by Doris Johnson | Oct 24, 2015 | Conflict Management
Once you can identify your conflict management style, using it quickly to resolve the matter will highlight the benefits of conflict in your enterprise. Dealing with conflict early in the process can improve the openness of employee communications and reinforce the Mission, Values, Vision and Systems necessary achieve your objectives. Conflict is inevitable because of many factors. The changing environment, the progress of technology, individual differences and many other factors will cause conflict. Looking at it in a different manner will be profitable to you. If we can have the possible benefits of conflict in mind, we can look at its occurrence as a possible tool for advancement. The following 7 benefits have been identified:
1. There may be situations or workplace issues that need to be addressed. Something that is not obvious to the manager may be causing a disruption in your system or objectives. Often, conflict can allow you to take a closer look at your operations.
2. Team work can to be strengthened. Conflict management gives an opportunity to create stronger bonds and greater alliance. Sometimes, commonalities surface and the conflict can be resolved around these factors. “Conflict Isn’t Always Bad” salary.com
3. Goals are more effectively achieved. Often, goals are clarified and enhanced once the conflicting elements are addressed. You may uncover material or deficiencies that were previously unknown.
4. Commitment is often enhanced. This occurs when everyone involved is allowed to share their views and feel that what they think has been considered in the final decision.
5. Productivity is often improved. Workers can be more focused on getting the work done. Particularly if they had a say so in the required procedures.
6. Change is easier if it is the result of agreed upon needs from conflict resolution. New opportunities, products or services and procedures may surface as a result of the conflict management effort. When the involved parties help identify the needed changes, they are more likely to work toward them.
7. The business culture is often enhanced. Conflict management gives the leader an opportunity to reinforce values that are critical to the successful culture. This is a time to remind workers of what values should be exhibited as the enterprise is growing.
The way we consider conflict can affect the way we handle it. We can handle it negatively or positively. Handling conflict positively, expecting helpful results, will contribute to the growth of your business and minimize the number of times you will have to manage conflict.
by Doris Johnson | Oct 13, 2015 | Conflict Management
Managers and supervisors spend approximately 25% of their time resolving some type of conflict. The time spent managing conflict has increased because of the growing complexity of business and organizations. Therefore, how we manage conflict can significantly affect employee morale, employee turnover, business productivity, and the possibility of litigation. These types of conflict can be very disruptive and costly. As you are growing your small business, it helps to gain knowledge of the various sources of conflict because you can be proactive and prevent some of the disruption and cost.
There are at least 10 sources of conflict that have been identified in the literature.
Responsibility – There is often a conflict when workers are confused about their duties and the expected outcomes. Good plans, goal setting and adequate communications are required to eliminate this situation.
Leadership – The leadership style of the manager or supervisor will influence understanding and commitment An autocratic style tends to close down the thinking process of the workers and they are not fully engaged so that they will make adjustments if needed. They do what they are told, not what they really understand and are fully involved in. A collaborative management style values the employee’s view and uses it to help set goals. Performance related conflict is less likely with collaborative styles of management.
Personality – This is probably one of the most frequent causes of conflict in the workplace. Different moods may be in conflict or simply different ways of behaving may be in conflict. For example, the differences between introverts and extroverts. This can be the cause of difficulty when working with others.
Conflicting Needs – Here you will see conflict of interests due to differing needs. Such as the need to be a perfect parent as well as the perfect worker.
Poor Communications – This can lead to uncertainty, rumors and gossip. All of these can help to tear down an organization. Prevent this.
Scarce Resources – In this situation, there may be limited resources but each of the parties involved have critical responsibilities that need the resources. Priorities must be set.
Poor Performance – Low quality of work, customer complaints, waste of materials etc. can result in varying levels of conflict between coworkers. An in-depth analysis of the situation is needed to determine the factors involved.
Environment – This involves situations outside of the organization such as recession, high unemployment rate and others.
Organization – This occurs when a vague, illogical, or unfair hierarchy of authority is in place. Therefore, the way workers report to each other creates conflict.
Power – The people involved in this conflict all want to have the most influence in an area when only one can be in charge.
There is usually a complex system of dynamics occurring when conflict arises. So it helps if the manager can understand some of the potential sources and can begin to design a plan for the resolution. Keep in mind the importance of dealing with conflict as early in the process as possible to eliminate the degree of damage to your organization.
