November 9, 2010
The Dilemmas of Participative Management of a University The group developed initiatives that differed so much from President Brittle’s expectations because President Brittle did not give them an orientation. Instead she placed a group of departmental professionals together and asked them to “design a series of strategic initiatives for the school that both capitalize on the existing strengths and that are responsive to emerging social trends.” (Organizational Communication, 2010, pg216) In my opinion that was not enough information for the team to work with. She should have spelled out exactly what she wanted placing emphasis on the fact that she wanted to see some new and innovative ideas. President
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“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). Based on the readings about teams, I would advise the president to abandon the proposal because it is not what she had in mind. Be honest. Sit the team down again and explain to them exactly what she wants and why and that she expects all on the team to participate and have input. She wants new and innovative ideas that will coincide with today’s trends not extensions of the old. She also needs to explain to those that are in upper/mid management that they are to respect those that work on the line or in the trenches, because they actually have the most experience since they deal with the issues directly on a daily basis. The patterns of communication that I would encourage in this instance would be Communication as a Strategic Control. Eisenberg, Goodall, and Trethway (2010) explain this communication pattern as one that recognizes the need for
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 is an integral part of life. Regardless of what field it is, conflict will always arise. Members of teams have their own sets of beliefs, values, morals. I will lightly
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.
Cappozzoli, Thomas K. (1995, Dec). Resolving conflict within teams. Journal for Quality and Participation. v18n7, p. 28-30
Conflict is defined by Wilmot and Hocker (2007, p9) as “an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals”. Many people try their best to avoid conflict, but conflict is an unavoidable factor in team work. The main causes of conflict in our team might have been the different cultures and personal attitudes. For example, the teacher required all students to have a meeting at a weekend in order to prepare for a performance. Most of our members did their best to
Craig Runde and Tim Flanagan’s, ‘Building Conflict Competent Teams’ expand on the idea of conflict and how it can be beneficial, but also destructive, when working in teams. Generally I think conflict usually does more damage than good when working with others. Task conflict usually turns into relationship conflict very easily. Many people usually take it personal when someone disagrees with their ideas and interests, which then causes a heated debate and the exchange of personal attacks.
Conflict, though it can be a hindrance, is essential to effective teamwork, because it is a natural part
In Tuckman’s (1965) paper only 50% of the studies identified and reported intragroup conflict. This Phase can be very destructive to the teams work as with conflict they are not going to achieve their shared goal. When the Group is at this stage the may feel that the other team members are judging them and may withhold their opinions and ideas from team discussions and with this it may cause even more tension amongst the group. Some teams/groups do not make it out of this stage as they are not willing to improvise and come up with ideas that facilitate the whole team’s ability. Supervisors of the team are highly recommend but some disagreement can make each individual stronger and more versatile and will also help the team come out of the storming
Differing styles create conflict as someone’s approach reflects their personality and team role as defined by Belbin. Some perform under pressure, leaving tasks to the last minute, causing frustration to others who work to regular milestones. Conflicting roles create conflict especially if one team member is assigned tasks outside their usual area, being perceived as poaching someone’s role or
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
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
According to Kurtzberg & Mueller (2005), there are three main types of conflicts. The first type of conflict they describe is process related conflict that is based on the work procedures, how well work performance is and the obligations, roles, and responsibilities of teams. The second form of conflict is relationship-based conflict in which relationships and interaction play a major part between team members and individuals. Finally, the third type of conflict is task-related conflict where differences about the work itself causes a misunderstanding. Kurtzberg & Mueller (2005), states that “there is a linear correlation between team performance and task-related conflicts and points out that sometimes task-related conflicts
If a dispute in the workplace goes unresolved, high-performance teams hurt. The leadership must address the conflict before it escalates. Intra-group conflict is about disagreements or misconceptions between individuals within a workgroup, such as a project team. Additionally, an inter-group conflict applies to differences or misunderstandings between work groups, such as between two project teams. Furthermore, inter-team conflict results from an identity crisis among individuals when organizations are comprised of multiple teams. Many thriving organizations deal with social comparison, side discontinuity, rivalry, and post-merger behavior which may endanger the success of creating a high-performance team.
In today’s complex business environment managers and employees face many obstacles relating to working in groups on assigned projects in order to complete those projects that ultimately contribute to the bottom line, or enables the company to remain a competitive force within their assigned industry. There are many reasons as to why groups experience conflict but one business I want to highlight refers to conflict within the organizational structure.