We all have to work with people we just don’t see eye to eye with, but making them feel heard before you use the corporate power of the Board of Governors to quash them is essential to a healthy working relationship. Here are some ways to make your colleague and outspoken professor of anthropology or something, Marles Chenzies, feel like you’re listening to his opinion before you go ahead and vote to raise tuition by two per cent again.
A cardboard cut-out of yourself in his office
Marles would certainly feel more included in decision-making processes if you were always around to silently listen to a quick rant about building more private housing on campus with a smile on your face. A life-size cut-out of yourself wearing your most community consultation-friendly outfit will listen as much as the real you would (if not more!) when Marles has something on his mind.
A Twitter bot to tweet him back at the speed of light
No one knows how Marles manages to tweet his every waking thought during Board meetings without even using his hands, but you’re not going to get caught-up in the physics of it all. Set a bot to automatically reply to all of his tweets and acknowledge his concerns as robotically as you will dismiss them at next month’s Board session.
A tin can phone between your offices
From your perch atop Koerner Library, you can juuuust make out the top of Marles’s office in ANSO, but the walk is too far and his tweets indicate he probably doesn’t trust phones. A tin can phone is the only communication solution for you two that is both low-tech and feasibly derailed by a misguided tree-trimmer who is definitely not your assistant in coveralls.
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