Effective Conflict Management In The Workplace

The Role of a Manager in Conflict Management

Question:

Write an essay on “Conflict and Negotiation Management”.
 

The topic chosen to prepare this paper is conflict management. The role of a manager is to handle and manage all kinds of conflicts that arrive at the workplace. There are three main measures that can be managed effectively and professionally for creating a positive effect. Emotions play a critical role in managing conflict as it threatens or enhances relationship among colleagues. This paper focuses on different kind of methods and approaches to deal with conflicts. For managing conflicts, the behaviour of the team members or colleagues in the organization must be enhanced. Methods such as feedback can be followed so that the people can assess themselves and their behaviours (Helms and Oliver 2015).

As a manager, I need to ensure that the emotional charges do not outweigh conflict and become dysfunctional. For resolving a conflict, one needs to identify it from an independent perspective. This paper states different ways to prevent and manage conflicts. As an organization has different people with some shared purpose or objective, there are different perspectives that may possibly lead to conflicts. A high performance team can be formed by respecting and accepting each others’ differences (Driskill and Brenton 2011). The differences can be explained in terms of values and norms on the basis of which effective conflict management can be conducted. Conflict management is one of the strongest characteristics for a manager. Conflicts can be based on different opinions and different signs of discord and must be averted for further conflict escalation (Way, Jimmieson and Bordia 2016).  

Good relationship cannot be established without good internal communication. Since different people have different opinions towards the same subject. In the global world, business communication is necessary to conduct business. The two types of communication are organizational and external communication. It is risky for an organization to have too many conflicts. Human relations cannot be well established without communication. Effective and active communication is not only required for maintaining good relations, but also for achieving efficient business performance. However, conflicts can be useful in making correct decisions and helps in overcoming obstacles in the business (Wilensky 2015).

Conflict in an Organization

Conflict can be defined is a process of social situation and interaction where the activities of individuals are in a disagreement. A stage of organizational conflict occurs when the colleagues are incompatible with the others in their network. There is a state of dissonance, disagreement and incompatibility among the colleagues at the organization (Lipsky 2015). There are various approaches or types of organizational conflict:

Vertical conflicts occur when the supervisor is always instructing its employees to complete his job. This conflict occurs when the organizational structure possesses a high degree of formality (Gelfand et al. 2012).

Horizontal conflicts occur when the employees belong to the same hierarchical level. The conflicts occur when there is a difference in opinion, ideas or interests (de Wit, Greer and Jehn 2012).

Line staff conflicts occur between the line employees belonging to the same department of an organization (Vaara et al. 2012).

Methods for Managing Conflicts

Role conflicts occur from fallacious understanding for employees when the role is unclear at a specific amount of time (Kerzner 2013).

The two types and causes of conflicts are: personal and organizational conflicts. The personal conflicts can be caused due to the following reasons;

Inappropriate communication- The errors arise from the inability or miscommunication from listening. The errors may be caused if information is lost in the process while conducting upward and downward communication. It may also be caused due to inadequate understanding or difference in the emotional status in the moment of communication (Jung, Park and Lee 2012).

Personal characteristics- This is another reason that causes conflicts in case of personal disliking. Different people have different personalities and when they work together, it may lead to conflict (Gelfand et al. 2012).

Distrust- Trust is the foundation of good relations. It adds value and confidence among the members. The five important dimensions are competence, integrity, loyalty and openness and consistency. When there is suspiciousness and the foundation dwindles, it may lead to conflict (Gelfand et al. 2012).

Organizational causes of conflict can be caused using organizational design, characteristics and resources such as budgeting, decision-making and compensations. A few causes of organizational conflicts are:

Differentiation of organizational units- The different functional units in the organization such as manufacturing, sales, purchasing and operations are required daily in the organization. There is a difference in working manners and culture due to presence of many people in the different functional areas (Bresman and Zellmer-Bruhn 2013).

Dependence in work activities- In an organization, the colleagues depend on each other for certain work. If one colleague has not finished his job, the other person who is depending on his work may create conflict.

