Conflict is generally defined as a serious disagreement or an argument. Conflict is the “competition between interdependent parties who perceive that they have incompatible needs, goals, desires or ideas. Interdependent parties are two people who have some connection to each other and depend on each other in some way to accomplish tasks,” (Modaff & Butler, 2008, p. 181). This indicates that the conflict can be personal, where people do not get along or have prejudices against one another that leads to an escalation. Team conflict is broadly defined as “a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party” (Chiaburu & Takleab, 2005, p. 673). As well as that, conflicts can be idea related, when employees have different ideas and argue whose way is better.
Conflicts often take place in a business setting, where human interaction is unavoidable. At times, “if members realise that their arguments about the task assist them in reaching a better or excellent decision, they may promote critical debate and task conflicts in future interaction” (Jehn 1995, p. 256). Since conflict seems to be unavoidable, thus it is necessary for managers to be able to recognise the source of the conflict.
There are three types of conflicts that can happen in the workplace, such as relationship, task and process conflict. Relationship conflict “exists when there are interpersonal incompatibilities among team members which lead to tension, animosity and annoyance” (Jehn 1995, p. 258). Task conflict exists when the content of the tasks being performed, including differences in viewpoints, ideas, and opinions. Process conflict emerges when there are disagreements on the way things are done. There are three ways to manage conflict: internally, externally and through a state-sponsored commission. Internal conflict resolution involves managers or team leaders, who can resolve relationship conflict. External conflict resolution involves inclusion of a third party such as HR to help. State-sponsored commission way to resolving conflicts, involves hiring an external mediator.
Conflict in the workplace can often be positive, resulting in better ideas and solutions emerging from conflicting perspectives. It encourages the development of new concepts and motivates employees to ask for help, clarify roles, revisit assumptions about the use of resources, set and plan for deadlines and timelines, and allocate work more effectively.
A cost of workplace conflict can include lost productivity, lost revenue, high turnover, low morale, decreased team energy and the effort around managing conflict. Low productivity will lead to the lower output levels that leads to less sales. This will result in lower revenue, which inevitably will cost the workplace money. High turnover will require for more monetary input in hiring process, as well as slowing the workflow progression. Which will lead to less output and less sales. Low morale among team members and co-workers can lead to sabotaging of projects, which will have a negative impact on the company. Decreased team energy will slower the decision making process, efficiency and cause burnouts.
When faced with conflict, people resort to avoidance, accommodation and collaboration. Conflict avoidance is a passive stance, where employees ignore conflict and hope it disappears. Conflict accommodation takes place when one party gives in to another person’s demands. Collaborative conflict management is based on compromising and confrontation to solve the problems. An example of an employee using an avoidance conflict resolution style occurs when Xavier requests to work at the opposite end of the building from Derek, an employee he dislikes. A supervisor should intervene in the conflict when it starts to disrupt the workflow. If the employees cannot resolve the issue by themselves, and the conflict impacts the team, the manager should intervene and mediate.
There are could be some benefits resulting from Diane’s conflict with the company. The resulting conflict can motivate the workplace to employ the formal procedures, and turn the company into a more formal organization. The conflict can be productive because it will enable Diane to express her frustrations with the management of the company freely. This conflict could require a mediator, because both parties have unexpressed frustrations and are clearly trying to avoid the conflict. Staffers and Diane might be more open to speaking to the third-party mediator, because it can make them feel safer.
A conflict free group is not immune to change and innovation. Although, conflict in the workplace can often be positive, resulting in better ideas and solutions emerging from conflicting perspectives, conflict is not the main drive for the change and innovation. Improvements and better ideas can be driven by the team members in a motivating environment. Conflict avoidance is a passive stance, where employees ignore conflict and hope it disappears. Disputants may choose to ignore one another or forget, at least superficially, about the grievance. People, who respond to conflict this way, often expect negative outcomes and find it difficult to trust the other person’s reaction.
The focus of positive conflict management and resolution lies in mending relationships, improving communication, accepting change, all facilitated by effective leadership. Navigating workplace conflict is part of working in a diverse organization and managing conflict is challenging for many people. Managers at all levels need to be able to successfully navigate workplace conflict. Leaders need the skills to coach and guide their teams when workplace conflict arises. There are two types of interpersonal conflicts, substantive and affective conflict. Substantive conflict occurs when team members disagree on a task or process issue. Affective conflict deals with inconsistencies within interpersonal relationships.
Communication is a key to effective management and conflict resolution. Open communication allows teams to successfully resolve their disagreements and develop team cohesion. “The most effective leaders understand that conflict resolution begins with knowing what conflict is, how to manage it, and when to do so. Leaders as mediators have a significant impact on response to change in their organizations through their communication and conflict styles,” (Fusch & Fusch 2015, p.22).
Self-managed conflict resolution involves direct communication between the parties involved. However, for the employees to successfully self-manage their conflict, they have to be trained on the collaborative conflict management. In order to understand and see that the conflict is in fact resolved, in self-managed resolution techniques employees have to be trained to provide the feedback on the conflict. This way, senior management would be able to see the evidence of the resolution. As well as that, I think that senior management should be notified of the conflict occurrence, without participating in the resolution of it. This way will enable the management to be aware, and check on the solution of the problem.
References
Butler, J. A., & Modaff, D. P. (2008). When work is home: Agency, structure, and contradictions. Management Communication Quarterly, 22(2), 232-257.
Chiaburu, D.S., & Tekleab, A.G. (2005). Individual and contextual influences on multiple dimension of training effectiveness. Journal of European Industrial Training, 29 (8), 604-626.
Fusch, P. I., & Fusch, G. E. (2015). Leadership and conflict resolution on the production line. International Journal of Applied Management and Technology, 14(1), 7.
Jehn, K. A. (1995). A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Administrative science quarterly, 256-282.