Organizational Conflict 3.

Assure a Fair Process

Organizational Conflict or otherwise known as workplace conflict, is described as the The process for resolving a conflict is often as critical as the conflict itself. It is
state of disagreement or misunderstanding, resulting from the actual or perceived dissent important to assure that the resolution method chosen as well as the process for affect-
of needs, beliefs, resources and relationship between the members of the organization. ing that method is fair to all parties to the conflict. Even the perception of unfairness can
At the workplace, whenever, two or more persons interact, conflict occurs when destroy the resolution.
opinions with respect to any task or decision are in contradiction.
4. Attack the Problem
Factors Influencing Organizational Conflict
Conflict is very emotional. When emotions are high it is much easier to begin attacking
1. Unclear Responsibility: If there is lack of clarity, regarding who is responsible for the person on the other side than it is to solve the problem. The only way conflicts get
which section of a task or project, conflict takes place. And, to avoid this situation, the resolved is when we attack the problem and not each other. What is the problem that lies
roles and responsibility of the team members should be stated clearly and also agreed behind the emotion? What are the causes instead of the symptoms?
upon by all.
5. Accept Responsibility
2. Interpersonal Relationship: Every member of an organization, possesses different
personality, which plays a crucial role in resolving conflict in an organization. Conflicts
Every conflict has may sides and there is enough responsi- bility for everyone.
at the workplace, are often caused by interpersonal issues between the members of the
Attempting to place blame only creates resentment and anger that heightens any existing
organization.
conflict. In order to resolve a conflict we must accept our share of the responsibility and
3. Scarcity of Resources: One of the main reason for occurence of conflict in an eliminate the concept of blame.
organization is the inadequacy of resources like time, money, materials etc. due to which
members of the organization compete with each other, leading to conflict between them. 6. Use Direct Communication
4. Conflict of Interest: When there is a disorientation between the personal goals of the
Say what we mean and mean what we say. Avoid hiding the ball by talking around a
individual and the goals of the organization, conflict of interest arises, as the individual
problem. The best way to accomp- lish this is to use "I-Messages". With an "I-Message"
may fight for his personal goals, which hinders the overall success of the project.
we express our own wants, needs or concerns to the listener. "I-Messages" are clear and
Conflicts alleviate at the workplace due to individual and inter-individual factors. non-threatening way of telling others what we want and how we feel. A "you-message"
Individual related causes entails attitudes, beliefs, personality orientation and human- blames or criticizes the listener. It suggests that she or he is at fault.
frailties. Inter-individual conflicts arises when a manager breaches norms of the
organization. 7. Look for Interests

Positions are usually easy to understand because we are taught to verbalize what we
Principles Of Conflict Resolution want. However, if we are going to resolve conflict successfully we must uncover why
1. Think Before Reacting we want something and what is really important about the issue in conflict. Remember
to look for the true interests of the all the parties to the conflict.
The tendency in a conflict situation is to react immediately. After all, if we do not react
we may lose our opportunity. In order to resolve conflict successfully it is important to 8. Focus on the Future
think before we react--consider the options, weigh the possibilities. The same reaction is
not appropriate for every conflict. In order to understand the conflict, it is important to under- stand the dynamics of the
relationship including the history of the relationship. However, in order to resolve the
2. Listen Actively conflict we must focus on the future. What do we want to do differently tomorrow?

Listening is the most important part of communication. If we do not hear what the other 9. Options for Mutual Gain
parties are communicating we can not resolve a conflict. Active listening means not only
listening to what another person is saying with words, but also to what is said by Look for ways to assure that we are all better off tomorrow than we are today. Our gain
intonation and body language. The active listening process also involves letting the at the expense of someone else only prolongs conflict and prevents resolution.
speaker know that he or she has been heard. For example, "What I heard you say is......"
Is Conflict Good or Bad? Conflict Resolution?
According to the National Institute for Advanced Conflict Resolution, up to 30% of Conflict resolution is the process by which two or more parties reach a peaceful
a typical leader’s time is spent dealing with conflict. Further research found that resolution to a dispute.
over 65% of work performance problems are due to strained relationships between
employees as opposed to deficiencies in employee skill or motivation, and CEOs
and senior vice presidents reported they spend up to 70% of their time on conflict. The Conflict Resolution Process
These statistics combined with the negative connotation of the term “conflict” (it is
often associated with war) can lend support to a commonly-held belief in
organizations that conflict in the workplace is bad. Although these statistics merit The resolution of conflicts in the workplace typically involves
attention, this commonly-held belief is a little misleading. some or all of the following processes:
A closer look at conflict can provide some clarity. The two most common types of
conflict are relationship conflict and task conflict. Relationship conflict entails
interpersonal friction, anger and personality disputes. Task conflict relates to 1. Recognition by the parties involved that a problem
interpersonal differences about the actual work being done. It could be argued that exists.
relationship conflict is bad (because it can be dysfunctional), and task conflict is good 2. Mutual agreement to address the issue and find some
(because it focuses on the job at hand). This still would be misleading. From a broader
perspective, conflict in and of itself is not necessarily good or bad. It merely represents resolution.
disagreement between two or more parties (e.g., individuals, teams, etc.). What really 3. An effort to understand the perspective and concerns of
makes conflict good or bad is not the disagreement, but how it is handled. Therefore, the opposing individual or group.
both relationship conflict and task conflict could become dysfunctional if they are not
managed in an appropriate manner to bring about a resolution.
4. Identifying changes in attitude, behavior, and
When it is managed properly, disagreement can be very desirable, because it can result approaches to work by both sides that will lessen
in positive outcomes. Such disagreement can help ensure a variety of perspectives are negative feelings.
considered that can lead to the creation of more effective solutions. By-products of this
5. Recognizing triggers to episodes of conflict.
managed disagreement would include clearer communication, better understanding and
increased productivity. 6. Interventions by third parties such as human resources
Given the benefits of properly managed conflict, logic suggests that leaders and representatives or higher-level managers to mediate.
employees should proactively address conflict situations to ensure they are handled in 7. A willingness by one or both parties to compromise.
the optimal manner for the business. Unfortunately, many people reactively address
conflict situations once they become problems, because it has become imperative that 8. Agreement on a plan to address differences.
the situations be resolved. Then, there are others who try to avoid these situations 9. Monitoring the impact of any agreements for change.
altogether. 10. Disciplining or terminating employees who resist
The most common reason for this less-than-proactive behavior is that these leaders and
employees are uncomfortable addressing conflict, because they are unsure how to
efforts to defuse conflicts.
manage it in an efficient way. With this in mind, these individuals could begin to
increase their proficiency at managing conflict by realizing there is more than one
approach for doing so. In other words, the approach should be adjusted depending upon
the nature of the situation.
Approaches based on the work of Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann could be used as
starting points. One situation might entail quickly finding a mutually-acceptable solution
that partially satisfies all parties. Another situation might involve delaying until a later
point in time to allow more information to be gathered. In a third circumstance, the
parties could work together to find a solution that fully satisfies all concerns. Like
anything else, proficiency comes with practice. Consequently, taking the initiative to
address situations where disagreement exists by customizing approaches accordingly
will become easier the more it is done over time.