Conflict Management Approach - Essay Example

Conflict management approach Name Subject Instructor Institution Date Conflict management approach Introduction Conflict management is typically seen as a response to situation that may arise in the place of work. Individual conflict management style may shape the employees’ social environment, affecting the level of productivity. Conflict management is related to the nature of agreement reached in any negotiation as noted by (Baker, 1999, p.31). In this analysis different situations that may be encountered in personal and professional life are identified and studied accordingly. Points are allocated to indicate typical behavior possessed, with highest number of points indicating the strongest choice allotted. Empirical analysis was based in testing the theoretical connection, comparative effectiveness of different approaches. Based on theoretical evidence from the analysis different taxonomies practices were established. The result of the analysis highlight that, works team is dynamic for conflict management is of utmost significance. The results also give empirical evidence that conflict management styles may be evaluated by proper analysis. Upon experiencing strong feelings in a conflict situation, I would probably; become serious about how others are feeling and thinking. When I put across my point, I have to consider the opposing point of views. The style of being serious about how others feel is highly assertive with very minimal cooperativeness. In situation where quick action, unpopular decision, or handling of vital issues is required, feelings of the fellow employees have to be considered. I believe that no one in the work place has the final answer to anything, but each has a piece to contribute. My concern is to make sure that everybody in the work place is satisfied thus; I ensure integration of merging perspective and improving relationship to make everyone feel that his part and parcel of the company. The views of each employee are accommodated in order to satisfy the concern of each and every employee. This is aimed at making other employee feel that the decision arrived was reasonable, peaceful and was of paramount significance as noted by (Alfred, 2007, pp18-22). In any conflict, I expect that conflict clears the air and enhances commitment and results. In a conflict the question that I ask myself, which are the correct answers? It should be known that there is no universal right answer and thus every employee opinion is required to clear the air of uncertainty and mistrust. Conflicts help in developing skills to help in molding situations into a constructive form. When I am the person with the greater authority in a conflict situation, I usually ask to hear the other’s feelings and suggest that a position be found that both might be willing to try. I have realized that employees have invaluable information that is significance in the learning of the company, thus to test my assumptions as a leader, I have to understand and listen to the views of others and merge different insights in a conflict at hand. Scenario of conflict situation Sometimes I am encountered with situation where someone I care for takes an unreasonable position. In this case, I Let him or her know in casual, subtle ways that I am not pleased; possibly distract him or her with humor; and avoid a direct confrontation. In this situation I am in full knowledge that I have low power to change what other thinks and what I can do is offer advice and opinion. When angry at a friend or colleague, I try to soften things over with a good story. I know that anger gives birth to misfortune. When someone is angry he can say words that he may come to regret later thus, it is important to make things straight before all is out of control. In work place, situation arises when I find myself disagreeing with other members of a group on an important issue. In this case I advice the other members to explore points of agreement and disagreement and the feelings of the group’s member, and then to search for alternatives that take everyone’s views into account. This is because I have come to understand that the potential damage of confrontation in a conflict outweighs its benefit and thus a way to make people cool down usually reduces tension and regains composure and perspective. A single group member may take a position in opposition to the rest of the group, and in this case I make sure that the disengaging member has a chance to communicate his or her objections so that a compromise can be reached. Conflict may emerge in a group, and I always avoid outright confrontation by moving the discussion toward a middle ground. This help in protecting against disruption of more assertive mode. In handling conflict between my group and another, I would encourage my group’s members to be prepared by identifying in advance areas of possible compromise. This is done when I find that some goals are moderately important and not worth the potential disruption that may arise. This would help in settlement of complex issues and in arriving at expedient solution. If I were to choose a member of my group to represent me in negotiation with another group, I Would choose a person who would best represent the ideas of my group, evaluate these in view of judgments of the other group, and then emphasize problem-solving approaches to the conflict. This will help in arriving at decision that is quick and important. Failure of one group to collaborate with another is as a result of irresponsible behavior on the part of the group’s leadership, resulting in the leaders’ placing emphasis on maintaining their own power positions rather than addressing the issues involved as noted by (Buch, 1997, p24). This makes it difficult to come up with an integrative solution due to lack of insights from people who have different perspectives. Analysis of conflict situation My personal conflict management style has affected my personal and professional approach in many ways. Looking at the assertion made by Boulle (2001, p.66), it is imperative that conflicts when not handled effectively, the outcome may be so damaging and the primary aims of conflict management can turn to personal dislike, waste of talent, breakdown of team work and it is possible that vicious downward spiral may result First, resolving conflict has