Fab Avt 4233 Finals Module No. 02
Fab Avt 4233 Finals Module No. 02
Fab Avt 4233 Finals Module No. 02
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AVT 4233
AVIONICS MAINTENANCE SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
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Note: Contents of this module are lifted/taken from the references cited on page 28.
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Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
Fernando Air Base, Lipa City, Batangas
FINALS (RESIDENTIAL)
LEARNING MODULE 02:
HANDLING A PROBLEM
CORRECTLY
2
TABLE
OF
C O N T E N T S
4 Organizational Problems in
workplace
20 minutes
14 Understanding
Conflict 50 minutes
3
Organizational Problems in the
Workplace
problems intensify. Small business owners and managers typically face one or more of
the underlying causes of these problems are the lack of open, flowing communications
trauma, or company structure oriented. Management must learn the cause of the
problem and who or what keeps "fueling the fire." If there is no clear trigger, the
agreed goal. Should they experience personal disconnect with other team members, the
team can become non-functional. These issues often stem from organizational or
goals. Team leaders must offer constant feedback and foster cohesiveness.
When facing team issues, managers must diagnose the problem and take
Organization-wide Problems
organization if you don't take immediate corrective action. You must avoid this
situation at all costs, as it often results in your staff forming two groups, both at odds
with each other. Should all your avoidance actions fail, be ready to take much more
dramatic corrective measures. You must prevent these problems from negatively
changing the corporate culture you have carefully cultivated to make your company
•The leader or leaders rarely discuss or chart a deliberate direction or strategy for the
future, or they fail to communicate a coherent message about the strategy to all
•There are many activities to execute and the organization lacks the alignment needed
to gain the traction necessary to help the organization transform, adapt, and shape the
short, too many functions and individuals lack an understanding of how they fit or why
they matter. As a result, people become complacent, content to just show up, take care
of today’s business, and hope that someone is in the wheelhouse steering the ship.
2. Difficulty blending multiple personalities into a
get two things right backgrounds, opinions, views, and experiences can
– having a clear cause challenges for teams. This creates a unique set
direction on what of potential issues and opportunities.
you are trying to do
and bringing great
people who can If you can get people to come into
– then you can do team of leaders can produce amazing results, take on
pretty well the demands of customers, and meet the threat of
hardworking people who have good intentions. However, despite their experience in the
industry, their technical talent, and the subject-matter expertise that many leaders bring
Nearly everyone we meet, including senior leaders, has at least one (and
in some cases, multiple) leadership weaknesses. Sometimes leaders are aware of their
behavioral shortcomings; in other cases, they are blind to their leadership deficits.
People inside the organization are often afraid to candidly say what they think, and
helping enormously successful leaders with their Achilles heels can be tricky.
unique mix of skills. Leaders have to utilize their natural strengths, but they also have to
search relentlessly for ways to close their own performance gaps and improve their
behavior.
severely limited. In short, if leaders don’t constantly raise their game, they will suck all
their power to avoid confronting others and holding them accountable or they relish any
opportunity to chew people out, belittle them, and crush their spirits.
problem was a lack of honest, constructive, and open dialogue about the team members’
destructive that we prepare material on this topic prior to any work we do with individual
Many teams try to muddle through this somehow, enduring the bully or
People often tell us that they fear reprisal or retaliation if they open up—
but the reality is that leaders can’t execute on their strategies, lower costs, or effectively
launch new processes or services when people fail to communicate with constructive
•Avoidance
•Bartering
•Emotional reactions
Principles to Help:
Pay attention to your emotions and how they influence you. Realize that emotions
are part of the workplace and that negative emotions can fuel the conflict.
Acknowledge your emotion and then determine its source. Is it based on a bad
based on something you have no control over? Take the time to deescalate before
moving forward.
remember how you respond to a situation rather than what happened. While you often
do not have control of many situations, you can choose how to respond to others to help
reduce work conflict and stress. By responding appropriately to a conflict situation, you
time to organize your thoughts. Take the time to understand and be clear about what
your real concerns. Ask yourself, “What is the underlying reason or the ‘why’ behind
what I want?”
Listen, Reflect, Inquire. Do you have enough time to listen? Is the setting appropriate?
Make good eye contact and keep your facial and body expressions in check. Listening
is hard when emotions are high. Cool down first. Do not listen only to hear what you
expect the other person to say or to confirm your viewpoint. Listen with an open mind.
Help the other person feel heard. Empathize. Ask open ended questions to gather
information.
and clarify your issues, feelings, or opinions. “I feel frustrated when you come in late
because I am not able to end my shift on time,” rather than “You are always late.” “I”
messages place the responsibility on you and include three components: 1) your
impact/consequence from your perspective. “You” messages focus the blame on the
other person and they are likely to elicit a negative or defensive response.
Frame the issue in terms of interests. Frame the discussion by being direct about your
interests. Ask powerful questions to better define the problem for the two of you to address
together. The best questions are open-ended questions rather than questions that require a
“yes” or “no” reply or a short answer. Good questions include “What would that look like?”
“How would that work in this situation?” “How do you want to move forward?”
Focus on what you can change – the future. Discussion about the past and/or arguing
about examples may be necessary for understanding, but it is not to convince the other
person you are right or to defend yourself. Focus on how you can both work more
Recognize that other viewpoints are possible and likely. Although you feel differently
about the situation, the other person’s feelings are real and legitimate to them. Denying their
existence is likely to escalate the situation. It is difficult to find solutions without agreement
on the problem. If you do not understand the other person’s viewpoint, you run the risk of
not solving the right problem which could make the conflict worse.
Brainstorm creative options. By involving the other person in resolving the conflict, you
gain his or her commitment and develop a stronger working relationship. Being open-
minded to solutions expands the universe that can bring you relief.
