Conflict Management
What is meant by conflict?
It is defined as a clash among individuals resulting in
verbal disagreements, physical abuses and tensions.
What is conflict management?
Are you good at managing conflicts?
Conflict management
involves the steps undertaken to prevent the conflict at
the right time
is the practice of being able to identify and handle
conflicts sensibly, fairly, and efficiently.
helps individuals to understand the causes of a conflict
and helps prevent it at the right time.
and also helps to resolve it in an effective and smooth
manner.
Why do conflicts crop up?
Why do conflicts crop up?
The dissimilarity in the interests, thought processes,
needs, attitudes of individuals result in a conflict.
A conflict never provides any solution to a problem,
instead it just worsens the situation.
It leads to disrespect among individuals, hampers the
productivity and individuals often feel demotivated after
a fight.
Conflict Management
No conflict can just start on its own.
There has to be an event or an incident to trigger the same.
Through conflict management, one actually finds out the
possible events which can start a conflict and tries his level
best to avoid them
.
Conflict managers
Since conflicts in a business are a natural part of the
workplace, it is important there are people who
understand conflicts and know how to resolve them.
This is important in today's market more than ever.
Everyone is striving to show how valuable they are to the
company they work for and at times, this can lead to
disputes with other members of the team
5 major styles of conflict management
According to the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), used by
human resource (HR) professionals around the world,
Collaborating
Competing
Avoiding
Accommodating
and compromising.
Accommodating Style
An accommodating manager is one who cooperates to a high
degree.
This may be at the manager's own expense and actually work
against that manager's own goals, objectives, and desired
outcomes.
This approach is effective when the other person is the
expert or has a better solution.
Avoiding Style
Avoiding an issue is one way a manager might attempt to
resolve conflict.
This type of conflict style does not help the other staff
members reach their goals and does not help the manager who
is avoiding the issue and cannot assertively pursue his or her
own goals.
However, this works well when the issue is trivial or when the
manager has no chance of winning.
Collaborating Style
These managers become partners or pair up with each
other to achieve both of their goals in this style.
This is how managers break free of the win-lose paradigm
and seek the win-win.
This can be effective for complex scenarios where
managers need to find a novel solution.
Competing Style
This is the win-lose approach
A manager is acting in a very assertive way to achieve his or
her own goals without seeking to cooperate with other
employees, and it may be at the expense of those other
employees.
This approach may be appropriate for emergencies when time
is of the essence.
Compromising Style
This is the lose-lose scenario where neither person nor
manager really achieves what they want.
This requires a moderate level of assertiveness and
cooperation.
It may be appropriate for scenarios where you need a
temporary solution or where both sides have equally
important goals.
Case study
Jenny and Joe were a part of the branding team headed by Thomas. Jenny
and Joe never got along very well, a fact well known by Thomas. From the
very beginning, Thomas had carefully charted out the key responsibility areas
for both Jenny and Joe. He had strictly instructed both of them not to
interfere in each other’s work and communicate through email marking a
carbon copy to him as well. What is Thomas actually trying to do here ?
It is very essential to understand the factors which might lead to a conflict. An
individual must consider all the events which initiate a fight for an effective
conflict management. Discussion goes a long way in preventing conflicts.
Before implementing any new idea, make sure you discuss with each and
everyone related to it. Listen to what other individuals have to say and
consider their opinions as well.
He is simply trying to avoid a conflict between Jenny and Joe so that they can
deliver their best and do not waste their time and energy in fighting.
Tips
for preventing conflicts & conflict
management
No two individuals can think on the same line but it is always wise to
find a middle way which takes into account everybody’s interests.
Don’t leave any issue unaddressed, instead discuss it when all the
participants are present.
Never criticize or make fun of anyone as they lead to a conflict.
Be a good and an effective listener.
Greet everyone with a warm smile. Individuals must not be too rigid
and must learn to compromise sometimes.
Do not create an environment which would lead to disagreements.
Tips
At workplaces, transparency must be maintained at all levels
there must be a single point of contact to address the issues of
individuals.
subordinates should have an easy access to their superiors to avoid
confusions.
Avoid uttering any word which might hurt the sentiments of the other
individuals.
Don’t spreading rumors
instead sit with the people involved and sort out the differences as soon
as possible.
Avoid backbiting as it is one of the strongest reasons for conflicts.
Even if a conflict doesn’t involve you, don’t just ignore, instead intervene
immediately to pacify the individuals.
Be a good mediator and try to resolve the issues keeping everyone in mind.