increased my understanding and awareness of different situations giving me insight on how I can achieve my goals and objectives without undermining those of other employees. Secondly, it has improved my knowledge, that is, I have examined in close details my goals, and have helped me understand things that are most significance to us, sharpening my focus and enhancing my effectiveness. However, I have understood that if. I have understood that people who tend to take a competitive approach in a conflict know what they want and thus take a firm stand; they operate from a position where they feel powerful. Their powerful position is drawn from thing like rank, persuasive ability and expertise. The competitive style is useful when decision are agent, unpopular or when protecting against someone trying to exploit the conflict situation selfishly. This style though useful can leave people feeling unsatisfied, resentful and bruised when used in the situations that are not agent. Inherently, I have found out that, this style is only essential in cases where we have urgency. My approach to this is I try to find out why people say ‘yes’ to me, or is it because they don’t like arguing with me, I also try to find out if the employees are afraid to admit uncertainties and ignorance to me. Essentially, people may be assertive but cooperate effectively and understand that everyone is important as noted by (Cornel, 1996, p20). I found this style significance when I require merging variety of to obtain the best solution, when previous conflicts have been encountered. This is a less important when solution is to be integrated, relationship is to be improved and commitments are to be gained. Appropriateness of this approach is that it support open discussion, equal distribution of task development of critical and creative problem solving skills, better brainstorming and task proficiency. I thus use active and effective listening, analyze input, confront situation and identify the underlying concern. Though significant, overuse of this approach lead to people spending too much time on trivial matters, being taken advantage off, diffusion of responsibility and being overloaded with work and hence should be applied moderately. The underuse result to quick fix solution, loss of innovation, lack of commitment and disempowerment of the team members and thus in everything I have to ensure that this approach is not underused or misused. Another approach is, accommodating style which is used to find an integrative solution in cases where two set of concern are too significant to be compromised, to regain commitment, to merge insight, when the objective and aim is to learn, and to work through hard feelings (Janssen, et al., 1999, p.120). My approach to this style is spending time discussing issues that deserve it, ensuring that any collaborative behaviour is aimed at eliciting collaborative responses from other employees. I also ensure that the subordinates are committed to my decision and policies. This approach has a tendency of being overused causing less attention to ideas, loss of contribution, restricted influence and anarchy. Underuse result to lack of rapport, inability to yield and low morale. Compromising style approach is found when finding a ground of foregoing some of individual concerns and committing to the concern of other people. It is moderately cooperative and moderately assertive; and the aim is to find the middle ground. This style is used when the two parties involved are equally powerful and the parties are equally committed to the opposing views. The style is also used to arrive at expedient solutions and to achieve temporary settlement in complex cases under time pressure (Eisenhardt et al., 1997, p.79). My approach to this is concentrating on practicalities and tactics of compromise that may make me lose sight of larger issues, for example, principles, long term objectives, values and the team welfare. I also ensure that I am not too sensitive in bargaining situation and that I minimize trouble in making concession. It should be understood that this style should be used moderately as overuse can lead to lose of long term goals, creation of cynical environment, lack of trust and making of concession just to keep people happy without resolving underlying conflict. Underuse can lead to frequent power struggle, unnecessary confrontation and ineffective negotiation. Merits and demerits of personal style Dual concern model is a model that has been developed using the conceptual foundation that was given by lake and (Goble, 2007, p.154). The two dimensions have been labeled as "desire to satisfy owns concern" and "desire to satisfy concern of others". This scheme is dominant in the field of dispute resolution. Difference in conflict style affect the level of stress experienced at the place of work. Occupational stress has been associated with work depression, dissatisfaction, absenteeism and other physiological effects, such as blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol level. As a manager, I am in full knowledge that, personality may predispose a person to using coping mechanisms in the faces of stressors. As noted by (Shih & Susanto, 2010, p.147), personal attack reduces group performance. Group members may spend their time resolving conflicts rather than concentrate on completion of the task at hand. As a manager, I realize that conflict sometimes occur during organizational changes. There are four responses to change: withdrawal, resistance, acceptance, and embracing (Cornell, 1996, p.20). The first three responses indicate conflict when they are perceived on employees. The reason why this occurs is because people have different needs and perceptions (Fisher, 1998, p.190). Thus, a manager should be well prepared because organizational creates a ground for these scenes to cause conflict. The most effective means of introducing change with less resistance is participation. It is one method that is very productive in dealing with conflict as soon as it arises. In such cases, I try to involve every employee and try to make them feel that their services are still significant. Nevertheless, Mullins, (1996, p22) asserts that, change requires time and patience especially in cases where there has been presence of bureaucratic and hierarchical culture, where every employee 'knows his