'm really sorry, it was my mistake. I should have told the client about it. It slipped my mind. I was going to tell them, but I forgot. What would you like me to do?'
Geoff:'From now, Peter needs to be in the client's office from 9am until at least 5pm every day until the end of the project.'
Joe:'OK, I'll tell him. I will make sure it never happens again. Do you want me to explain to the client what happened?'
Geoff:'No, I'll do it.'
Joe:'I'm sorry to have put you in this position.'
Geoff:'Don't worry, it's not a big problem.'