Learning Journal on Managing Conflict - Essay Example

Presented by Presented to Lecturer LEARNING JOURNAL ON MANAGING CONFLICTS Conflicts result from disagreement between individuals or groups due to differences in their attitude, or modes of thinking. Interpersonal conflicts are very sensitive since they might lead to one of the party enduring a lot of sufferings because of the actions of the other person. According to Whetten and Cameron, an effective conflict management results when the prevailing disputes are resolved and not necessarily eliminating the problem (2010).

Conflict management involves three steps, which include; problem diagnosis, selection of the correct solution, and implementation of the selected solution. In the first step, the involved parties establish the main cause of the problem or conflict which could be among them or from outside. Putting into consideration the situations that people are in is essential since sometimes solving a conflict while in bad moods may lead to other unbearable problems (whetten & Cameron 55).Taking an example of employees in a processing company, like Klic juices Inc Processors where I work, there arise many conflicts resulting from one employee insulting a colleague.

This kind of interpersonal conflict lowers productivity and may lead to job termination as experienced in klic Juices Inc. Eventually the involved parties quarrel and eventually creating attention of everyone within the building. Organizational conflicts management entails getting deep into the causative factors and making an effective and full intervention to get the solution to the interpersonal conflict at hand. The theory stresses that conflicts are functional to an organization and assist in discovering new management techniques as well as understanding the differences between individuals from varying cultures (Rahim 211).

In managing interpersonal conflicts, a lot of issues arise especially when one is faced with the task. First an individual is confused between which parties to favor especially when there are close ties between the two parties. As a conflict manager, the first step involves getting the two parties together and having a dialogue without favoring any side. According to Whetten and Cameron, conflict management should take the shortest time possible since the longer the process takes, the more irritating the two parties become and this result into quarrels.

It is very essential to separate people from their problems since each individual possesses unique desires, emotions and personal views. Some forms of conflicts exist only in individuals minds this makes it necessary for the two parties to fully understand one another depending on his or her views. Finally in conflict management, in an effort to improve conflict management skills, an individual requires to associate a lot with people especially in big organizations holding thousands of employees.

Through this, one gets exposure to different forms of conflicts from different groups of people (Whetten & Cameron 50). Being a conflict mediator in such cases improves one’s ability to work out issues related to conflicts since other people would be depending on you in solving their differences. In addition, a time frame of one year is necessary for an individual to plan on methods of conflicts management aiming at solving at least ten problems in a single day. Cited worksRahim, M. A. Towards Theory of Managing organizational conflict.

An International Journal of Conflict Management. 13(3). p. 211. 2002Whetten, A. D. & Cameron, S. K. Developing Management Skills. The Eighth Edition. Prentice Hall. 2010