Three Interpersonal Skills That Are Critical to Conflict Resolution - Admission/Application Essay Example

In an organisation, it can be d that conflict is inevitable but all the same can be easily resolved depending on the manager’s interpersonal skills to conflict resolution which also depends on communication. Communication linking two or more people is known as interpersonal communication and is very effective in resolving conflict since there are higher chances of understanding each other in a face to face environment. The study discusses three interpersonal skills that are critical to conflict resolution and these are: ability to communicate effectively, good listening skills and impartiality. An arbiter of disputes ought to have some skills in order to find amicable solutions to conflicts. Introduction The ability to resolve conflicts among individuals in an organisation is mainly influenced by different interpersonal skills which in turn are also determined by interpersonal communication where there will be interaction between the manager and the subordinates taking place. As a point of departure, it can be noted that interpersonal communication is primarily concerned with linking two or more people directly where they can freely express their feelings as well as ideas and this is a viable tool of ensuring effective communication in conflict resolution (Kritzinger, Bowler and Goliath 2003). There are likely chances that people would understand each other better and clearly in a face to face situation which will certainly go a long way in alleviating the chances of misunderstanding of each other in a bid to solve conflicts in an organisation. The three skills considered critical to effective conflict resolution going to be discussed in this essay include: effective communication skills, good listening skills as well as impartiality. It is also important to explain the meaning of conflict as a way of gaining a clear understanding of the interpersonal skills that are considered to be important in solving conflicts. A conflict is an active disagreement between people with different opinions, values or interests (Kleynhans 2007). Conflict can be on individual basis or group conflict where a group of people are disagreeing on something. The managers in particular need to have good interpersonal skills to be able to resolve conflicts as going to be discussed below. Discussion Conflict is something that is normal any organisation and it is the duty of managers in particular to solve disputes among the members of the organisation. Solving problems or conflicts require good communication skills. Under normal circumstances, no organisation can successfully survive without communication which involves dissemination or exchange of information between the employees and the management (Werner 2003). From the above assertion, it can be noted that communication in particular forms a pivotal role in influencing the activities involved in an organisation that are intended to achieve the organizational goals set. Indeed, managers have a task of overseeing the operations of the employees and they can greatly influence their interpersonal behaviour if they properly harness interpersonal communication in an organisation where face to face communication would be advocated. Misunderstanding over particular issues in an organisation is the major source of conflict among the members who in most cases are workers. As noted above, conflict can be found among a collective group such as job action over wages or individual where there may be a misunderstanding between individual people. In this particular case, communication has to be effective in order to convince and persuade the employees to have a common as well as positive understanding towards something. Human behaviour is influenced by different factors but what is more important is that there should be mutual understanding between the parties involved in the communication process. The manager in this case should possess effective communication skills so as so be able to convince the people who may have disputes or misunderstandings. By virtue of using open and effective channels of communication where there has been a conflict, the manager can dutifully solve it and manage to positively influence the behaviour of those in conflict by tailoring the information to suit their needs of the parties involved while at the same time satisfying the needs of the organisation as a whole. Conflicts that are not properly solved can put the organisation into disrepute. Good listening skills play a pivotal role in conflict resolution. Somebody who is able to carefully listen to both sides of the story can effectively contribute to communication which can play a major role as far as influencing the behaviour of individuals and teams by the managers as long as conflict resolution is concerned. It can be noted that effective communication is closely related to good listening skills in various ways. All organisations are structured in such a way to achieve organizational goals and this helps to make the flow of information or organizational communication more effective. There ought to be well defined channels of communication and these should be open to make communication more effective. There should be feedback from both ends to ensure that there is mutual understanding within an organisation and the managers can carefully use the opportunity to positively influence the workers to put aside their differences. Timely response to disputes from different ends would remove the barriers that may exist which can block the free flow of information. Where there is an open channel of communication, there are likely chances of communicating effectively since the parties involved would be agreeing on one thing which is aimed at attaining the goals of the organisation while minimizing the chances of conflicts. Good listening and speaking effectively form part of the communication process involved in the successful operations of any given organisation. Should there be any conflict among the employees, the managers can resolve these conflicts if they effectively harness these interpersonal skills. Without proper communication, there would be high chances of conflict and misunderstanding hence effort should be made to ensure that there is a cordial working relationship among the employees in an organisation. This would remove unnecessary fears among the members of the organisation who would be able to immensely benefit from the knowledge gained in cordial fashion which encourages growth of interpersonal relationship. Where there is a cordial relationship among the members of the organisation, there would be very high chances of successfully achieving the set goals. The ability to use non verbal communication coupled with effective communication skills as well as good listening skills can play a complimentary role in conflict resolution. There are likely chances that people