Sharing limited resources- Resources may be for information technology, financial, human resources and redistribution of employees may be insufficient for conducting activities effectively. This reason may lead to conflict.

Compensation system- This system has a direct influence of the employees’ behaviour as the different variables such as salaries, rewards and incentives may not be acceptable to employees. The employees may be dissatisfied which would lead to conflict (Hopeck et al. 2014).

Conflict Process

According to Louis R. Pondy’s approach, there are five stages of conflict process:

Latent conflict stage- This is the first stage in which the conflict is hidden and may be caused due to difference in goals, insufficient resources and orientation towards the organization.

Conflict perception stage- This is the second stage in which the parties become aware of the latent conflict. Various perceptions are formed in this stage as it goes unrecognized in the latent stage (Moore 2014).

Tangible conflict- The conflicts is personalized in this stage as it takes the tangible form such as stress, tensions, anxiety and other uncomfortable feelings (Moore 2014).

Manifested conflict stage- In this stage, the conflict behaviour such as apathy to open aggression would be opposite to organizational rules (Moore 2014).

Consequence stage- In the final stage, the conflict is e

Figure 1: Conflict Process according to Pondy’s model

Source: Created by Author

Another model that is quoted in the conflict management theory are the stages same as that of Pondy’s model. 

            Figure 2: Conflict Management Process

The Importance of Communication in Conflict Management

Source: Created by Author

Diagnosis- It is the most critical element of the conflict management process that involves problem recognition. It is possible to recognize and analyze an effective intervention. It is necessary to find out conflicts in the organization as it would explore strategies for solving conflicts (Buckley and Caple 2014).

Intervention- After diagnosis, it is important to carry intervention of the conflicts following process or structural approach. In the process approach, the intensity of conflicts is recognized for matching different styles of handling conflicts. In the structural approach, organizational effectiveness may be improved for altering perceptions of the conflict (Buckley and Caple 2014).

Conflict- The two issues or dimensions in conflicts are related to emotional and interpersonal issues. These two types are the conflicts that occur in the workplace, as discussed in the previous section (Buckley and Caple 2014).

Learning and effectiveness- The major objectives of managing conflict are to enhance organizational learning involving knowledge acquisition, interpretation and distribution. There are processes and structures for collective learning (Buckley and Caple 2014).

According to Thomas-Kilman instrument (TKI), there are five approaches of managing conflict that can be described along two dimensions: assertiveness and cooperativeness. The TKI is ideal for conflict management, team building, leadership development, performance improvement, stress reduction and retention (Cpp.com 2016).

Figure 3: Thomas-Kilman Instrument for Conflict Management

Source: (Cpp.com 2016)

Accommodating- The accommodating strategy occurs when one wants to create goodwill or show that they are reasonable. The skills of an accommodator are obedience and selflessness. It may lead to be restricted influence, overlooked ideas and loss of contribution if is overused. In case it is underused, it may lead to low morale and lack of rapport among individuals (Brown 2012).

Avoiding- The strategy helps in putting conflict off indefinitely. For managing conflict, the person may have low concern for self and others. It is a situation in which the issues are left unresolved and others are allowed to take ownership (McDermott 2012).

Competition- It is easy to recognize a competitor as they are only concerned about winning. They are low on the cooperative scale and high on assertiveness. If the competition is underused, it may lead to indecision or delayed action. If the competition is overused, it may lack feedback and reduce learning (McDermott 2012).

Compromise- A compromiser seeks way to meet each party’s needs. A compromiser demonstrates skills of moderation and negotiation. An overuse of compromise means a loss of the big picture perspective and lack of trust.  If it is underused there may be frequent power struggles and unnecessary confrontations (Brown 2012).

Collaboration- A collaborator demonstrates empathy, understanding and ability to listen. In collaboration, the person is high on cooperativeness and assertiveness. The object is to find a creative solution acceptable to everyone (Pietersen, 2014).

