Why Does Conflict Occur?
We each respond to conflicts based on our own particular
personality and cultural background. People have different motivations,
beliefs, values and goals. Two people can perceive and interpret the same
situation very differently. Two people may speak the same language, but when a
disagreement arises, one may discover the other responds to the same situation
very differently. The way others respond to conflict may confuse or offend us.
Problems and conflicts are natural in our daily work, and the key is finding
the right way to overcome them and continue working productively. One tool is
to work to overcome our own perceptions and prejudices, so we can see the other
person’s viewpoint.
Conflict Management
Conflicts have the potential to benefit a team. In a
successfully handled conflict relationships, mutual understanding and respect
increase. Participants become aware and are able to cope with challenges.
Conflict can promote beneficial change and adaptation. It enhances personal and
psychological development. Morale
improves as the team overcomes conflict. It breaks the culture of silence.
Unresolved conflict is a major source of stress and a waste of time. It drains team energy that needs to be
conserved for the work. Factions are created, productivity goes down, people
fail to show up, and a sense of discouragement grows in the team. Creative
energy is diverted and drained. An important issue always merits mediation (Stogdill,
1989).
Role of Personality Types in Conflict Management
Any successful team consists of a mix of personality types.
A team in which everyone has the same personality type, is more likely to
experience conflict between its members. When a problem arises in the team,
everyone is more likely to try and take the same role in solving it. People
communicate their thoughts, ideas, knowledge and fears differently in conflict
situations. Managers and team members
should know and understand these different styles of communication to avert
conflicts over perceptions of someone’s actions or words. Team-building
exercises before field deployment help people to get to know each other and
understand how their colleagues communicate. Empathy for another viewpoint
greatly aids in prevention and resolution of conflict (Ivancevich,
Konopaske, Matteson, 2007).
Ethics and Workplace Conflicts
Codes of conduct or business ethics exist to guide the expected
behavior of honorable employees, but much of their origination occurred for the
same reason as policies. Some employees conducted themselves in ways that are
unacceptable to the business. In today’s workplace, potential charges of unfair
treatment, discrimination, favoritism, and hostile work environment replace
much management discretion. The many suffer for the few and sometimes, the best
employees get caught in the equal treatment trap.
Forgiveness
At first, conflict and forgiveness seem at different ends of
the spectrum. Conflict is the struggle between people who have opposing views,
opposite goals, conflicting values, and inappropriate communication. Conflict
does not necessarily mean that hatred and condemnation are involved, although
both can be. But rather, most conflict and estrangements occur over
misunderstandings and different points of view. According to Can and Abigail (2011)
forgiveness can be defined as process of cognition that involves permitting the
revengeful feelings go off and the wish to get revenge.
Conflict resolutions should be seen as works in progress.
Make it a point to ask the other person from time to time how things are going.
Something unexpected might have come up or some aspect of the problem may have
been overlooked. Your decisions should be seen as open to revision, as long as
the revisions are agreed upon mutually.
References
Cahn, D.D., & Abigail, R.A. (2007). Managing conflict
through communication (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN: 978-0-205-68556-1
Ivancevich, J., Konopaske, R., Matteson, M. (2007). Organizational
Behavior and Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Stogdill, R. M.(1989). Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: A
Survey of Theory and Research. Bass, B. (ed.) New York: Free Press.