Understanding Conflict Handling Styles
evaluate how we respond. Each of us has a predominant conflict style. We can gain a
better understanding of the impact that our personal conflict style has on other people.
With a better understanding, you can make a conscious choice on how to respond to
developed the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, have identified five styles—
style is inherently right or wrong, but one or more styles could be inappropriate or
1. Competing
competitive style is an attempt to gain power and pressure a change. A competitive style
can be appropriate when you have to implement an unpopular decision, make a quick
decision, the decision is vital in a crisis, or it is important to let others know how
important an issue is to you – "standing up for your right." However, relationships are
harmed beyond repair and may encourage other parties to use covert methods to get their
needs met.
2. Accommodating
Accommodators set aside their own needs because they want to please others in order to
keep the peace. Smoothing or harmonizing can result in a false solution to a problem and
can create feelings in a person that range from anger to pleasure. Accommodators are
unassertive and cooperative and may play the role of a martyr, complainer, or saboteur.
However, accommodation can be useful when one is wrong or when you want to minimize
losses to preserve relationships. It can become competitive – "I am nicer than you are" – and
3. Avoiding
Avoiders deliberately ignore or withdraw from a conflict rather than face it. Avoiders do not
seem to care about their issue or the issues of others. People who avoid the situation hope
the problem will go away, resolve itself without their involvement, or rely on others to take
the responsibility. Avoidance can be appropriate when you need more time to think and
process, time constraints demand a delay, or the risk of confrontation is not worth what
might be gained. However, avoidance is destructive if the other person perceives that you
don’t care enough to engage. By not dealing with the conflict, this style allows the conflict
Compromisors are willing to sacrifice some of their goals and persuade others to give
up theirs too–give a little, get a little. Compromisors maintain the relationship and can
take less time than other methods, but resolutions focus on demands rather than needs
or goals. The compromise is not intended to make all parties happy or find a decision
that makes the most business sense, but rather ensures something just and equitable
even if it causes a loss for both parties. Power is defined by what one part can coerce
or get the other to give up. To split the difference game playing can result and the
5. Collaborating
Collaboration generates creative solutions that satisfy all the parties’ concerns and
understand the views of others. Collaboration takes time and if the relationship among
the parties is not important, then it may not be worth the time and energy to create a
relationships. Collaborators address the conflict directly and in a way that expresses
In any conflict ask: "Is my preferred conflict handling style the very best I can use to
communicate our positions – things that are likely to be concrete and explicit. Try to
recognize the difference between positions and interests to assist in creative problem solving.
Positions are predetermined solutions or demands that people use to describe what they want
consistent. They are the main reasons why–the motivation behind the position. Conflict
usually exists where these motivations/needs are not understood or mismatch in some way.
For example: "I need to receive the report by Friday, so I can have time to review and edit
Remember that figuring out your interests is just as important as figuring out their interests.
How to Identify Interests
determine what the person believes he or she truly needs. When you ask, be sure to clarify
that you are not asking questions for justification of their position, but for a better
Using open-ended questions that encourage a person to "tell their story" helps
you begin to understand their interest. Open ended questions are opposite of closed-ended
questions, which require a response of "yes" or "no." To illustrate the difference, consider the
following example:
effectively, you help calm the other person’s emotions so they feel heard. Once emotions
are deescalated then both parties can use cognitive problem-solving to generate
Be cautious of:
•Assuming that you know what the speaker is going to say next
•Thinking about what you are going to say while the other is talking
•Trying to look interested, but not hearing what the other person is saying
•Tuning out because the information conflicts with your ideas and beliefs
•Interrupting so you can argue your idea or find holes in the other person’s argument
•Tuning out because of how the speaker is talking – too loud, unpleasant or because the
We filter information through our biases, values, emotions, meaning of words, and
•Hearing what you want to hear and not what is really communicated
•Forming an opinion about the value of what is being said, i.e., too boring, too complex,
demands: "you should," "you have to," "you lack," "you never," "you always," "you fail to
•Assuming your own meaning of words and expressions is the same as the speaker
•Prior to the meeting, recognize and understand the emotions. Are you nervous? Are you
angry at the other person? Are you frustrated about something? Ask yourself what is causing
the emotion. Are you carrying the emotion over from one issue to another? Are there personal
•When meeting, pay attention to the speaker. Resist distractions. Put down your pen, make
good eye contact, and lean forward to show your interest. Don't interrupt. Jot down notes if it
helps.
•Listen with an open, curious mind. Do not judge what the other person is saying as "wrong."
about your own emotions. Acknowledging emotion proactively will stop it from
dominating the discussion. Examples of what you can say "You feel that…" or "It must
•Reflect and clarify on meanings. After the speaker is finished say "Did I understand
you correctly that you are saying …?" "Let me see if I have this correctly, …" "From
you point of view, the situation is …" Try summarizing, mirroring, or reframing.
Successfully solving these issues, however, usually follows the same plan. First, manage
and resolve the current problem right away. For example, two or three employees may
have interpersonal conflicts. If you are not part of the problem, you must become the
solution.
Second, learn the problem's root causes. Address and correct these issues to
avoid a repetition of the problem. This is simple to state, but often more difficult to
accomplish. Yet, it is imperative you take these two steps to maintain a high-performing
staff.
REFERENCES
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ENRICHMENT
ACTIVITY
For this exam/quiz/activity, I make the following truthful statement: I understand that acts
of academic dishonesty shall be penalized to the full extent as indicated in the provision
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. How do you weigh the pros and cons before making a decision?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Your manager wants to buy a new software to help increase the team’s productivity,
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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RUBRICS
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