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Conflict resolution in the workplace case studies
Conflict resolution in the workplace case studies
Workplace conflict
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Over the past year’s Mr. Diamond we have had problems with disagreements and conflicts between our employees. I believe it is imperative that we work at helpful solutions and attempt to stop the conflicts, and limit them as much as possible. I will now present to you my proposal on what the conflicts are, and a solution to them.
First and foremost we must look at the reasons for the conflict. The goals between the individual and groups of individuals are at times not attainable. We have some people trying their best to make the goals set by the company in order to make X many dollars per month. Things are so bad on the floor that the employees are fighting among themselves trying to attain these at times unrealistic and at times impossible goals.
The second source of conflict is the different personal values we bring to work. We have a variety people working here, there are those that at the end of the day will go out for happy our, and there are those that once the leave here, they go home to their families, they are the one’s that don’t believe in gossiping, or conflict of any kind. We have some employees who feel like it’s their job to come in on Monday morning and give a play by play of the activities over the weekend. I don’t feel as well as others that your personal life should be an open book to me as well as others.
The third source of conflict is the fact the team leaders don’t have any respect for the sub-ordinates and feel they call ...
Not all conflicts are bad and well dealt with in a timely and appropriate manner can result in a positive outcome as they can allow individuals to “clear the air” and provide growth and development with individuals and within teams. At the same time, when mismanaged or brushed under the carpet this can give rise to serious difficulties and problems within the workplace.
Understanding how situations can become conflicts are important matters to investigate in hopes of preventing it from happening again. Every employee (in their minds) have different perspectives as to why conflicts happen. Such things include a lack of communication, feeling as if others are not doing their jobs, crazy rules, special treatment of friends as well as expectations that they feel are not reasonable. Conflicts that management may be involved in could be poor communication, lack of appropriate response to any given situation, not taking responsibility for their own errors, letting work & personal life interfere with the other, as well as not having good prioritizing
Conflict is and will always be something that everyone has to experience, and they experience it because we are all-different and have different beliefs. Some of the sources of conflict that exist in Bridget’s organization is the differences over interpretation facts, behavioral expectation, and conflicts with the customers, customer’s satisfaction. The general manager such as Issa tends to interpret things wrong. When Bridget wishes to do the best for Pollo Campero Issa, always pinpoints to look like Bridget’s negotiation is always wrong. Bridget has always said that although Issa always makes her feel less of a person Bridget doesn’t allow it to affect her. Like Bridget said at least she has the support of employees. Many employees and other managers who know Bridget know that she is a calm person and someone to trust especially because she has demonstrated since the first day of employment. She explained that in order to manage conflict you have to be worthy within you and not letting anyone make you less will make you value and love yourself more. Bridget said “do not fear conflict rather embrace it”, different conflicts arise everyday for example the customer service conflict, but the ability to recognize and understand the nature of conflict and bring a swift of resolution makes Bridget a good
O’Rourke, J. & Collins, S. (2008). Managing Conflict and Workplace Relationships. New York: Cengage Learning.
It has been estimated in a study by the American Management Association that managers spend between 20% to as much as 50% of their times dealing with conflict among their employees (American Sentinel, 2012). When workplace conflicts are left unresolved they can lead to dissatisfaction, depression and other problems such as aggression and violence (Whitworth 2008). The negative, sometimes hostile, environment created by unresolved conflict has been recognized to be a hazard not only to staff, but also to patient care (The Joint Commission 2008).
Simply put, conflict is the disagreement and disharmony that occurs in groups when differences are expressed regarding ideas, methods, and/or members (Engleberg, Wynn, and Schuttler, 2003). Conflict among teams or groups develops in many ways. In developing an effective team, members will generally experience the five stages of evolution: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. The storming and norming stages deal with the process of conflict (storming) and resolution (norming). During the storming stage, exact conflict has not yet been identified, and therefore chaos, disorganization, and disputes are apparent.
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).
One of the essential tasks of the management is identifying and solving workplace conflicts which Bent failed to accomplish. Several sources of conflicts are organizational changes (e.g. layoffs and change in ratio), different values (employee priorities versus corporate profits), threats to one’s status (employees; beliefs that they deserve the bonus), contrasting perceptions (beliefs on how the Scanlon Plan should work and how the management should handle downturns), lack of trust (employees’ distrust in management), and workplace incivility (Newstrom, 2014, p. 290), all of which are present in Engstrom. Workplace incivility pertains to the lack of respect in the organization (Newstrom, 2014, p. 290). Consequently, unresolved conflicts have diverse individual and organizational impacts. Fusch and Fusch (2015) studied leaders' conflict resolution strategies in the production line and learned that poor conflict management contributed to lower productivity and performance. A manager who cannot resolve intrapersonal clashes and identify work conflicts can indirectly contribute to displace organizational performance and morale
Although there is a plethora of possible sources of conflict in any workplace, the ones in this case are rather explicit. These include personal differences, Informal deficiencies’, role incompatibility, environment stress, perceptions, and expectations. Personal differences could be related to personal values, physiognomies, family bonds or ties, and material belongings.
When working with a limited number of people, it can seem easy to have simple conversations about conflict with employees whether it was one on one or with a group of people. Unfortunately, there was no formal or informal training on how to effectively use a conflict management system. Based off of what we learned in this section of our interview, it is clear that Mrs. Harmon had to assume all responsibility when conflict arose in her office. Even if the boss did get involved, he tended to only make matters worse. Instead of having a laid out plan for effective confrontation, she was forced to improvise in almost all of the situations she encountered. Having developed her own informal system of conflict management, Mrs. Harmon had a basic idea of how to approach all conflicts directly and
A group can only be called a team if the members are actively working together toward a common goal. A team must have the capability to set goals, make decisions, solve problems, and share responsibilities. For a team to be successful, trust must be earned between its members by being consistent and reliable (Temme & Katzel, 2005). When more than one person is working on a particular task, inconsistent views or opinions commonly arise. People come from different backgrounds and live through different life experiences therefore, even when working towards a common goal, they will not always see eye to eye. Major conflict that is not dealt with can devastate a team or organization (Make Conflict Work, 2008). In some situations, conflict can be more constructive than destructive. Recognizing the difference between conflict that is constructive to the team and conflict that is destructive to the team is important. Trying to prevent the conflict is not always the best way to manage conflict when working within a team setting. Understanding conflict, what causes it, and how to resolve conflict effectively, should consume full concentration.
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.
Unnecessary conflict may be prevented through employee involvement and treating employees in a fair manner. Ethical employment practices, involving employees in decisions, and treating employees as valued organizational members all work towards a positive employer-employee relationship. Unfortunately, however, it sometimes becomes necessary for an outside party to help employers and employees resolve differences through processes such as mediation or arbitration. Taken together, positive engagement strategies and constructive resolution of differences help to develop relationships which support organizational performance and success.
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.
Conflict exists in every organization as a result of incompatible needs, goals, and objectives of two people while aligning to the overall business requirements. Though disagreement is linked with negative impact, the approach has healthy considerations (Leung, 2008). For instance, some conflicts create an avenue for the exchange of ideas and creativity to meet the set organizational purposes. However, damaging disagreement in organizations results in employee dissatisfaction, turnover, and poor services and reduced productivity. The paper establishes different types of interpersonal conflict and key resolution strategies used to address the problem. Human resource managers need to have the capacity to identify different levels of conflicts and the best methods to negate them.