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... ember must understand each side's positions, interests and needs (Miall, Ramsbotham, and Woodhouse, 1999). Teams can sometimes have difficulty developing this understanding. Each member's understanding is colored by his or her views, personal agendas and objectives. Third parties to a conflict, whether leaders or outside mediators, can often intervene to help bridge the different ideas and goals among team members, leading to better understanding and the ultimate goal of cooperation. These third parties must be able to identify and manage potential conflicts to achieve successful resolution.
As mentioned above, conflict is universal and occurs in all workplaces regardless of culture or industry. A leader must know how to identify the warning signs of conflict, and competently resolve the conflict so that individuals and teams can be productive. A successful leader, however, also knows how to recognize and leverage constructive conflict, which can be turned into an opportunity to gain new insights on a particular issue, or even find a creative solution to a difficult problem. In order to resolve conflict, it is important to fully understand the principal elements that characterize conflict. One description of these elements is interdependence, interaction, and incompatible goals (University of Phoenix, 2001). Conflict, then, occurs when interdependent individuals or teams interact and perceive differences in goals and values.
The other party is often viewed as "obstructing these goals or otherwise impeding progress" (p. 237). These perceptions lead to conflict. This interaction between individuals, groups, and organizations should be the focus of managers who wish to resolve the conflict. Communication is the conduit for resolving conflicts, as it is the only way to articulate conflict and define the issues at stake. Sometimes teams can easily address conflict without intervention from management.
For example, if there is a simple miscommunication about basic facts and data, teams can resolve conflict by communicating the correct information to all involved parties. However, complex conflict involving fundamental issues such as goals and values, may require intervention. In these cases, according to Johnson & Johnson (1994), leaders and mediators should follow a prescribed sequence of phases. Following this sequence will increase the likelihood of success, especially in difficult conflicts. These phases are: 1. Collect data.
Obtaining the facts is critical. Leaders should also analyze the behaviors of all parties objectively. 2. Probe. By asking involving questions, leaders will encourage parties to communicate and listen to each other's viewpoint. 3.
Save face. Humiliating or embarrassing either party is counterproductive. Successful managers work toward a solution that is beneficial to the entire team. 4. Discover common interests. Discovering common interests establishes a common ground among team members.
This common ground is the first step to an amicable solution. 5. Reinforce. By supporting common ground, leaders drive discussion toward a mutually agreeable resolution. Leaders must recognize the appropriate time to use the data collected in phase one. 6. Negotiate. In this phase, partial solutions or compromises should be formulated and presented to the parties involved.
Leaders must continue reinforcing common ground toward a successful resolution. 7. Solidify adjustments. Leaders should review and confirm areas where the team reaches agreement. This is the final step in securing the approval of all team members and helps to solidify the final compromise.
Following this sequence of phases allows the parties in conflict to arrive at a successful resolution. Otherwise, discussion may slow down or stop at some point, frustration will increase and emotional and destructive conflict can occur. As this sequence of phases implies, managers often must act as mediators to facilitate conflict resolution. Mediators, however, must have a clear strategy in order to assist in resolving conflicts. Among the strategies mediators can use in coping with conflict are taking two roles a mediator may take: ally and adversary (Johnson & Johnson, 1994). As an ally, a mediator can use several strategies.
The first strategy is collaboration. In this strategy, mediators identify the concerns of both parties, and develop alternative solutions that satisfy both sets of needs. The primary advantage of collaboration is that it encourages teamwork among both parties. The resolution is not a victory for one camp over another; instead it is the product of the collective creative energies of the teams.
Often the best solutions are developed by collaboration. However, collaboration is time intensive and requires trust, and consequently may not always be the best approach. Collaboration is usually not appropriate when time is limited or animosity exists between both parties. In these cases, a mediator acting as an ally can use compromise. Compromise involves finding a mutually suitable agreement for both parties. If both parties are willing to be flexible, a mediator can achieve resolution relatively quickly through compromise.
All parties both gain and lose something, since successful compromise is mutual. Compromise is also useful as a backup tactic when collaboration fails. However, this strategy requires commitment to compromise from the outset. As an adversary, a mediator can use competition to achieve resolution.
Competition strategy places individual values above that of the other party. When using this strategy, a clear winner emerges. This realist strategy should be given careful consideration prior to implementation. Mediators must believe that a single side winning the conflict is in the best interest of the group.
A mediator must also consider whether resolution through competition is worth the inevitable reduction in cooperation. While this strategy can ensure a quick decision, mediators must balance this outcome with the potential for reduced teamwork and damage to the integrity of the team as a whole. Mediators can choose from numerous other methods of managing conflict that do not necessarily adhere to the above models. Often, it is possible to address potential issues before they become serious conflicts. Proactively managing potentially contentious issues through open discussion can allow teams to address these issues in an efficient and productive fashion. In these discussions, ensuring open and frank communication between all parties is the most vital task.
Other steps, such as choosing the right time to resolve conflict and avoiding threatening or insulting behavior also contribute to resolution. Even humor is useful for diffusing a tense situation (Wescott, 1998). A joke at the right moment can relieve the tension in the room, allowing participants to return to the negotiations at hand. Laughter helps individuals to accept the other parties' differences, and makes the experience more enjoyable. Although it is usually appropriate for mediators to use themselves as the target of humor, the jokes should never belittle or insult anyone. Humor should support the talents of the individual or group, not point out their faults.
Conflict is inevitable within teams. Many people will handle conflict differently, some may take it personally, where others may withdraw or use conflict constructively and grow from the experience. Once teams identify conflicts and the responses to them, the group will need to take action to resolve the conflicts. Cooperation is the ultimate key for successful, permanent resolutions.
These methods and strategies are key components in a team's collective portfolio of conflict management skills. Combining an understanding of the nature of conflict, the range or responses in the culture of conflict, and the strategies associated with leveraging conflict to produce opportunity, teams can turn conflict into an opportunity. Works Cited Axelrod, Robert M. (1984). The Evolution of Cooperation (pp. 206 - 207).
New York: Basic Books, Inc. Broom, Michael F. (2002). The Infinite Organization: Celebrating the positive use of power in organizations. Davie-Black Publishing. Fearon, James D. (Spring 1998). , "Bargaining, Enforcement, and International Cooperation, " International Organization, Vol. 52, No. 2, 269. Johnson, D.
W. and Johnson, F. P. (1994). Joining Together Group Theory and Group Skills.
Boston: Pearson Allyn & Beacon. Miall, Hugh, Oliver Ramsbotham, and Tom Woodhouse (2001). Contemporary Conflict Resolution: The Prevention Management, and Transformation of Deadly Conflicts (pp. 9). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. Nye, Joseph S. (1987). Peace in Parts: Integration and Conflict in Regional Organizations (pp. 64 - 75).
Boston: Little Brown. Rosin ski, Herbert (1976). "Scharnhorst to Schlieffen: The Rise and Decline of German Military Thought, " Naval War College Review 29 (pp. 83 - 103). Thompson, Leigh, Eileen Aranda, and Stephen P. Robbins (2000). Tools for Teams. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.
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Research essay sample on Conflict Management And Resolution For Teams