or her place' and is never used to consult. Failure to appreciate individual aspect of change on my side may likely be the cause of uncertainty, fear and hostility. The survey conducted indicates that, if I get high scores in this analysis; the questions that may arise are; am I surrounded by "yes" men? If true; is it that they have learned it is not wise to argue with me or have they given up in trying to influence me? The other issue concerns the subordinates include; are they afraid in admitting uncertainties and ignorance to me? Do I present myself in a way that people are afraid to ask for opinion and information from me? If this is the case, this means that I am fighting for respect and influence. Moreover, it indicates that, I act more confident and certain. Low Scores indicates that, if the employees give me low score in competing style the question that may arise are; `do I often feel powerless in situations?’, ` Am I unskilled or uncomfortable in using the power I have?’. Collaborating is assertive and uncooperative. High score would indicate that, I pursue my own concern at the expenses of others and that, I don’t use whatever power that seems appropriate to win my own position. If the score are high, it shows that I spend much of my time discussing issues that deserve it. Within the conflicting situation, this would indicate that, I have strength in digging into issues to identify the underlying concerns of individuals and to find an alternative which meets both sets of concerns. It also shows that I can explore a disagreement to learn from each other’s insights, and I can resolve some competing condition which would otherwise lead to interpersonal problem. Further aims High score in this style shows that, I have strength in finding some expedient to partially satisfy both parties as noted by (Alfred, 2007, p. 22). High score may also show that, I have weakness in concentrating heavily on tactics and practicalities of compromise that sometimes, I might lose the sight of the bigger issues which may include values, principles and long term objective of the company. Contrary, my own survey indicated the positive side of my attributes with low score. This eluded that, I don’t postpone and withdraw from threatening issues. I consider the potential damage caused by confronting a conflict; if the damage outweighs the benefit, then I find no need of pursuing the conflict. I also let people cool down to minimize tension so that, their composure and perspective is regained. Avoiding on my part also apply when other employees can resolve their situation more effectively without me. I have realized that, sometimes my coordination suffer because people have problems going along with me and, I have to improve on this. The accommodating attribute is manifested in the low score. This style shows that, I am not ready to neglect my own concerns to satisfy the concerns of other people and, allowing better position and ideas to be heard. As noted by (Morrill, 1996, p. 163), this indicates that I am reasonable. I also fail to accommodate others, when the issue in hand is much more significant to the other individual than to me so as to maintain cooperative relationship. In considering Thomas Kilmann instrument (Zartman, 2007, p. 360), the aspect of accommodating may be a weakness on my side. This is because; I may find that others outmatch me and that my ideas are not getting the attention they deserve. I need to improve on this as most of time, I feel frustrated because concern of others deprive my respect, influence and recognition at the place of work. Due to some weaknesses realized I need to develop skills in all the analyzed styles so that I can mold conflicts constructively. Proper understanding of different aspects of conflict and the manner in which conflicts can escalate will give me an opportunity to deal with situations more effectively. As a manager, I usually seek to prevent destructive conflict by good planning, clarifying purpose and participation, and good communication. In every organization activity, I have to evaluate the need for change, that is, which is the goal? Is it worth the cost? What are the priorities? And how will the company be affected? (Condliffe, 2008, p. 42), points out that clear communication is vital in justifying the changes in an organization and address fears, concerns, objections and needs of the staff. Every employee should be adequately trained to reduce anxiety and confusion. Conclusion The survey undertaken was meant to identify situations that may be encountered in personal and professional lives. The Conflict-Management Style Survey was designed to help improve awareness on characteristic approach, or style, in managing conflict. Conflicts are unpredictable; they can arise at any time because people in an organization perceive things differently which is likely to provoke mixed reactions. In my own view, conflict should be suppressed, understood and mechanism provided through which conflicts may be directed into effective channels. References Alfred, B. (2007). "The anatomy of conflict: some thoughts on managing staff conflict", Law Library Journal, 79 (1), winter, pp.7-32. Baker, L. (1999). "Managing resistance to change", Library Trends, 38 (1), summer, pp.53-61. Buch, K. (1997), "Managing the human side of change", Library Administration and Management, 11 (3), summer, pp. 147-150. Cornel, J. (1996), "Aspects of the management of change", Journal of Management in Medicine, 10 (2), pp.23-30. Condliffe, P. (2008). Conflict management: A practical guide. London: Oxford University Press, pp 24-45. Eisenhardt, M., Kahwajy, L. & Bourgeois, J. (1997). How management teams can have a good fight, Harvard Business Review, 75 (4), July-August, pp.77-85. Fisher, A. (1998). "So what is the big fuss about", Library Association Record, 100 (4), April, p.190. Goble, D. S. (2007). "Managing in a change environment", Library Administration and Management, 11 (3), summer, pp. 152-156. Janssen, O., Vliert, V., & Veenstra, C. (1999). How Task and Person Conflict Shape the Role of Positive Interdependence in Management Teams. Journal of Management , 25 (2), pp. 117-141. Shih, A., & Susanto, E. (2010). Conflict management styles, emotional intelligence, and job performance in public organizations. International Journal of Conflict Management, 21 (2), p.147. Read More