The Dynamic Conflict Model

The dynamic conflict model focuses on the ways in which cues affect conflict resolution in positive or negative ways. The model separates affective and cognitive conflicts. Cognitive conflicts are task-focused conflicts that would de-escalate conflicts. Contrarily, affective conflicts are more focused on emotional issues that would escalate conflicts (Kaufman and Kaufman 2015).

Types and Causes of Organizational Conflicts

Figure 4: Dynamic-Conflict Model

Source: (Kaufman and Kaufman 2015)

Conflict management helps in allowing groups to talk about disagreements and issues, allowing the people to transfer or share information. Several variables such as openness help in opening conversations and confront arguments. The conflict management positively affects team building. There is a possibility of development and innovation of ideas with conflict resolution. It would enhance team performance and detract it.

Thomas- Kilman Model

 

Figure 5: Conflict Management Model

Conflict is a natural part since no two individuals have the same desires or expectations. The Thomas-Kilmann instrument has been a leader for managing conflict all these years. The instrument does not require any special qualification for administration. There is no need to bring any professional for assistance (Trippe and Baumoel 2015).

Every conflict situation has people who have incompatible opinions and can be described along two basic dimensions- assertiveness and cooperativeness. Assertiveness is a behaviour in which the individual attempts to satisfy his own concerns. Cooperativeness is a behaviour in which the individual tries to satisfy other’s concerns (Trippe and Baumoel 2015). The five approaches are:

Accommodating- The approach can be used in circumstances where there is a need for better solution. The circumstances where the employees must be developed through experimenting and learning can also be used in accommodating (Trippe and Baumoel 2015).

Competing- The approach can be followed in case of emergency where quick decision is vital. The approach shall also be beneficial when there is a need to protect oneself from others who take advantage of incompetent behaviour (Trippe and Baumoel 2015).

Compromising- This approach is used when the two parties have equal power and equally committed goals. The approach can be used to here is a need to arrive to a solution under stress and time pressure (Trippe and Baumoel 2015).

Avoiding- This approach shall be used when an issue is more important than the other. The potential costs are high in comparison with the benefits of the conflict resolution (Trippe and Baumoel 2015).

Collaborating- This approach shall be used when I need to find an integrative solution and the concerns of both parties are important (Trippe and Baumoel 2015).

The cues that others might look for in using the model chosen by me would have different perspectives.

Conflict	Healthy Response	Unhealthy Response
Interpersonal Conflict	A few healthy responses are control over emotions, respectful of difference of understanding and opinions, and development of growth between the relationships (Yarnell and Neff 2013).	A few responses may result in anger, resentful actions and other negative emotions that are a failure from perspectives or both parties (Yarnell and Neff 2013).
Intrapersonal Conflict	A few responses may be moving from past decisions, learning from mistakes and believe in himself. One may seek advice from family, friends and professional advice for coping strategies (de Wit, Greer and Jehn 2012).	A few unhealthy responses can be indecisiveness, anxiety, confusion, and stress. The person may be angry within themselves (de Wit, Greer and Jehn 2012).

Conclusion

For managing conflicts, the behaviour of the team members or colleagues in the organization must be enhanced. A high performance team can be formed by respecting and accepting each others’ differences. The two types of communication are organizational and external communication. Effective and active communication is not only required for maintaining god relations, but also for achieving efficient business performance. A stage of organizational conflict occurs when the colleagues are incompatible with the others in their network. The errors may be caused if information is lost in the process while conducting upward and downward communication. Different people have different personalities and when they work together, it may lead to conflict.

Organizational causes of conflict can be caused using organizational design, characteristics and resources such as budgeting, decision-making and compensations. In an organization, the colleagues depend on each other for certain work. Various perceptions are formed in this stage as it goes unrecognized in the latent stage. Conflict management process involves solving conflicts, instead of reducing, eliminating and limiting the duration. In the structural approach, organizational effectiveness may be improved for altering perceptions of the conflict. Cognitive conflicts are task-focused conflicts that would de-escalate conflicts. Contrarily, affective conflicts are more focused on emotional issues that would escalate conflicts. The conflict management positively affects team building. 

References

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