Conflict can be described as a major disagreement or opposing interests or ideas. Whenever people work together, conflict can most often be expected. Conflict is a normal and natural part of any workplace usually resulting from the differences in employees' personalities and values. . When it occurs, there is a tendency for morale to be lowered and a decrease in productivity. While conflict is a normal part of any organizational setting, the challenge of conflict comes from how you choose to deal with it. Masking, avoided or otherwise ignoring conflict will most likely fester and grow into bitterness, create withdrawal or cause discord and spitefulness within an organization. Addressing conflict in a timely manner is important to maintaining a healthy work environment. Believing that a conflict will simply disappear is an incorrect assumption to make because simple conflicts can grow into major problems if not dealt with appropriately. There are many causes or reasons for conflict in any work setting. Different communication styles can lead to misunderstandings between employees and or between employee and manager. Communication, more specifically, lack of or poor communication is in a lot of cases, is the root of the conflict. Think back on conflicts you have experienced over time, and it’s quite possible that many of them resulted from a lack of information, poor information, no information, or misinformation. Clear, accurate, and timely communication of information will help to lower both the number and severity of conflicts. Employees come from different backgrounds and experiences, which play a role in determining their personalities and the way they deal with certain issues. When employees fail or choose not to understand ... ... middle of paper ... ...conflict resolution processes is ultimately reliant upon the ability of all parties involved to understand the benefits of conflict resolution. Perhaps even more importantly, the desire to resolve the matter plays a huge part in conflict resolution. Follow up to make sure the solutions that have been put into place are working, and make adjustments if deemed necessary. This approach will show that you are listening create a dependable, effective and trusting work environment which can make future dealings with workers easier. References Littlejohn, S.W and Domenici, K (2007). Communication, Conflict, and the Management of Difference. Long Grove, IL. Waveland Press, Inc. Borisoff, D and Victor, D.A. (1997). Conflict Management: A Communication Skills Approach. Prospect Heights, IL. Waveland Press. Dana, D. (2000). Conflict Resolution. Madison, WI. McGaw-Hill.
Look up the word conflict in the dictionary and you will see several negative responses. Descriptions such as: to come into collision or disagreement; be at variance or in opposition; clash; to contend; do battle; controversy; quarrel; antagonism or opposition between interests or principles Random House (1975). With the negative reputation associated with this word, no wonder people tend to shy away when they start to enter into the area of conflict. D. Jordan (1996) suggests that there are two types of conflict: good, which is defined as cognitive conflict (C-type conflict) and, detrimental, defined as affective conflict (A-type conflict). The C-type conflict allows for creativity, to pull together a group of people with different opinions or ideas, to combine and brain storm all thoughts to develop the best solution for the problem. The A-type conflict is the negative form when you have animosity, hostility, un-resolveable differences, and egos to deal with. The list citing negative conflicts could go on forever. We will be investigating these types of conflicts, what managers can do to recognize conflict early, and what strategies they can use to resolve conflicts once they have advanced.
Conflicts arise when people’s interest, values, actions, views or expectation come into contact and there is a difference of opinion and thus a disagreement (Conerly, 2004). The way people view the conflict will determine whether the resolution will negative or positive consequences.
Hocker & Wilmot, 2007, Poole, & Stutman, 2005 Folger and 2007 Cahn& Abigail. "Interpersonal Conflict and Conflict Management." Devito, Joseph A. The Interpersonal Communication Book. Boston: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, 2009. 276.
