Lesson 8 - How to Manage Conflict Flashcards
to choose the best
to pick out all the best or most desirable ones from a group
TO CHERRY-PICK
Recruiters from the consulting firm always arrive early in the fall at Harvard Business School, with the goal of cherry-picking the top students.
1) decided in advance; very clear
2) not original; boring
CUT-AND-DRIED
- The magazine publisher’s lawyer said, “Our case against Pirates.com is cut-and-dried. By posting articles from our magazine on their website, they’re violating our copyright.”
- During the annual company holiday party, the president gave the same cut-and-dried speech he gives every year.
to visit or call a current or potential customer
TO CALL ON
Jeff arrives in his New York office at 6 a.m. every day so he has enough time to call on his customers in Europe.
to be unwilling to accept or put up with
TO HAVE ZERO TOLERANCE FOR
When two employees at the pizzeria were caught throwing mushrooms at each other, the manager fired them both, saying, “I have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior.”
fighting among members of the same group, division, team, or unit
INFIGHTING
There’s so much infighting in the marketing department, no wonder all of their projects are behind schedule.
a person who is honest and has high moral standards
STRAIGHT SHOOTER
Our vice president is a straight shooter who always says what she really thinks.
to get involved when two people are arguing about something
TO GET IN THE MIDDLE
Our VP of marketing says we should release the new laundry detergent in September while the VP of research and development says we should keep testing it until December. The company president refuses to get in the middle.
a struggle for power or control; a fight between two people or groups for control of something
TURF WAR
The manufacturing department and the marketing department both want to be in charge of the new product development process. They’re in a turf war.
to handle arguments in a fair and efficient way
TO MANAGE CONFLICT
Whenever employees at Donox are having trouble with their co-workers, they go to Ellen, the HR director. She’s good at managing conflict.
to solve the problem
to end a disagreement
TO WORK IT OUT
When the HR director realized that Julie and her boss were having problems, she offered to help them work it out.
to allow someone to take advantage of you; to be so nice or polite that someone else benefits and you lose
TO LET SOMEONE WALK ALL OVER YOU
Your boss asked you to spend the weekend shopping for his Christmas gifts? You shouldn’t let him walk all over you.
to set the rules
to make the decisions
TO CALL THE SHOTS
You may disagree with him, but as the president of the company, Andy calls the shots around here.
to be fair or honest in business dealings
to follow the standards
TO PLAY BY THE RULES
The drugstore chain often charges customers higher prices than the price posted on the shelf sign. They don’t play by the rules.
