Relationships are cooling off and arguments are heating up. What do you do?
By Kerry Grens
ARTICLE EXTRAS
Several years ago Dr. K, a neuroscience professor at a prominent academic institution on the West Coast, found her laboratory in interpersonal disarray (she requested anonymity to protect the identities of her lab members). Lab members were clashing over a range of issues: maintenance of common equipment, cleanliness in the laboratory, and often simply the way someone communicated to another. "We'd have one person yelling, another one crying ... alliances forming, alliances shifting, people talking behind others' backs," K says. "All triggered by a lack of interpersonal skill in resolving conflict. And I didn't know how to do it."
K says often she would ignore problems and trust that her lab members would work ...
