Se risolvere un conflitto sul posto di lavoro è già una questione delicata, farlo in una lingua diversa dalla propria può dare sui nervi a chiunque. Una frase ben intenzionata può essere distorta da una cattiva traduzione, trasformando un malinteso in un vero problema. Sebbene il dialogo che segue riguardi una situazione specifica, il vocabolario utilizzato è utile in qualsiasi situazione in cui sia richiesta la capacità di gestire in inglese un conflitto di lavoro.
Conflict in the Workplace
Person 1: I can’t believe you’re asking for my help now. When I asked you for help last week, you totally ignored me.
Person 2: But I was on a tight deadline. You know that!
Person 1: Yes, I know, but it’s not the first time it happened. It seems to be a recurring theme.
Person 2: You can’t blame me for the deadlines I’m given.
Person 1: Perhaps not, but we all have deadlines. If we help each other out, we can meet them more easily.
Person 2: I would if I could, but I just don’t have the time.
Person 1: I’m starting to think you really hate me...
Person 2: Don’t put it down to a personality clash. I have no problem with you personally.
Person 1: In that case, look at it this way. My deadline is earlier than yours. If you help me now, I’ll help you afterwards. Then we’ll both meet our deadlines.
Person 2: Actually, when you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense.
Person 1: So you’ll help me?
Person 2: Sure! What do you need me to do?
NOW LET’S REVIEW THE VOCABULARY!
- ‘Can’t believe’ is a phrase used to express surprise and emphasise a statement.
- ‘Tight’ here means ‘not much’ or ‘short’. A ‘deadline’ is a completion date. So when you have a tight deadline (or you are ‘on a tight deadline’), it means you do not have much time to finish the work.
- To ‘blame’ – to hold someone responsible for doing something wrong – is a common theme in conflict situations. Experts recommend a no-blame approach to resolving issues.
- ‘To help out’ is a phrasal verb which means to help someone, especially by doing a particular job.
- Deadlines are ‘met’ (using the verb ‘to meet’). When you finish a task on the completion date, you ‘meet the deadline’.
- ‘I would if I could’ is a phrase used to say that it is not possible to do something, even though you wish you were able to help. It is often followed with, “but I can’t.”
- When you ‘put it down to (something)’, you think that the problem is caused by something in particular.
- A ‘personality clash’ refers to the friction between two people with very different personalities.
- The phrase ‘when you put it like that’ represents acceptance of the fact that a person was wrong, after it has been explained by someone else.
- ‘Make sense’ means to be clear and easy to understand.