A senior manager and a team member on a 27-person IT team had reached breaking point. He was direct, blunt and results-focused; she was calm, thoughtful and preferred to talk things through fully. Neither could see how the other operated, and what started as friction escalated into a formal personal grievance claim of bullying, with the team member on sick leave and refusing to return to work.

Bronwyn Anderson, Managing Director of Change Dynamics and a registered psychologist, was brought in to help. Working with both individuals separately through coaching, she used TetraMap’s nature-based language to help each person understand not just the other’s behaviour, but their own. The manager, primarily an Earth preference, began to see how his directness landed on a Water-preference colleague who valued harmony and inclusion. She, in turn, worked on communicating more directly and recognising how her longer, more considered style could frustrate a colleague who valued fast, clear outcomes.

The grievance claim was dropped. The working relationship was repaired, with both people reporting far greater mutual respect — and, just as importantly, broader team harmony was restored.

All names have been changed to respect the privacy of individuals concerned.

One senior manager (Joe) and one team member (Emily) were both members of an IT team of 27. Joe was firm, blunt, direct and to the point. Emily was quiet, calm and preferred to talk things over, sometimes at length. He finger pointed. She retreated. She called him a bully. He called her incompetent. After several months Emily showed signs of stress and went on sick leave. She told her HR Manager she was taking out a personal grievance claim against Joe and refused to speak to him further or return to work.