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Effective communications is defined as the successful exchange of information between individuals. An effective communicator is successful in establishing an active two-way link with another individual or group. When people work in groups, there are two quite separate issues involved. The first is the task and the problems involved in getting the job done. The second is the process of the group work itself: the mechanisms by which the group acts as a unit. Without due attention to this process the value of the group can be diminished or even destroyed; yet with a little explicit management of the process, it can enhance the worth of the group to be many times the sum of the worth of its individuals. It is this synergy which makes group work attractive in corporate organization despite the possible problems (and time spent) in group formation (Blair, 2015).
Conflict and Causes of Conflicts
Conflict is any situation in which individuals or groups do not agree. Individuals or groups have different ideas, interest or goals and can not compromise because the opposing parties have strong beliefs that they are very different from each other. People have different views on many different subjects; therefore, when interests are threatened, conflicts arise. There are two types of conflicts: positive conflicts and negative conflicts. A positive conflict is where the outcome of the conflict results in a positive solution. If the conflict creates better decisions, develops shared ideas, and personal growth and change, it is considered to be a positive conflict. Negative conflict is where the outcome of the conflict creates a destructive result. If the conflict creates unresolved anger, personality clashes, low self esteem or low ...
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...rson chooses the way the encoded message is to be transmitted or channeled to the other person or group. This can be done by various ways, such as, face-to-face, written, or electronic mail, just to touch on a few. Upon receiving the message the receiver has the option to provide feedback to the source. Feedback is a fundamental part of the communication process. It is important to realize how critical feedback can be and how it can overcome difficulties when communicating. The group process must be planned, monitored and reviewed just like any other managed process (Blair, 2015).
References
Blair, G.M. (n.d.). Groups that work. Web. 17 April 2015.
http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art0.html
Beard, Ronald. (n.d.). "Working With Group Conflict" University of Maine. Web. 17 April 2015.
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/PDFpubs/6106.pdf
However, with this comes the fact that, due to human nature, conflict is bound to arise, thus it is important for people to know how to deal with it in an effective manner. Conflict is seen as a disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns. Conflict is categorized into two headings; Functional and Dysfunctional Conflict. Functional Conflict is a non-aggressive form which stimulates creativity and allows ideas to flow whereas Dysfunctional Conflict is an aggressive type of disagreement where people refuse to work it out. All types of conflict come with both their own advantages and disadvantages.
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.
Most people believe that conflict is something negative. In many cases conflict can be. Whether1 a small dispute between two neighbors or a global conflict that leads to war, conflict is inevitable. Disagreement is a part of human nature. We are a society of individuals working together to achieve common goals. How we handle conflict determines whether the outcome is a negative or a positive one. If properly handled, conflict may lead to growth, maturity, and understanding of one another. If not, conflict at school could lead to broken ties, at home to hurt feelings, and in the workplace to discouragement. These negative outcomes may be avoided when conflict is handled properly. There is no single technique that works best for settling conflicts. What works in a school setting might not work at an office or at home. Regardless where or with whom the conflict is with, a person must examine themselves, his or her intentions and more importantly, core values.
A conflict is an expressed disagreement between two or more people who have different perceptions of a situation. Therefore, conflict acts as interference for each party to achieve their goals in a situation. Conflict develops as a result of differences among people’s perception of situations and people around them. Diversity in character and nature of human beings brings about differences in likes and dislikes hence the development of conflicts among people. The extent of every conflict is, therefore, based on the extent to which people differ (Picard, 14).
