REFLECTIVE EXERCISES Sara Branch, Sheryl Ramsay and Michelle Barker
Exercise 1
• In pairs, reflect on the inter-personal conflicts you may have experienced, witnessed or heard about in the workplace and make a list of anti-social behaviours that occur in the workplace.
• Consider if gender contributed to this conflict.
• Consider if power played a role in the conflict. If yes, then what power sources were being used?
• What is the potential effect on witnesses and what could they say or do?
Exercise 2
• Within small groups, reflect on the contributing factors to workplace bullying and brainstorm three strategies at each level (i.e. individual, group and organisational) that you could use to address, and potentially reduce or prevent, workplace bullying.
Exercise 3
Judy receives a call from her old university friend Jan, who is now working as a support worker. Jan, in tears, relates to Judy the mean things her boss Nigel had been doing to her. He was nice enough when she first arrived at her job last year, but now he has become unbearable. Jan listed some of the things Nigel had done that week: ‘On Monday, he came in to work and told me in front of everyone that I was too slow and that I dragged down the whole department. The rest of the week he spent glaring at me each time he passed me in the hall.

Then, Nigel threw a huge temper tantrum when I did not have a report ready two days before it was due. I snapped back because I thought he was being totally unreasonable. Unfortunately, that seemed to inflame the situation. I found out later that there had been a meeting involving all the support workers that he failed to tell me about. I even heard a horrible rumour that I was sleeping with a client. I am certain Nigel started it. I just don’t know what to do and who to turn to. Everyone at work just seems to keep their heads down. My partner and friends are getting fed up with me complaining about Nigel all the time. What can I do Judy?’
• Discuss how the issues raised in this scenario could be addressed using the strategies discussed in Exercise 2.