“Conflict is defined as any situation in which incompatible goals, attitudes, emotions, or behaviors lead to disagreement or opposition between two or more parties” (Nelson, 2013, p.472). In my line of work, conflict is important and even relished; a collision of ideas, different approaches to achieve goals, and passionate emotions are essential to group and/or individual creativity. “Functional conflict can produce new ideas, learning, and growth among individuals. When individuals engage in constructive conflict, they develop a better awareness of themselves and others. Because it tends to encourage creativity among individuals, this positive form of conflict can translate into increased productivity” (Nelson, 2013, p.472). Focused conflict centered on achieving common goals often generates innovation. I enjoy the passion of my Gen Y employees, and I have learned much from them by leveraging this conflict. Yes, some might see me as “one who starts trouble,” but my intention is to bring out the best of those in my sphere of influence. Over the years, I have learned a few key factors in functional conflict: 1) Debate along the way – don’t hold back and explode down the line, 2) Maintain goal perspective – don’t attack individuals – attack the goal, and 3) Celebrate differences – embracing individual uniqueness generates value. “One effective technique for resolving conflict is to appeal to a superordinate goal—in effect, to focus the parties on a larger issue on which
Although many of us go great lengths to avoid it, sometimes it is just inevitable. People in the workplace setting will always have different ideas, values, and attitudes than others around them. A conflict can arouse in any given setting, and the affect it can have on those involved can either be negative or positive. Depending on the approach and strategies utilized during and after a conflict will determine the result of the conflict. Conflict helps people recognize legitimate differences within an organization or profession and serves as a powerful motivator to improve performance and effectiveness, as well as satisfaction (CCN, 2017). This paper will identify and explore a particular recurring conflict in the
Conflict is a stubborn fact of organizational life. Regrettably, it is an inevitable when organizations incorporate individuals with such diverse scopes of life. As conflict is identified in organizational work teams, an analytical approach to conceptualizing conflict is the first step. Further development will then focus on the different sources of conflict and how it can compromise the common goal of the team if it is not handled correctly. Searching for ways in which to manage conflict and avoid conflicts in work teams will bring together the underlying focus of this paper.
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.
There are two different types of conflicts that could happen in a work place which would be functional and dysfunctional. A functional conflicts is a healthy, constructive disagreement between a groups or individual. A dysfunctional conflict is an unhealthy disagreement that occurs among an individual or groups of employees. A functional conflict will leave employees on a positive note it would only bring awareness to both sides of the issue, improvement of working conditions due to accomplishing solution together, solving issues together to improve overall morale, and making innovation and improvements with an organization. A functional conflict is something everyone is known as a win-win conflict. A dysfunctional conflict stem from emotions and behavioral origins, will have a negative impact for both parties that are having the conflict and the company. Dysfunctional conflicts are commonly known as win-lose conflict (Lombardo, 2003). It is not good for you to try and avoid a work conflict, it only making problems bigger. Work conflicts often happens from communications errors such as poor information, no information and misinformation. Another reason why a work conflict could happen because of emotions. Work place conflicts could emerge in any number of forms but there are some general variety types of conflicts that are repeated on the basis such as conflicts with the boss, conflicts with peers, and
The conflict that is flexible and encourages creativity, innovation or open-mindedness can create a healthy work environment. The adaptive conflict has the opportunity to challenge group thinking. It can push a dynamic group to create a different paradigm of a business. The further new thinking one has, the more innovation the team can be. A system that has the ability to manage and encourage honorable conflict by discovering and opening new doors can be career
Conflict is a fact of life - for individuals, organizations, and societies. The costs of conflict are well-documented - high turnover, grievances and lawsuits, absenteeism, divorce, dysfunctional families, prejudice, fear. What many people don't realize is that well-managed conflict can actually be a force for positive change.
Conflict can and will arise in all business settings. Conflict may not always be a negative aspect, if the conflict can be mediated and constructive, new ideas and projects and can result conversations that start out as conflicts. I personally experience a low amount of conflict, usually because I do my best to avoid it if at all possible. When exposed to conflict, I handle it with an integrating style (McGraw-Hill Connect, 2017). By handling conflict with this style, I have a high concern for others as well as a high concern for myself (Dijkstra, Barelds, Ronner, & Nauta, 2017). I am able work with others towards a solution that will benefit everyone and will include positive aspects of everyone’s
Addressing conflicts is a vital part of my role as deputy manager at Morden College. It is inevitable that conflicts within the team or concerning the team will arise. It is important that conflicts are resolved quickly and effectively to ensure the team continues to work effectively. Conflicts within a team are inevitable and if dealt with in the correct way are constructive as problems can be resolved and this leads to a better understanding of workers within the team.Working within a residential home setting team members not only have to deal with each other but also have to deal with doctors, district nurses, CPN’s, hospital staff, the service users and their families and friends. With such a large group and variety of people conflicts
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 can be defined as a struggle between people with opposing needs, ideas, beliefs, values, or goals (Understanding Conflict and Conflict Management). When conflict occurs in the workplace, it can reduce moral, lower productivity, increase absenteeism, and can ultimately lead to serious or violent crimes (Gatlin, Wysocki, & Kepner, 2002). Studies show that managers spend at least 25% of their time resolving workplace conflict (Gatlin, Wysocki, & Kepner, 2002). Productivity of managers and employees are affected by the amount of conflict they experience on a day to day basis. How much people are affected by different conflicts can be dependent on their personal conflict style. Each individual personality will handle a given situation in a different way.
Conflict is inescapable, having the ability to recognize, understand, and resolve conflicts are important in both personal and professional lives. Myatt (2012) states that conflict in the workplace is unavoidable; if left unresolved, workplace conflict may result in loss of productivity and the creation of barriers that can inhibit creativity, cooperation, and collaboration. It is vital to embrace conflict and address problems through effective conflict-resolution tactics because if not handled appropriately, conflict will escalate. “If not handled properly, conflict may significantly affect employee morale, increase turnover, and even result in litigation, ultimately affecting the overall well-being of
Conflict is a "state of disharmony brought about by differences of impulses, desires, or tendencies" (Rayeski & Bryant, 1994). Although many people and organizations view conflict as an activity that is usually negative and should be avoided, conflict is a natural result of people working
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.
The conflict that I had was a conflict at work which involved employees almost completely ignoring established standards and regulations regarding appropriate use on network and Internet resources. I needed to come up with a solution because assuring that employees and students follow established standards is one of my responsibilities. I work for a large public school district with 10,000 employees and 73,000 students. As a system programmer, I lack the authority to actually dictate a solution to this problem and I am far enough removed from the management ranks where even if I did provide a solution myself, it would not be taken seriously. I decided to use root cause analysis and assemble a team of stakeholders to find the actual cause
Conflict is an occurrence in virtually any organization, regardless of how large or small it may be. It is exceedingly difficult to get people to agree with one another about everything all the time, especially when they are competing for the same resources (Tsang, 2012, p. 84). This difficult is naturally exacerbated when there are stratifications between people, which frequently occurs in organizations. Organizations may have different categories of employers such as those in sale, marketing, finance, human resources, etc. The three main views of conflict which also play a significant part in the resolving of conflict are the traditional, the human relations, and interactionist views. There are points of similarities and differences between all of these views.