Assignment : Task Conflict And Development Of New And Creative Opportunities

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

People work in groups or teams everyday whether in their career, education, political organization, church, or any other social setting. Conflict while working in teams or groups is inevitable. When taking people of different backgrounds, personalities, moral, and ethical beliefs and putting them together in a group, conflict will arise. The key to achieving your team goals is to construct and conquer your goals with keeping the greater good of the team in mind. Conflict as it arises should be combated and abated through swift and thorough resolution techniques. When dealt with properly conflict resolution can give rise to a cohesive and productive team.

A basic view about conflict is that it is a bad and destructive. However, conflict is not something bad at all times, sometimes if a conflict’s outcome can increase group performance and improve the quality of decision, according to Organizational Behavior, it is considered as a functional conflict outcome. Conflicts can help solve problems better and increase the understanding of the team. “Remember the Titans” is seen to have a functional conflict outcome, which is why they won every game they played.

Disagreements are unavoidable in any business. A humble stage of disagreement can be helpful in creating enhanced thoughts and approaches, stimulating apprehension and resourcefulness, and motivating the appearance of long-suppressed tribulations. Conflict resolution approach must intend at keeping disagreement at a stage at which different thoughts and viewpoints are completely voiced but uncreative conflicts are discouraged. Encouragement of conflict situations is suitable if the project leader recognizes circumstances of 'group-think.' Group-think is a circumstance where disagreement hardly ever occurs because of high-minded group unity, which results in poor choices and insufficient production. Group-think conquers when there are a large number of members in a group that just agree with anything, with the outcome that there is no grim assessment of the circumstances and innovative thoughts are not recommended. Group members connect larger significance to status, stillness and calm in the group relatively than to procedural capability and capability. Members are unwilling to voice their impartial outlook in order to shun away from offending the

Barbara Bowes discusses three major causes for conflict: different interests/goals, conflicting values, and interpersonal styles (2008). Even though a team has the same ultimate goal, the intermediate steps to reach this goal may be unparallel. Imagine if Ray Kroc, fast-food restaurateur, and a gourmet chef teamed up to open a restaurant. What conflicts might transpire? The team may have the same definitive goal in mind, but the two would more than likely be dealing with the issue of quality versus convenience. The second

Participative Leadership: This approach is best suited when the leaders believe in-group discussion and focus on mutual participation. This approach is also best when followers in the team or in a group are expert and their advice is both needed and they expect to be able to give it (Dessler, G.

A participative leader is someone who seeks out the views and input of those around them. The basic idea is to involve more people in the process by treating them as an equal and empowering the work environment. The way that this impacts current beliefs is to transform how everyone sees their role inside the organization. When this happens, they are motivated to do more and share their opinions with others. ("Leadership Styles," 1997) (Bishop, 2009)

Tolbert explains that there are four leadership styles that has an impact on the decision making in an organization. These four styles include authoritarian which involves making decisions independently, consultative, which is gathering information from group members, delegative which involves providing relevant information to one or more group members and allowing them to make decisions and group based involves the group to formulate a problem and possible solutions. (Tolbert, 2009) Research shows that leaders who are more interpersonally oriented and more participative has more of better outcome because they have followers with high satisfaction. Also, the outcome depends on the organization’s goals. For example, if the managers want high productivity, then an authoritative style may be better.

Another research study examined the dynamics of different groups and how conflict can be studied by understanding these dynamics. Groups that adapt a cooperative style to functioning together view conflict as a common issue that needs to be addressed as a group. (Somech et al, 2009) On the other hand, groups that chose a more competitive approach tend to perceive conflict as a conflict of interest where one member's personal interests and goals may have a significant distance from the rest of the group. Teams where individuals are cooperative view conflict resolution as more beneficial to the entire group and understands that this will allow the group to perform well and complete it tasks. However, in order for groups to be cooperative, individual members need to share the same perspective and resonate with a strong team identity. (Somech et al, 2008) It is only when members of the group have a strong sense of team identity are they able to perceive conflicts as a mutual problem that needs to be resolved to benefit the team. Individuals will need to set aside differences in opinions and interests and construct resolutions that would positively affect the group.

During the predominant leadership roles research, I have determined that I have a participative leadership personality. I have always had a sharing or open to suggestions attitude but working in this type of environment, enhanced the participative personality. A participative leadership style is an organization’s consensus aspect to meet goals (Salahuddin, 2010, p. 2). Participative leadership is a type of management that allows staff members to provide recommendations and input on decision making. It is important to me that management is aware of the strengths and weakness of the employees that they manage. The input provided by staff should be educated and not just random thinking. When using the participative leadership style, management and staff will develop a trusting rapport. I liked being able to share my ideas and the ideas of my team with upper management. Brody and Nair highlights that “participative leaders emphasize relationships and that

While completing the leadership style assessment, it seemed to be a race between participatory and free rein leadership style. After adding up the scores, participatory leadership came out on top. This assessment was accurate do to the fact that it allowed the leader to include the employees and allow them to have a voice. This type of leader possess the skills to include employees in the decision making process, even though the leader has the final say. The employees are free to express their experiences and recommendations. This leads to employees being more skilled, optimistic, satisfied in the work place and inspired.

The dynamics of a team relies heavily on the interaction of team members during times of conflict not just during times of agreement. Often groups seek to achieve a cohesive relationship in an effort to unite the team towards its goals. Group members can make the mistake of subverting conflict in an attempt to maintain this team unity. Conflict serves a valuable role in effective group interactions that must be understood by participants of a team. An examination into the characteristics of conflict and cohesion and the relationship between the two dynamics can provide perspective to

The key strengths of participative leadership style are increased productivity and job satisfaction. When employees are afforded an opportunity to be involved in the organization’s decision making process, they are likely to develop a strong sense of commitment to the organization as well as increase their performance. Job satisfaction is another key strength of this leadership style. Most employees display high levels of job satisfaction when they notice their suggestions and/or recommendations are taken seriously and in some instances implemented within the organization. Additionally, this

In order to mitigate that issue, I acknowledged the issue and addressed the concerns directly. Promotion of the team’s goals and redirection helped the team to refocus without fear. An additional way that I could have mitigated the conflict issues would be to apply the knowledge gained from the study of the Contingency Theory of Task Conflict and Performance.

Participative Style is where decisions are made with the most feasible amount of participation from those who are affected by the leaders’ decision (Grimsley, Participative Leadership Style: Definition, Theory & Examples, 2015). It requires the leader to ask on the team to share ideas and observations in order to come to a decision. Although the team has input into the decision, the leader ultimately has the task of the final decision. Participative leadership can be divided into three subtypes because it encompasses so many forms of behaviours.