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Click on one of the following topics to find answers to frequently asked questions
by administrators.
“Tenseness” and “not working well” are very uncomfortable
sensations to have in the workplace. In general, if everyone in an area is feeling like this, then the situation
will not get better by ignoring the problem. No one likes to be uncomfortable at work.
If you feel it would be helpful to explore on a particular situation, you need to
contact the Ombuds or University Human Resources. The Ombuds could meet with you alone and/or with the parties
involved to discuss how the work environment could be improved. UHR provides professional training and development,
which can focus on teamwork and building a collaborative workplace.
Without knowing the specifics of each case, interpersonal relations are very hard to
evaluate. The feelings you have about your situation are very real and hopefully this will give you some ideas on
how to make your situation better. There are many strategies for working out conflicts. One way to address the
feeling of “not getting along” is to talk with your supervisee about specific situations when they arise.
Try to use “I” statements and focus the conversation on the context of the person's behavior related
to the job (i.e., “I felt frustrated when I thought that we had clearly gone over the assignment and it
wasn’t done the way I had asked. Try to avoid things like “you never get it right”).
Everyone has different temperaments and work styles. Sometimes just understanding those
differences makes it easier to work with other people.
If you feel you have tried to discuss problems which have occured, you may be interested
in trying mediation, available to all OU employees for workplace-related conflicts. As a supervisor, it may be
helpful to have someone else organize and facilitate the discussion between you and your supervisee. The Ombuds
office can assist with arranging mediation, or you can contact the Athens
Area Mediation Service (opens in a new page) at 594-6169. Its services are free to OU work units. For further
information, please see Mediation for OU Employees.
If you feel as though the reason “you don’t get along” is related to race
or gender, your situation may need a different response. If you would like to discuss options for how to respond to
different situations which have come up, contact the Ombuds Office, University Human Resources or the Office for
Institutional Equity.
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You may want to first ask for a copy of your job description from Human Resources. Compare
your job with what is written. If there is a big discrepancy, you need to talk with your supervisor to see if these
are permanent changes in your responsibilities. If so, you would want to fill out a PDQ form (position description
questionnnaire), which can be downloaded through the University Human Resources (UHR) web page on OU Forms. This
needs to be approved through the highest level of your planning unit before it is submitted to UHR.
Your position may be re-evaluated to be either a promotion or change of administrative pay
grade. Salary increases are retroactive to when they were first submitted to UHR.
Call the University Human Resources if you have questions about this process. You can read
more about this in the OU Policies and Procedures, Administrative
and Professional Pay Plan (40.036).
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The Ombuds Office is firmly committed to maintaining the confidentiality of those who use our
services. We keep no official records of client names, affiliations or grievances. The discussions, issues, concerns or
problems you present to the Ombuds remain in strict confidence. If you wish for a problem or complaint to go “on the
record,” the Ombuds will refer you to the appropriate office or person. This confidentiality cannot be “waived”
by users of the office because the privilege of confidentiality belongs to the Ombuds Office, not to the users of the office.
No. Because of the unique, informal, problem-solving role of the ombuds office, speaking to the
Ombuds about a concern does not constitute “notice” to the university that the problem exists, nor is speaking
to the Ombuds Office a step in any applicable grievance process. Anyone wishing to “put the university on notice”
may contact an administrator or invoke a formal grievance process. The Ombuds Office can provide referral information about
who to contact for anyone seeking to use administrative or formal grievance processes.
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