Conflicts situation can happen at any time. There are many different ways to handle conflict situations. To strengthen our skills in responding to conflicts situation we must understand the various conflict management style. The five styles of conflict management style include: Competing, Avoiding, Accommodating, Collaborating, and Compromising. The competing style is like a shark, a competitive approach to ensure only your views counts. Avoiding is like a turtle, avoiding every situation and giving up. Accommodating is like a teddy bear, working against your own goals to move forward. Collaborating is like an owl, working together with your partner to achieve both your goals. Compromising is like a fox, negotiating half your goals in order
When it comes to conflict there are pros and cons to having conflict in the workplace. Conflicts helps with new ideas, and increased knowledge and skills. Conflict also aids in the structure and order of the workforce. When employees are happier and more productive during work, it helps with their actual work and helps increase profit. Overall, having good communication and a little conflict can go along way with the productivity of a
Masters, M. F., & Albright, R. R. (2002). Conflict Resolution in the Workplace. New York, NY: AMACON.
Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update. . Journal Of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 265-274.
In several occasions, conflict occurs in the communication of one or two people. Several people have thought of conflict as cases involving pouring of furious anger in a communication process. Nonetheless, conflict is the misinterpretation of an individual’s words or values (Huan & YAzdanifard, 2012). Conflict can also be due to limited resources in an organization (Riaz & Junaid, 2010). Conflict may as well arise due to poor communication or the use of inappropriate communication channel of transmission of information between the involved parties. Management of conflict has various conflict management styles that include avoidance style, forcing style, passive-aggressive style, accommodating style, collaborating style and compromising style. Workplace conflict comes in two different kinds: task involving conflict, which focuses on the approaches used in resolving the problem and blaming conflict that has the aspects of blame and never brings element of resolving problems between the conflicting parties. In the perception of several individuals, relationship conflict is negative.
Abigail, R. A., & Cahn, D. D. (2011). Managing conflict through communication. 4th Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Many people enjoy working or participating in a group or team, but when a group of people work together chances are that conflicts will occur. Hazleton describes conflict as the discrepancy between what is the perceived reality and what is seen as ideal (2007). “We enter into conflicts reluctantly, cautiously, angrily, nervously, confidently- and emerge from them battered, exhausted, sad, satisfied, triumphant. And still many of us underestimate or overlook the merits of conflict- the opportunity conflict offers every time it occurs” (Schilling, nd.). Conflict does not have to lead to a hostile environment or to broken relationships. Conflict if resolved effectively can lead to a positive experience for everyone involved. First, there must be an understanding of the reasons why conflicts occur. The conflict must be approached with an open mind. Using specific strategies can lead to a successful resolution for all parties involved. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument states “there are five general approaches to dealing with conflict. The five approaches are avoidance, accommodation, competition, compromise, and collaboration. Conflict resolution is situational and no one approach provides the best or right approach for all circumstances” (Thomas, 2000).
Abigail, R. A., & Cahn, D. D. (2011). Managing conflict through communication. 4th Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
In the article written by P. McNamara (2003) mentions the existence of three general knowledge on conflict resolution. As first explained the concept depends on the ability of the people involved to resolve the matter, should be of interest to solve it and if not this wish this could be achieved shortly. The second is understanding, understanding that not every conflict is resolved. The people involved in the problem must know when deciding have tried all possible routes and it's time to move on. The last point indicates is due to see the positive side of a conflict, understand is a growth opportunity both personally and professionally.
Managers struggle daily to effectively manage or resolve conflict. Understanding how the types and sources of conflict differ could how managers in dealing with conflict.
workplace include greater total resources, greater knowledge band and a greater source of ideas. However, these advantages can also bring on conflict within teams and the entire workplace. Varney (1989) reported that conflict remained the number one problem within a large company. This was after several attempts were made to train management in conflict resolutions and procedures. However, the conflict remained. The conflict possibly remains because the managers and leaders did not pay attention to the seriousness of the issue. In order to maintain an effective team, leaders and team members must know and be proactive in the conflict resolution techniques and procedures.
Conflict is a dynamic process. Conflict can be considered a negative as well as a positive aspect for an organization. That depends on the situation. The conflict in an organization can increase the overall effectiveness of the task at hand as having multiple perspectives often lead to conflict in an organization. But multiple perspectives give rise to innovative ideas and better solution for the problem at hand. The conflict may be seen as a process consisting of sequential steps that as below: