Negative and Positive Impacts of Conflict on an Individual
Conflict is an issue when a person has a need and that need is not met. It is also defined as a clash between individuals which arises as a difference in understanding, thought process, different perceptions and individual requirements. Conflict can have both positive and negative impacts on an individual (Kharadze, 2021). Many people faced the coordination problems that are caused when the perspectives of people does not match with each other. There are different theories related to conflict management like traditional theory and modern theory. Traditional theories of conflict management consider people involved in a conflict as trouble makers. On the another hand modern theory states as a natural outcome of human interactions (Folger, & et.al, 2021). This reflective essay will further shed light upon my past conflict experience and how I have managed to overcome threat situation with a proper mediation.
Most of the time I used to avoid the conflict situation that used to arise with my closed ones. Sometimes it happens with most of us that there is an irrelevant discussion that happened with a person who is closed to us and that hurt us a lot. Every person has a different viewpoints and the clash of viewpoint arises into a conflict. One of the conflicts that I have recently faced was in my organization when there was new hiring in our team and he was very difficult to be understood. He was older than the others in the team but then also behave like a selfish and self-obsessed person. He always used to acknowledge my assistance manager and does not use to listen to her words and used to perform those activities in the workplace which are against companies. I remember one morning; my manager had instructed him to write an assignment on 1500 words with 5 hrs. as the deadline of the order was near and the order was assigned to him. He started doing arguments with her because he denied doing the task and my manager was continuously asking him to perform the task as the deadline of the order was very short and if the deadline exceed then the company have to pay back the money to the employee. He argued that if he does not wish to do the assignment, he will not do it. Then, at first the conflict escalated with him and the manager and later on with all of our team. He got aggressive and he started shouting at us when we spoke for our manager. He was forgetting that he is standing in the workplace and he does not have any manner of how to behave with his manager and seniors in the workplace which has led to a messy scenario in the workplace. Other office people also assembled by hearing his shouting voice. The conflict arose to such an extent that a proper mediation was required to resolve the disagreements.
The simple conversation between mam and him has resulted into a conflict and it has escalated and becomes painful. Wrong approach always leads to conflict which can be extremely destructive to the team work (Folger, & et.al, 2021). The conflict must be resolved by clarifying the situation and then taking necessary steps to resolve the conflicts. The HR team has taken some measures for settling both the sides of the conflict. They also try to make compromise with him and our team. Conflict resolution with an employee can stand as a hardest part of resolving the conflict. I remember the HR team has communicated with the hired member and instructed him that his behaviour was disgusting and they have instructed him to settle with his manager and mam was also instructed not to force any person to do the orders, they must be free to do it on their own choice to avoid further conflict in the workplace. He also complained to the team that our manager does not have provided enough direction and support and is partial towards him, which was not true as mam has always supported each and every employee in our team and she has never been partial to any of us but that new joiner has continuously blame mam to be at wrong phase which was totally incorrect. The HR team tries to resolve the conflict and to make settlements between them. The new joiner had also argued with me because I was supporting my manager, in fact he was arguing with all the team members who were supporting our manager during the conflict. The HR team has taken our manager and the new joiner and ask them to talk to each other and to settle the conflict and finally after talking for a long time, he was apologized to mam for his disgusting behaviour and my manager also realize that she should not force anyone to do anything in which employees are not comfortable in doing.
Different Theories Related to Conflict Management
Mediation is a way of managing the conflict in which a person is being used to help the team members to resolve the disagreements (Schieman, & et.al, 2021). There are different theories of mediation like communication theory and system theory which states that mediators should handle the conflict systematically in a neutral manner. With the use of communication theory of mediation, formal discrimination complaints and employment tribunals claims are being reduced (Ulug, & et.al, 2021). In this situation, the HR team acts as a mediator between mam and the new joiner. They resolve the conflict by using the compromise approach which was much appropriate for resolving this conflict. The HR team had taken them into the conference room and asked them to state their problems one by one and both of them were instructed not to dispute among them in the workplace and hence were asked to settle down between them by communicating among themselves. The new joiner realized his mistake and apologizes to mam and on the other hand mam also realized that she should not force any of the employees for doing task in which they are not comfortable in doing that. Mediation should always be used before the conflict raise formal disputes among them (Qandil, & et.al, 2021). Mediators acts as a third person between the people involved in a conflict (Von Feigenblatt, 2021). They help the people involved in a conflict to come to a mutual positive outcome and they must ensure a formal and satisfied solution for both the parties. So I remember that one of our senior HR who was enough mature that she made both of them understand their mistakes and instructed them to build strong bond between them and in the team as well. Both of them understood their mistake and realised and apologize to each other.
I remember that how the senior HR had tried relevant ways to resolve their conflict and have some positive outcomes out of that but unfortunately she was unable to resolve it to a better extent for more positive outcomes. Mediators should always listen to the both the sides of the conflict before judging anyone (Ulug, & et.al, 2021). I do not disagree that the new joiner was not wrong on his part but to some extent his query of the argument was also justifies, yes but the way he represented it was totally wrong as he should have maintained the decorum of the workplace. On the other hand, if I talk about mam then she was just 10% wrong on her parts. I understand that it is her job role to assign the orders in the team but she cannot force anyone to perform the task which is not possible to perform from their end. So there was mistake done from both the end and the mediator should properly listen to the issues of both the end and then must conclude with any further judgements. The mediators must gather information by listening to both the sides instead of favouring the one side of the parties which can led to more and more disputes between them (Akhavan, & et.al, n.d). According to my perception, I think in that situation the senior HR must also have taken relevant measures for more positive outcomes to the conflict. The measures for more of the positive outcomes could be establishing some rules and regulation in the team, so the senior HR has strictly asked them not to order anyone, and force to perform the task. She also asks the new joiner to behave in a decent manner in the workplace. When the conflict arose in the workplace, at that time only if the senior HR would have taken them to a vacant room for the further discussions then there would have not been so much mess happened in the workplace and people for different team would not have gathered to comment and have gossips all around in the workplace. From my perspective, I think it should have been better if she would have listen to their issues by meeting with them separately instead of speaking to them together in a meeting. This would have let her know the situation of the conflict and understand it more clearly. She should also look for common grounds which help both the parties to settle them together. I n that situation she should stay calm must analyse the whole situation by listening to both the parties carefully for the better positive outcomes of the conflict. She should have also asked relevant questions regarding the cause of the conflict. She should have also understood the needs of the parties to get appropriate and honest answers. To avoid further disputes, she should not have made confrontation of mam and that new joiner because confronting them can also lead to arose of the conflict in the workplace (Brett, & et.al, 2021). These are the measures that I think she should have adopted to resolve the conflict among them and also to achieve a more positive outcome while resolving the conflict.
Past Conflict Experience in an Organization
Finally the conflict between mam and the new joiner was settled and both have compromised on their part and things were back to normal stage as disputes between them were almost sorted and they were almost behaving normal with each other. I think that if in future another similar dispute in the workplace would have arisen then the mediator should find the solution to the problem which has taken the shape of disputes in the workplace. The mediator should not focus on what went wrong and whose mistake it was instead of looking on how things can get better in the future (Olofsson, 2022). The first priority of the mediator should be to analyse and resolve the existing problem which has resulted into a conflict between both the parties. The mediator should also ensure that each side of the parties should be comfortable and must have the opportunity to present their view point on the dispute without any interruption from another side of the party. The mediator should also make impartial decisions that should help in settling the conflict among them and must also ensure that there should not be any irrelevant fact presented in front of them which can hurt the sentiments of either of the party (Obi, 2021). The mediator should stay neutral while solving the disputes among the parties. In addition, he or she should also take relevant steps to follow the ethical guidelines at the workplace. According to communication theory of mediation, the mediator should firstly listen to the words of both the parties and must have a clear communication with them before coming to nay conclusion. She should also ensure to understand both the parties perceptions and must also try to negotiate and compromise among them for the positive outcome out of the disputes among them. She should always try to negotiate between the parties to avoid further disputes at the workplace and I think if the mediator take these measures into consideration then things will be normal at the workplace and there will be no further conflict at the workplace between the manager and the employee.
Hence it can be concluded that there will be always conflict in workplace but all what matters is how the people are dealing with the problems in an appropriate manner. Mediator who will be involved in solving the conflict must choose the right path in which the conflict can be resolved. The mediator should also come up with the best plan of action to resolve the conflict among both the parties. Resolution of conflict with the support of the mediator can help in coming to a neutral judgement which will not hurt anyone’s sentiments and also make them happy and comfortable with the positive outcomes from the conflict.
References
Kharadze, N. (2021). Organizational conflict management challenges.
https://revistia.com/index.php/ejes/article/view/5412
Folger, J. P., Poole, M. S., & Stutman, R. K. (2021). Working through conflict: Strategies for relationships, groups, and organizations. Routledge.
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003027232/working-conflict-joseph-folger-marshall-scott-poole-randall-stutman
Schieman, S., Badawy, P. J., A. Milkie, M., & Bierman, A. (2021). Work-life conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic. Socius, 7, 237-802.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2378023120982856
Brett, J. M., Ramirez-Marin, J., & Galoni, C. (2021). Negotiation strategy: a cross-cultural meta-analytic evaluation of theory and measurement. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 14(4), 231-265.
https://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/publications/negotiation-strategy-a-cross-cultural-meta-analytic-evaluation-of
Akhavan Tabassi, A., Bryde, D. J., Michaelides, R., & Bamford, D., (n.d). Leaders, Conflict, and Team Coordination: A Relational Leadership Approach in Temporary Organizations. Available at SSRN.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4048126
Olofsson, K. L. (2022). Winners and losers: Conflict management through strategic policy engagement. Review of Policy Research, 39(1), 73-89.
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Qandil, A. I., Hamdan, M. K., Alhussaina, A. I., Al Shobaki, M. J., Abu-Naser, S. S., & El Talla, S. A. (2021). Factors Affecting Of Disputes Resolution in Workplace: UNRWA at Gaza as a Case Study.
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Ulug, O. M., Lickel, B., Leidner, B., & Hirschberger, G. (2021). How do conflict narratives shape conflict-and peace-related outcomes among majority group members? The role of competitive victimhood in intractable conflicts. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 24(5), 797-814.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1368430220915771
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