Importance Of Conflict Management

Conflict is inevitable in everyday social, organisational and professional life. Conflict management styles of managers can influence the quality of care delivered to patients in healthcare systems. Conflict may occur between two individuals, in small groups and work teams, or between groups (De Dreu & Van De Vilert 1997) such as physician-nurse, nurse-patient, nurse-nurse and nurse-other personnel. Because managers deal with internal and external conflicts on a regular basis, they must understand the importance of and become skilled in, conflict management. Managers are responding for managing conflict created by changes external to the organisation and for managing intra-organisational interpersonal conflict. In so doing, they control or

Factors contributing to personal differences can include cultural background, education, experience, and training. In the dialysis setting, a conflict could arise between an experienced patient care technician and a nurse new to the unit who has more formal education but less dialysis experience. Structural design conflicts can be the product of set rules, performance criteria, or resource allocation (Hunsaker & Alessandra, 2008). When new policies and procedures are introduced, conflict can arise if a staff member does not agree with the new policy or procedure and would prefer to continue following the outdated policy. Conflict may also arise when there is a shortage of resources or staff. Communication-related conflict can stem from misunderstandings, lack of communication, or poor listening (Hunsaker & Alessandra, 2008). For example, conflict could arise in the dialysis unit when a patient misunderstands the nurse’s instructions, or the nurse manager forgets to communicate a policy change to employees before it becomes effective. These conflicts can often be resolved with better communication between the parties

Constructive and creative conflict management is a real challenge and a goal for any professional who is genuinely interested in assisting others and the organisation as a whole, in changing unfavourable conflict situations into positive, cooperative and relatively peaceful directions. Effective conflict management promotes motivation, enhances morale and promotes individual and organisational growth (Rahim 1986).

The key to successful conflict management is for each side to first stop trying to “make each other wrong,” and then to find solutions that approximate each side’s goals (Wilson 2004, 2). Training managers and supervisors in how best to manage work place conflict provides them with the necessary knowledge and skills that will enable them to implement practicable options and alternative strategies, Although conflict resolution has been a focus in human resource management in general for many years, “programs are relatively new to the health care system” (Porter-O’Grade 2004, 285). Nonetheless, initial research efforts indicate that conflict-management training can increase organization effectiveness and efficiency by reducing job-related