Conflict Management in the Workplace
Conflict Management
Learning Team A: Dana Stinson, Timothy Bird, Sterling Richards, Diana Loutensock
LDR/531
October 5, 2010
Richard Hartley, M.A.
Conflict Management Training Program
Our consulting firm, Conflict Professionals, specializes in training all levels of managers (executive, mid- and entry-level) in the art of managing conflict within their teams and organizations. What is conflict and how does it arise? Typically, it occurs when two or more people oppose one another because their needs, wants, goals, or values are different. It is almost always accompanied by feelings of anger, frustration, hurt, anxiety, or fear. An individual may also have internal conflict issues causing stress and incapacitating him or her from functioning in a productive manner. Effective Conflict Management is the process of identifying and addressing those differences that, if left unmanaged, would become a destructive element for the individual, project, team, and/or organization.
What Role Does Conflict Play in an Organization?
According to Santosh Karkhanis conflict can create a negative impact on team cohesiveness when it:
1. Hampers productivity;
2. Lowers morale;
3. Cause more and continued conflicts;
4. Cause inappropriate behaviors;
5. Takes attention away from other important activities;
6. Undermines morale or self-concept;
7. Polarizes people and groups, reducing cooperation; 8. Increases or sharpens differences.
Generally, when discussing organizational conflict we think of personality clashes or aggressive type behaviors between individuals performing similar tasks or at the same level in the organizational hierarchy. There are managerial actions that can cause or create conflict in the workplace; some of which are:
Managerial Actions That May Cause Workplace Conflicts * Surprised Employees – managers don’t inform employee of new policies, programs, decisions or manager takes credit for their employees’ work thereby
Learning Team A: Dana Stinson, Timothy Bird, Sterling Richards, Diana Loutensock
LDR/531
October 5, 2010
Richard Hartley, M.A.
Conflict Management Training Program
Our consulting firm, Conflict Professionals, specializes in training all levels of managers (executive, mid- and entry-level) in the art of managing conflict within their teams and organizations. What is conflict and how does it arise? Typically, it occurs when two or more people oppose one another because their needs, wants, goals, or values are different. It is almost always accompanied by feelings of anger, frustration, hurt, anxiety, or fear. An individual may also have internal conflict issues causing stress and incapacitating him or her from functioning in a productive manner. Effective Conflict Management is the process of identifying and addressing those differences that, if left unmanaged, would become a destructive element for the individual, project, team, and/or organization.
What Role Does Conflict Play in an Organization?
According to Santosh Karkhanis conflict can create a negative impact on team cohesiveness when it:
1. Hampers productivity;
2. Lowers morale;
3. Cause more and continued conflicts;
4. Cause inappropriate behaviors;
5. Takes attention away from other important activities;
6. Undermines morale or self-concept;
7. Polarizes people and groups, reducing cooperation; 8. Increases or sharpens differences.
Generally, when discussing organizational conflict we think of personality clashes or aggressive type behaviors between individuals performing similar tasks or at the same level in the organizational hierarchy. There are managerial actions that can cause or create conflict in the workplace; some of which are:
Managerial Actions That May Cause Workplace Conflicts * Surprised Employees – managers don’t inform employee of new policies, programs, decisions or manager takes credit for their employees’ work thereby
References: Santosh Karkhanis. (30 August 2010). Conflict Management. Retrieved from: http://www.karkhanisgroup.com/consulting/management/general/conflict-management.html Session 5. Conflict Management. Retrieved from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/w7504e/w7504e07.htm Workplace Conflict. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Workplace_conflict&printable=yes William King. (2010). Some Managerial Actions That May Cause Workplace Conflicts. Ezine Articles. Retrieved from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Some-Managerial-Actions-That-May-Cause-Conflicts.