You and I, surrounded by staff, argued (5)
I believe the answer is:
rowed
'argued' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'you and i surrounded by staff' is the wordplay.
'you and i' becomes 'we'.
'surrounded by' is an insertion indicator.
'staff' becomes 'rod' (both can mean a pole or stick).
'we' inserted within 'rod' is 'ROWED'.
(Other definitions for rowed that I've seen before include "Propelled boat" , "Propelled by oars" , "argued" , "Squabbled" , "Maybe went from Putney to Mortlake" .)