Yan is currently in a student organization that had just started up. As the vice president, the teacher advisor held high expectations of her. There are two vice presidents in the organization and each of them is responsible for different committee in the organization.
During a feedback session, the teacher advisor mentioned that the vice presidents had not been doing a lot of work. He said most of the work had been done by the president and during meetings, he only sees the president doing most of the talking. As one of the vice-president, Yan felt wronged as they have been working hard. She also thinks it is a matter of fact that the president speaks more during the meeting since he is the one chairing it and since the President is the one liaising with the teacher advisor, it may have appeared to him that only the president have been doing all the work. Yan is very sad and disappointed and has since lost her drive in managing the committee.
The teacher advisor has been very aggressive to the team and has not been very polite in his emails. All these had been affecting the entire team’s morale without him realizing it. Yan is feeling really frustrated and is worried about the team. I think it may be because the teacher advisor does not know the team enough hence causing these to happen. What should Yan do? Should she bring it up to the teacher advisor about the misunderstandings and should she bring it to his attention of his actions impact on the team?
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6 comments:
Hi Siew Cheng,
I suggest that Yan should not bring it up to the teacher advisor straight away. She has to first discuss with the other vice-chairperson and sees if he/she agree with her opinions as well. She might even want to speak to the chairperson first and see what he has to say.
However, for the second part as to whether she should bring it to his attention of his actions impact on the team regarding his aggressiveness, I feel that she should go ahead with it. But she has to be careful with her choice of words and not to tactlessly tell him that he is aggressive and has not been polite. Perhaps she can just bring out this matter as a concern for her members and inform him that their morale is low after reading those mails. She herself could even do her part, by giving encouragement to her members to bring their morale up.
I hope these suggestions are of use. =)
Cheers, Xiujun
Hi Siew Cheng!
Your post is realistic, coherent and easy to understand ;). It would be good to have more details like what kind of organisation and name of the teacher.
It seems the problem is the teacher as he is too superficial and has not putting in effort to understand the organisation. For example, she has been judging Yan's performance based on a feedback session and not her overall contribution. Regarding the teacher's tone in email, I feel it's because he does not understand the club well enough to deal with the student yet. Hence, he took a harsher tone.
I agree with Xiujun that Yan should talk to her president and vice president first to seek their opinions and also some possible solutions. In times of crisis, unity is very important and they should solve things together as team. Before they approach the teacher, they should exercise leadership and try to solve the problem themselves first. They could show the teacher that they have put in effort. And, the leaders should proactively invite the teacher to be more involved in their activities or meeting.
Yan should put aside teacher's misunderstanding about her first because time will show her hard work. Also, self-confidence and esteem should not be easily waived as a leader.
If given time and the teacher has not changed for the better, the leaders can approach him tactfully together and show unity in opinion. It is important to be truthfully, polite and remember that the objective is to not to point finger at the teacher but to find solution instead.
That's all for now!;)
Cheers,
Hui Xin
Hi Siew Cheng,
I think that the teacher is not present when the team is doing their work, and since he only see the team during meetings, he probably can only judge the amount of work done through the interaction in the meeting.
Firstly, I suggest Yan to try and boost the morale of the team by indicating that she would do something about the situation, if they are affected.
Next, she should speak to the other vice-president and president about the problem and try to brainstorm for solutions to the problem, as mentioned by Huixin.
The president can try to explain to the teacher that the vice-presidents did their work by giving credit like mentioning, "... as done by Yan and her team".
Regarding the emails, I believe once the teacher acknowlegdes and knows that the team has been doing work, the tone will change for the better.
Also, Yan can try to improve the relationship with the teacher by speaking out more and giving opinions or raise questions. The team can try to approach the teacher more often for advise to make it obvious that they are doing their work.
Hopefully, the situation can be better this way. :)
Munting
Hey Siew Cheng!
I agree with Xiujun that Yan should discuss with the other vice-chairperson first before taking matters into her own hands. If the other vice-chairperson feels wronged as well, then the two of them should talk to the chairperson. It will be good if the chairperson offers to help clear the situation by explaining to the teacher advisor that the vice-chairpersons have indeed contributed a lot of work, and also to explain how the aggressive actions and emails by the teacher have dampened the morale of the team.
However, if for some reason, the chairperson does not want to get involved, then Yan should first email the teacher advisor for a meeting, and then during the meeting, Yan should clear the misunderstandings in a tactful and polite way. She should also bring up the fact that the team's spirit is dampened, and suggest to the teacher advisor to give an encouraging email to the team to boost their morale.
:)
Regards,
Faidah.
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