TEAMWORK TURMOIL: A Case Study Conflict is inevitable and at times stimulates beneficial or creative thinking. Often conflict is a signal that people are miscommunicating and making different assumptions about what has gone unspoken. The conflict in itself is not the problem. It is the team’s reactions to it that determines the impact, thus causing it to be a negative experience. Conflict or divergence can be destructive or it can be constructive. It is up to the people involved in the conflict to manage the outcome. This gives them an opportunity to articulate their assumptions and figure out a way to come to agreement. In a learning team situation, conflict can arise when the original agreement to work together does not address …show more content…
Delery avoided the conflicts among the group by remaining unusually silent through much of the class and by changing the subject when Prasad and Griffin began to argue. Avoiding or denying the existence of the conflict does not cause it to go away. However, there are times when avoidance is appropriate in the team situation. When the situation gets out of control and emotions are running high, avoidance may be the best approach. Delery gives in and accommodates the others idea to continue the takeaways. This approach is appropriate when the person accommodating does not view the matter as important, or when it is for the group harmony than for an individual perspective on the topic to prevail. Ideally the team would collaborate to find a resolution that satisfies the needs of everyone involved. It requires creative and cooperative efforts. The biggest roadblock to collaboration usually is the amount of time and energy it requires. Collaboration is generally effective when the team has sufficient time to fully explore the needs, perspectives, and preferences of all team members, and when 100% commitment from each person is needed to accomplish team goals (Wisinski 1993). Not everyone on this team is totally committed to the process. The mentor of this group has not provided them with the guidance to manage their conflicts. For this situation, it is best to reschedule the team meeting so that people can collect their thoughts, approach the
While finding a good balance, conflicts will most certainly arise. Conflict resolution strategies must be utilized, for the team to be effective and meet the goals and objective of their assignment. These conflicts may be more evident in certain types of teams more so than in others. Conflict is common when working in teams. Its is important to have team meeting in order to lay out potential problems and disagreements and prepare to support the teams final decision. (Weinstein, 2007)
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.
Conflict among team members is a challenge which always seems to be occurring in one way or another over a small period of time or larger. Conflict can be formed in many different ways and if unresolved can lead to more severe consequences. Having strategies in place can help leaders to deal with such issues and challenges and help to keep them to a minimum.
The potential for conflicts would consist of pointing fingers and judging without investigating. A person might already know who the employee is that started the problem and approach the person, unprofessionally. The process needs to be redefined and no one should be singled out as the culprit. Furthermore, a conflict may ignite if communication is not open. Hence, one person might feel an idea or strategy is not helpful to reach the goal. Although, good teamwork creates a positive environment. If there is a heated disagreement, it can lower the mood, and demotivate the rest of the team. However, according to Cheesebro, (2010) Conflict is healthy in certain situations, because it will bring a team together. Research has shown, employees who feel part of a strong team are happier and more productive. An acronym for team
Conflict Levels – Effective teams maintain a perfect level of negative and positive conflicts. At times disagreement is encouraged to lessen the likelihood of groupthink.
Team has to agree on the methods to which conflicts can be resolved within the group, this has to be addressed as soon as possible to enhance team cohesion and progress team effort towards achieving its goals.
There is a saying that many hands make light work. The essence of this statement is that more can be achieved as a collective than individually. We all have different skills, knowledge and personal attributes. By utilizing all of these different aspects in a team, more ideas can be generated. As more ideas are generated, more creative solutions are generated, leading to better results. It is amazing the amount of support that is created in teams, especially when the going gets tough. People will often go to what seems like extreme lengths when they know that they can rely on the support and encouragement of the team. Never underestimate the significance of this in
When developing a conflict resolution it helps to know techniques such as, problem solving, avoidance, compromising, and communication. This will help your team members and create a system for redressing grievances, if they cannot solve their problems on their own. Then it will be necessary to arrange for the manager to conduct a meeting on this subject.
A leader has a role that can impact others to be more operative in functioning to attain a common goal and maintain effective working relationships amongst group members (Johnson & Johnson 2012). This makes leaders in groups considerably important in shaping individuals (Johnson & Johnson 2012). However, conflict arises in groups and becomes difficult to manage when a leader and the followers lack the skills to manage conflict as a team (Johnson & Johnson 2012). Leadership and conflict resolution skills must exists between leaders and followers in order to manage conflict (Johnson & Johnson 2012). Also, it is possible for followers to teach leaders how to lead and resolve problems since followers can play an active role in building relationships amongst group members (Howell & Shamir cited in Johnson & Johnson 2012). Since followers and leaders both have significant roles in accomplishing the group goals, they both have a role to manage conflict effectively as a group (Johnson & Johnson 2012). This essay will discuss how leaders have an important role in managing conflict and likewise with followers having important roles in managing conflict. Conflicts, the various types of conflicts that happen in groups and the reasons behind the conflicts will be mentioned followed by approaches that can be taken to help manage struggles within groups. The methods can be used by leaders and followers in order to manage
Conflict between team members will happen in the workplace because the fact that there will have an environment where decisions are made and personality clashes will occur. This doesn’t mean you have an unproductive workforce, it means you will have to be able to catch the problem early and know what to do with each individual case. People are going to disagree because they have different view points, different backgrounds and a different thought process, maybe even a different agenda for that project. People disagree for a number of reasons (De Bono, 1985). College graduates will be put into positions of uncertainty due to the lack of work history. This will in turn cause conflict, not knowing
Conflict is pretty much inevitable when you work with others. Everyone have different viewpoints and under the right set of circumstances, those differences could pile up and escalate to conflict. How you handle that conflict determines whether it works to the team's advantage, or contributes to its disadvantage. Conflict isn't necessarily a terrible thing. Healthy and constructive conflict is a factor of high-functioning teams. Conflict arises because of the differences between people, the same differences that often make diverse teams more effective than those made up of people with similar experience. When people with varying viewpoints, experiences, skills, and opinions are tasked with a project or challenge, the combined effort can far surpass what any group of similar
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
In this writing, we will explore and explain strategies of conflict resolution and, encourage teams, individuals and society as a whole to use some of these ideas for their own resolution purposes. “In many cases, effective conflict resolution skills can make the difference between positive and negative outcomes.” (Conflict resolution, 2008). With this in mind, individuals will have hope for a more positive team experience.
Levin (2005) suggests that the idea of a team is to share the same objectives. This may not always be the case if team members have never met before and are not fully clear of the task set. This can lead to confusion between members and may mean that some team members are unwilling to be told by their peers what to do. This is an example on ineffective team work.