would understand each other better and clearly in face to face situation which will certainly go a long way in alleviating the chances of misunderstanding. Interpersonal communication is primarily concerned with linking two or more people directly where they can freely express their feelings as well as ideas and this is a viable tool of ensuring effective communication. Communication is not only done verbally hence a person who carefully understands non verbal communication is likely to be effective in solving problems. During the contemporary period, people are free to migrate to different places in search for jobs hence communication should not only be determined by the use of one common language. Other people may understand better using non verbal communication which means that an effective problem solver ought to know these various kinds of communication. The third interpersonal skill that is critical in conflict resolution is impartiality. Being the responsible authority so resolve conflicts, the manager should be neutral and should not take sides as this would jeopardize his or her chances of successfully solving disputes. Fairness is a virtue and there should be no elements of favouritism which will still leave the other party disgruntled. Conflict in an organisation negatively impacts on the operations of the organisation and careful consideration ought to be taken when solving a conflict as a way of attempting to come up with a satisfactory verdict to all the parties involved. If a leader is impartial in problem solving, the recurrence of similar problems will be minimised while somebody who is unfair in resolving conflicts would only be fuelling the occurrence of similar conflicts in the organisation which will negatively impact on the operations of the whole organisation. The existence of unresolved conflicts in an organisation negatively impacts on individual performance which in turn affects the whole organisation. Effective managers can also implement the concept of socialisation to solve conflicts. Socialization is the process through which the members of the organisation continually learn the values, norms and beliefs of the organisation in order to become an integral part of it (Werner 2003). It can be noted that people who often experience ongoing and significant conflict between their personal values and the organisation’s values will reduce their performance and underperform, stay uncommitted or ultimately leaves the company. In this regard, socialization should not be left to chance but should be carefully managed so as to be able to indoctrinate the employees into the organisational culture where they will be exposed to its values that shape its operations as well as their expected conduct. Conclusion Over and above, it can be noted that conflict is disagreement over something between two or more people in an organisation. Conflict is a result of various factors such as misunderstanding and can be resolved if easily if the responsible authorities posses some interpersonal skills discussed above. The critical interpersonal skills critical to conflict resolution as noted above include effective communication, good listening skills as well as impartiality. These skills are interrelated somehow as they compliment each other in the process of solving disputes in an organisation. References Carrell, R. et al (1995), Human Resources Management: Global Strategies for managing a diverse workforce, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall, USA. Jackson, S.E. & Schuler R. (2000). Managing Human Resources: A Partnership Perspective. NY. South Western College Publishing. Jackson et al (2001), Management, Oxford University Press Kleynhans R. et al (2007), Human Resource Management: fresh perspectives, Prentice Hall Kritzinger E., Bowler A. and Goliath D (2003), Effective Communication: Getting the message across in business, Afritech Robins S.P., Odendaal A.& Roodt G. (2001), Organisational Behaviour, Pearson Education Rossouw D.,et al (2003). Strategic management. Cape Town. NAE. Wener et al (2003). Organisational behaviour. Pretoria. Van Shaik Publishers. Oral speech presentation- intercultural communication in the maritime industry The concept of intercultural communication is primarily concerned with the exchange of information between people from different cultural backgrounds mainly as a result of globalization. As a point of departure, it must be noted that globalisation is primarily concerned with promoting economic activity such as trade and investment as a result of the removal of geographical boundaries. It can be seen that the world is slowly becoming a global village where different cultures can easily get into contact as a result of the removal of physical barriers such as geographical boundaries. Globalization entails that organisations can operate in different parts of the globe and it must always be noted that there are diverse cultures with different values. The maritime industry is one major driver of globalisation since it is the mode of transport for the bulk of the raw materials used in manufacturing different products across the globe. Against this background, communication in the maritime industry should not be influenced by such factors as race, gender, religion or culture when dealing with different people employed in the industry as a result of the fact that they would be hailing from different cultural backgrounds. The maritime industry is comprised of movement of various nationalities from diverse cultural backgrounds as a result of the fact that even landlocked countries also use the available harbors in nearby countries to receive their different consignments of goods. The regional managers should also be accommodative to different cultural values of different people from different cultural backgrounds since globalisation promotes the migration of labour from different regions to the others. Policies to be implemented ought to be accommodative to a diverse range of cultures. It is imperative for all the organisations that operate in the maritime industry to take into consideration the value system of the local people in different host countries since these would be trading partners. Failure to realize that would negatively impact on the operations of the organisation’s performance if its policies are not compatible with the value system of the employees or other stakeholders involved which can be difficult to implement the suggested policies. By virtue of being accommodative to diverse cultural values, the industry can successfully create a peaceful trading as well as working environment characterised by mutual understanding where the employees particularly in the industry can freely share their ideas towards the attainment of their organisation’s goals. On the other hand, different stakeholders can also pursue their business without fear of any form of discrimination. 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