“Role conflict can arises when these expectations about how to play a role or set of roles are inconsistent in some way” (Losh, pg. 89). Role conflict is a type of social conflict caused from an individual being forced to take on separate and incompatible roles. Role conflicts usually occur when an individual becomes torn between separate roles for different organizations or groups or within an organization, when an individual is asked to perform multiple roles in the same group. An employee with both work and management roles in a department, for example, assumes the conflicting roles of the supervisor and co-worker. Many feel as though most role conflicts occur because of multiple obligations to different groups role conflicts can also occur within a one organization. When individuals have various conflicting responsibilities role conflicts tend to cause friction and frustration depending of the personality of the individual. While conducting my research I saw a lot of this going ground from the Customer Assistant Specialist’s, Medical Communication Specialist’s, Consultant Nurse’s, Pharmacists and especially the floaters. Many of the employees look extremely frustrated and overwhelmed. It appears that even though we are complying with client needs we are hurting our employees at the end of day. We are forcing our employees to basically handle 2-3 positions in 1 to make the client satisfied. The client request for someone to be online all day but wants them to manage to do call backs as well. That task is impossible considering the fact we have such a high call volume. The problem appears to be there are not enough people on this particular project. We are spreading our employees to thin. We a...
Before understanding how to deal with conflict, one must understand what conflict is. Conflict can be defined as, “any situation in which incompatible goals, cognitions, or emotions within or between individuals or groups lead to opposition or antagonistic interaction” (Learning Team Toolkit, 2004, pp 242-243). Does the idea of conflict always have to carry a negative connotation? The growth and development of society would be a great deal slower if people never challenged each other’s ideas. The Learning Team Toolkit discusses three different views of conflict: traditiona...
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).
Engleberg, I., Wynn, D., & Schuttler, R., (2003). Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies (3rd ed.) Boston: Houghton- Mifflin. pp. 146- 170.
Keyton, J. (2006). Communicating in groups: Building relationships for group effectiveness (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Teams are groups of people who work together to achieve a common goal (Learning Team Handbook, p 310). Workplace teams are increasing as businesses find the yield of team productivity and creativity exceeds individual productivity/creativity. To promulgate productive teams, businesses have had to identify common threads for successful teams. Businesses have identified the dynamics and needs of successful teams.
I agree with the opinion that conflict should be seen as a positive rather than a negative. However, conflict can either be positive or negative depending on the parties involved and the mediation and negotiation styles. According to the authors in the art and practice of mediation, despite the fact we usually think of conflict as a negative term, it brings a positive side which enables parties enhance relationships, understand the root of the conflict, reinforce values of society and provides moral development and growth steps (Bishop, Picard, Ramkay and Sargent, 2015, p. 94, chapter 4)
Conflict can be negative in the same tense except it is dysfunctional and hinders the teams or the person’s performance or ability to attain goals or objectives (Reaching out, 1997). Negative conflicts tend to result from the most common aspects known as relationship conflict or task conflict. Task conflict occurs when team members disagree about the tasks at hand and how they need to be performed. The other common conflict is relationship. This occurs when team members experience intrapersonal incompatibility issues. This is typically detrimental to teams as it tends to turn personal because they differ in social and communication differences and never come to a positive resolution to forego these conflicts. This is different when compared to task conflict in that task conflict can potentially be beneficial because the issue does not become personal, therefore, bringing about new ideas. Negative conflict is destructive when it leads to stress, inability to take action, and the loss of esteem or purpose (Reaching out, 1997). Conflict is viewed as negative when it results in unresolved anger within the team, personality clashes, low self confidence and problems of efficiency within the team leading to low productivity.
According to McShane and Von Glinow, conflict is “a process in which one party perceives that his or her interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party” (328). The Conflict Process Model begins with the different sources of conflict; these sources lead one or more parties to perceive that a conflict exists. These perceptions interact with emotions and manifest themselves in the behavior towards other parties. The arrows in the figure illustrate the series of conflict episodes that cycle into conflict escalation (McShane and Von Glinow 331-332).
Conflict is unavoidable and connected to a world where different ideas and opinions are challenged. Negative conflict occurs when voices are not expressed appropriately, discussions are not in control or different parties reject moving forward with a solution. There is difficulty resolving disagreements because there are multiple reactions to disputes. However, a positive conflict supports debates without a destructive outcome. They improve communication, introduce principles that are important to others, and reduce chaos. On the other hand, the approach that a person uses to address conflict dictates the outcome they receive. Methods for resolving conflict include avoiding the problem, smoothing out a situation, competing against the ideas