Learning to communicate efficiently and manage conflict successfully is challenging. Gaining cooperation between people is complex and mentally demanding. Communication ways and conflict styles are deeply woven into our personalities. Conflict is the expressed struggle of interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, interference from the other party in achieving those goals, and the perception of scarce resources. Perceptions are just as important as reality in regards to conflict. As stated in the text, “we encounter conflict as we compete for acceptance, love, recognition, position, power, success, and many other goals. Judgments of the quality of
Accommodating is another way a manager might attempt to resolve conflict. Accommodating is one technique used by a manager who cooperates to a high degree. This may be at the managers own expense and actually work against the managers own goals, objectives and desired outcomes. This approach is effective when the other person is expert or has a better solution.
Conflict is a subject I really don’t care for, as I believe many don’t. It’s not pleasant most times and can be uncomfortable as mentioned in Interpersonal Skills in Organization. Although conflict is not something any of us like to deal with, unfortunately it is a natural part of life, and it is important to know how to address it. We find that controlling our tempers, communicating effectively, and keeping an open mind can make a huge difference. These points were helpful for me since I often times don’t know how to handle conflict when it comes to certain situations, and many times have ignored it with the hope that it would eventually go
What is conflict? Even something as basic as a universal definition for the word conflict seems to vary from source to source. A literature review focusing on conflict defined it as “the interaction of interdependent people who perceive incompatibility and the possibility of interference from others as a result of this incompatibility” (Brinkert 2010). Often times the disagreement results not from a concrete difference, but rather a difference in perception (Ellis & Abbott 2012). One of the most important factors effecting conflict management is the resolution style used. The most often used tool for classifying how conflict is managed is the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (Iglesias & Vallejo 2012).
In this paper I will discuss the conflict that is occurring at General Hospital, the conflict management styles that are evident in the case, and how General Hospital could have used teams to address the cost reductions needed to stay competitive. I will also describe how the CEO of General Hospital, Mike Hammer can us negotiation skills to get buy-in for the cost reductions and finally I will recommend a strategy for Hammer to resolve the problem.
The third form of Conflict management is Accommodation. When the task at hand is more important than the conflict that has arisen and when relationships may be damaged putting the entire project in jeopardy. With this method a team member may minimize the conflict in order to protect the relationship and ultimately the project. Some of the negative aspects in using this
Conflict presents in various forms which occur in many situation and both willing or unwilling affect
1. Concept: Conflict strategies are defined by two separate means: whether something is competitive/ nasty in nature or cooperative/ nice in nature and whether it is directly confronted or avoided indirectly. This creates four categories that that accurately describes how the conflict was handled as either direct fighting, indirect fighting, negotiation, or no-confrontation. The specific topic that will be discussed is Indirect Fighting in which the situation is avoided but in a competitive manner which conveys displeasure with the situation.
The desire to satisfy the concerns of others, which shows itself in non-assertive behavior. These represent two behavioral dimensions and provide the basis for conflict-handling modes.
|Competing, where each individual is |to be able to accomplish what must happen, |because it denotes a winner or looser |
Avoiding typically leads to unsatisfying relationships, while avoiding isn’t always an atrocious idea. Accommodating is a lose-win it occurs when you allow others to have their way rather than asserting your point of view. If accommodation is a genuine act of kindness, generosity, or love, then the chances are favorable leading to enhancing the relationship. People from high-context, or collectivist backgrounds are likely to regard avoidance and accommodating as face-saving. Competing is a win-lose, and appears when there is a high level of self concern, and a low level of concern for others. Direct aggression arises when a communicator expresses a criticism or demand that threatens the face of another. Passive aggression occurs when a communicator expresses hostility in an obscure or manipulative way. Compromising is a lose-lose, and presents both parties a minimal fix of what they desire, although they both sacrifice part of their goals. Compromising actually negotiates a solution where both lose something, while leaving both parties
Each person has a characteristic personality. Such a style reflects our unique wants, needs, and values. In conflicts, there are specific global patterns that can be identified that are reflective of how individuals deal with such challenges. These global patterns consist of five approaches to conflict management: Competing, Collaborating, Compromising, Avoiding, and Accommodating.
However, this paper will describe whether I feel confident when I enter conflict situations or whether I feel that my behavior leaves something to be desired, my strengths and areas requiring enhancements in conflict situations, and the behaviors or skills that I wish to enhance. Also, a worksheet would be completed to: identify the specific behaviors that I wish to change, explain what I will do to effect change in these areas, and explain how I will know whether I have achieved my goals.
1. When I took the Conflict-Handling Style self-assessment, I realized that my primary and backup conflict-handling styles are Compromising and Accommodating. I was not surprised by these results, since I usually try to come to a compromise in all conflict situations. I am generally able to do this by accommodating others’ interests as well as staying true to my own. I thought I score highly in the Collaborating style as well, which came in third place on my assessment. It seems as though the Collaborating style is a combination of the Compromising and Accommodating styles, yet it is more of a lengthy process.
An accommodating manager is also known as a “smoothing” or “obliging” manager (Hemmer, 2003). Accommodating is allowing the desires of the other party to prevail. This resolution reflects low assertiveness and high cooperativeness. Accommodating may be an appropriate conflict-handling strategy when a manager wants to show reasoning, develop performance, create good will, and to keep peace.