Understanding conflict management in the workplace - Essay Example

?Running head: understanding conflict management in the workplace 14th November Introduction Inthe day to day operations of a business, individuals within the teams may engage in arguments which may lead to conflicts that may jeopardize the operations or be of benefit to a business. Conflicts refers to the situation that arises when the interests of a group or an individual crashes with those of another person or group in such a way that strong emotions are aroused (Laurie, 1989). There are various levels of conflicts including intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, intergroup, intraorganisational and Interorganisational. This paper aims at understanding the implications of conflicts in organizations and how to avoid their occurrences. Causes of conflicts at work Conflicts in the work places arise from various factors. First are the personality clashes. Based on the fact that each of the employees has his or her own personality, their ideas may differ thus resulting to a crash. Secondly is the dominance issue. During their daily duties, employees are engaged with their managers while in a meeting or other social activities. In the process some employees tend to be authoritative to their colleagues while actually they are not in a management level as a result other employees feel discriminated resulting to a conflict (Norwood, 2002). One of the issues that caused a conflict at Peytons General Supplies, my place of work was the failure to communicate openly and honestly. One of our sales executive took a client who belonged to another sales representative without communicating it and started selling our brands to him. After the two learnt they are dealing with the same client a conflict emerged that called for the intervention of the director. Another cause of conflict in my organization is stressful situations. Based on our busy schedule, I have noticed that some of my colleagues have been engaged in conflicts and when we intervene in our efforts to solve the issue, we realize that they are mostly stressed. Climate of mistrust and competition among the employees is another cause of conflicts in both at small and large firms. Stages in the development of conflict One of the most essential aspects of conflict to note is that it does not occur abruptly but it is a process. Within an organization, it is vital for individual to identify the basis stages of conflict in order to handle it effectively. Conflicts happen in eight stages. The first one is the situation where there is no conflict. During this stage, employees are working normally. Secondly is the latent conflict. This implies that there is small but hidden conflict among the individuals or teams. The third stage is the emergence. During this stage, the actual conflicts occur. However, only the subjects involved in the conflicts are aware of it. During escalation which is the fourth stage, the conflicts grow and it is possible for any one around to see that there is a conflict between the parties. The fifth stage is the stalemate. During this stage, each of the parties involved blames the other and becomes hard for anyone to settle the conflict. Stalemate may stay for a long time thus individuals intervening to solve the conflict must use effective tactics to bring together the parties involved in the conflict. The sixth stage is the De-escalation. This means that the conflicts starts to decrease and the parties involved can now meet and try to settle their differences. The seventh stage is settlement or resolution. This entails coming up with the solution to the cause of the conflict. The last stage is peace building and reconciliation. After the conflict, it is fundamental that the parties engage in regular meetings and discuss issue that affects them as a way of creating peace. Effects of conflict on individual and team performance at work Conflict is one of the key issues that can cause reduction in the productivity of the employees as well as the profitability of a firm. At the individual level, conflict result to lack of morale to do work. This is based on the fact that an employee is not able to concentrate. Similarly, individuals involved in conflicts undergo psychological withdrawal. This is caused by the feeling that they are not recognised by the other party a situation that makes them feel inferior. Individual involved in a conflict suffer from increased stress. Based on the fact that some of the parties may be sick or they are having personal or family problems, conflict at work places makes them suffer stress that may significantly affect their performance (Schaller-Demers, 2008). Distorted communication is another effect among the individuals. This is a key aspect that my colleagues at Peytons General Supplies displayed after they were engaged in the conflict inside the sales executives office. Individuals are usually angry during conflict an aspect that makes them have poor pronunciation of word resulted to a distorted communication with their colleagues leading to poor performance of their duties. Conflict also affects the performance of a team in various ways. First, there is lack of cooperation between members of the team. This is based on the fact that parties involved in the conflict views each other as an enemy thus they cannot work together. Secondly, teams are affected by poor working relationships (Myers and Larson, 2005). Team that are involved in a conflict do not have time to meet and discuss important issues not because their members are busy but because of negative perception that they have towards the other team. Poor working relationships are major cause of failure of a firm regardless of its size or managers skills. Despite the negative implications of conflict on individuals, it has some notable benefits. For example, it increases job satisfaction. In cases where an individual is deemed to have not done a mistake while attending to his or her duties, such an employee feel motivated and satisfied with his action. Secondly, conflicts develop individual potential. Employees who are able to solve a conflict by themselves realize that they have the ability to solve issues that may affect their colleagues of organization in future. On the part of the teams, conflicts encourage a team to do better to avoid being involved in future differences with other teams. Secondly, teams are stimulated to new ideas and working practices. During the settlement stage of conflict, members of the team involved in a conflict are usually involved in the process an aspect that provides an opportunity for generation of new ideas. Ways to minimizing and resolving conflict in the workplace Managers have a vital role in their firms of ensuring minimal possibility of occurring of conflicts. First, they should ensure there is clarification of goals and objectives of their firm. This implies that goals that are shared by the teams or individuals should be clear to avoid misunderstandings among the workers (Rupp et al, 2006). Secondly, managers should employ skills during distribution of resources. For example, if they want to increase their remuneration they should use a legal tactics that will not cause a conflict among the employees. Similarly, managers should employ their own knowledge during appointments to avoid conflicts among the existing and new employees. Managers should also learn to use non-monetary rewards where financial resources are limited. Being a major source of motivation, non-monetary rewards such as promotion, job design, flexible working hours and increased responsibilities are essential strategies of avoiding conflicts. Another notable way that managers can reduce conflicts is by use of personnel policies and procedures. This means that managers should pay more attention to procedures such as job evaluation, system of rewards, appeals and grievances as well as recognition of trade unions and their officials. Promoting a positive atmosphere in order to minimize the adverse effects of conflict One of the ways of that managers cab adopt in order to create a positive atmosphere is building trust among the employees. By ensuring that the employees trust each other the chances of misunderstandings is low. Secondly, managers should ensure that adequate, effective and open communication in their firm. In this way, employees will have chances to communicate to their leaders and fellow employees thus reducing adverse effects of conflicts. Creation of team spirit is another significant way that managers can employ to curb conflicts. Through team work, employees have a spirit of togetherness thus creating conducive working environment (Ash, 1992). Managers should also provide a positive physical environment. This can be done by providing facilities that the employees will need during their duties such as libraries, entertainment rooms, meeting rooms, kitchens and wash rooms among others. Conclusion Based on the above discussion, in the day to day activities of a business, conflicts are deemed to occur either between individuals or between team. Based on their negative implication such as reduced morale, lack of cooperation and lack of communication among others it is the duty of managers to ensure that conflicts are resolved in an amicable way. Even though conflicts have positive implications such as individual growth and generation of new ideas among others, they jeopardize the operations of a firm in most cases. This implies that managers must take all necessary measures to avoid diverse effects of conflicts in their firms. References Ash, G. 1992. Cultural Contexts and Scientific Change in Psychology. American Psychologist, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 198–207. Laurie, J. 1989. Management and Organizational Behaviour. London: Sage. Myers, L and Larson, R. 2005. Preparing students for early work conflicts. Business Communication Quarterly, 68(3), 306-317. Norwood, H. 2002. Strikebreaking and Intimidation. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. Rupp, E., Baldwin, A and Bashshur, M. 2006. Using developmental assessment centers to foster workplace fairness. Psychologist-Manager Journal, 9(2), 145-170. Schaller-Demers, D. 2008. Conflict: A Catalyst for Institutional Change. Journal of Research Administration, 39(2), 81-90. Read More