An Article From Fast Company

In today’s organizations conflict and power are important elements to the success of any company but can also create negative long term impacts if not addressed. Organizations require enough power within the leaders to get through conflict and enough conflict within individuals to create new innovations. Not all conflict is bad but when there is conflict individuals with power must assist in aligning conflict resolution to assist in understanding for everyone involved in the conflict. The need for successful conflict resolution is vital for employees so that they are capable of moving on and understanding why the conflict was overcome.

In today’s world teamwork is being utilized by companies across the globe. Employers are seeing the value of teamwork and what can be accomplished when people put the strengths together. These teams consist of people from different cultures with different personalities. Conflict is inevitable when it comes to group dynamics. Conflict resolution is necessary to keep the group functioning efficiently. This paper will analyze group dynamics and focus on conflict resolution by way of communication.

Conflict results from real or perceived opposition to one’s values, actions, desires or general interests. Conflicts may occur internally or externally between individuals or groups; conflict within a team environment can cause frustration, and occasionally anger. However, conflict resolution can also often generate positive results for the team. Conflict management skills remain in demand; conflict may be managed successfully by reaching an agreement that satisfies the needs of both the individual(s) and the team as a whole

Conflict arises from various sources in the team setting (Capozzoli, 1995). The most common causes of conflict are values, attitudes, needs, expectations, perceptions, resources, and personalities. As we are all raised with different values, morals come into play when the team issue deals directly or indirectly with ones values, morals, or ethics. Conflicting attitudes can bring about problems as two or more team members prove to have differing goals in mind. Individual needs can cause rifts within a team when they are not satisfied. The expectations of team members are not the same on how the goal will be met. We all have different perceptions of life situation and interpret them differently. The lack of resources needed to complete a task can cause conflict. Differing personalities play a major role in team conflict.

Conflict Levels – Effective teams maintain a perfect level of negative and positive conflicts. At times disagreement is encouraged to lessen the likelihood of groupthink.

There are different conflict management styles, the dictatorial style, which insists that things are addressed their way and the low self -esteem style, which just allows others to have it their way. It is up to the individual to decide which way works for them. Additionally, the abdicator handles conflict by bowing out or walking away. This method is unhealthy because it robs the offended growth opportunity, which results from working through issues (Pegues, 2009, p.49). Another style is the collaborator, which often involves cooperation and pulling together to reach a common purpose and are emotionally balanced.

While conflict can be a healthy part of an organization, conflict managed poorly has significant impact on an organization. What further exacerbates this issue is when there is an imbalance of power. This paper examines the relationship of conflict and power. It will address how imbalance of power can impede one’s efforts in managing conflict in the workplace. It will also identify ideas on how to integrate ways to mediate conflict into the culture. Lastly, the paper will use a case study to illustrate these concepts.

“Team conflict may occur among members hailing from different fields of professions, such as in a cross-functional project team, or between line workers (who work directly with the product or service) and staff teams (who provide behind-the-scenes support). It may also occur as a result of perceived inequities in group member status or productivity, personality differences, or other work-related problems.” (Organizational Communication, 2010, pg 223).

52). This common belief among users of this style drives them to search for answers using all of the tools at the team’s disposal. The different dynamics of the team become assets. They see the differences that distinguish the members of the team as points of view are respected and viewed objectively. Differences like a male versus a female’s perspective, race, culture, and even social or economic status are viewpoints that give all in the team a bigger picture of the different issues they may need to consider when coming to a conclusion about how best to achieve their goal. Though this style is thought of as the best route for teams to use, it is also one of the most difficult. Even a person who has a natural talent or personality that promotes this style of conflict management has to practice to be effective using this style in a team setting. A person cannot be judgmental and must be sure not to take anything said personally. This is something that most if not all of the team members must have an awareness of. All team members have to feel comfortable with the results and with what was given up from their own personal point of view to arrive at the team’s decision. This style is also very demanding so it requires a good amount of patience. Depending on how quick a decision is needed it is not always possible for a team to achieve and some in the team may not believe that their best interests were achieved.

Teams without conflict tend to be less innovative due to the creative function of conflict. Conflict’s creative function comes from the necessity of varying perspectives to reach a consensus. Indeed, “teams tend to make higher quality decisions when dissent exists about the wisest course of action” (Sidle, ρ.75). Dissent and conflict forces team members to think outside of the normal realm of experience and knowledge to realize a collaborative solution.

Conflict is divided into five levels such as interpersonal, intrapersonal, intergroup, intragroup, and interorganizational. Conflict is always present in organizational settings. It could either be a goal conflict which happens when the desired outcomes are incompatible, cognitive conflict in which ideas or thoughts are inconsistent or affective conflict where feelings and emotions are do not go together. To measure individual’s response to conflict the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument developed in 1974 as a conflict style inventory could be used (Soard,2017).

Task conflict is often considered to have a positive impact on teams because it improves effectiveness and acceptance of outcomes through increased discussion of alternative ideas (Medina et al 2005, p. 220). [13] However, some studies have found task conflict to negatively effect team performance (De Dreu & Weingart 2003, p. 734-747). According to DeChurch and Marks (2001, p. 5) how task conflict is managed determines whether its impact on teams is positive or negative. De Dreu and Van Vianen (2001, p. 312) suggest that collaboration, working together to find an acceptable solution, is most effective in managing task conflict. [14] In Andrew Bartlett 's business, the task conflict relates to the unfair distribution of jobs and apportioning of blame in the Bunbury office. In addition, the lack of communication within the team indicates that, in this situation, the conflict is of no benefit, as it does not produce increased discussion.

For many of us, every day is a struggle to avoid conflict. Yet avoidance is practically impossible since the core characteristics, ideas and beliefs of each individual often conflict with our own. Differences of opinion, competitive zeal, and misinterpretations, among other factors, can all generate ill feelings between co-workers within an organization. While we can’t avoid conflict, we can learn how to sidestep negative confrontations by becoming familiar with the types of conflicts that most commonly arise in the work place and by learning how to resolve them.

Moreover, the results of the study supported their argument that conflict can contribute to effective teamwork. The article conveys that task conflicts and relational conflicts can have a positive or negative effect on the organization depending how the approach is handled. According to Edwin Locke’s “Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior,” relationship conflicts are based on “personality clashes and can be detrimental to team morale and the team performance” (Weingart & Jehn, 2009, p. 327). Task conflicts can be beneficial to any organization, only if managed when collaboration between two or more individuals share values and work together towards a common goal. The findings of this study show that facing the conflict at hand improved the worker’s attitudes. The findings also suggested that team members who openly approach conflict will improve their performance. According to the article, “avoiding conflict does not mean conflict disappears; eventually, avoiding types of conflict will result in competition” among members of the team (Tjosyold, Chun, Ding, & Hu, 2003). Competition will disrupt the work environment and may not result in positive outcome for the team or the organization. According to research, competitive interaction will allow members of a team to outdo one another. This could result in negative consequences such as the team members will not utilize each

The important issue, however, is not whether or not a conflict exists, but how it is handled once it is identified. Conflict can be detrimental to the team effort when it is not addressed quickly, but allowed to grow and widen the gap between those team members whose opinions differ from each other. This tension can lead to decreased productivity and low team spirits, which can negatively affect the entire organization. On the other hand, if conflict is identified and addressed by following a structured process and by involving everyone affected by the conflict, it can result in personal progress for all team members. Another benefit of this progress is the discovery of an actual solution to the initial problem is derived from the conflict.