Caroline Errar, Anne Smith, Mary Ap, Starling Loyd
MGT/311
02/23/2013
Rocco Natale
Teamwork, Collaboration, and Conflict Resolution
The text book describes conflict as “a process that begins when one party perceives another party has or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about.” There are different views on dealing with conflict. There is the traditional view that seeks to eliminate any conflict and the interaction group that seek to use conflict as a stepping stone to greater things. Conflict can arise in any situation and, following the managed conflict view, it is not necessarily something to be push under the table but something to be examined and resolved.
The writing team members all had different ideas and concerns regarding the new pilot for a television series. With only two weeks remaining to present a finished pilot to the network the writing team is unable to agree on the pilot theme. Eileen is unwilling to listen to Emily’s idea. She thinks she knows what is acceptable to the network, and Emily’s idea is not acceptable. Douglas agrees with Eileen. He is worried that the progressive concept is too progressive, based on his dealings with the network in the past. Adam knows the network is revamping and thinks they may be receptive to a progressive pilot, but knows that Eileen and Douglas know the network better than he does. Emily is inexperienced, does not know the network, but is sure her idea is a good one. She thinks they are not listening to her because she lacks experience. The team is experiencing competition, where each member is more concerned with being right, than in getting the job done. By using the competition, some avoidance and accommodation to understand the problem and the concepts, the team is directed with an authoritative decision to listen to each idea and evaluate it based on the idea’s merits alone. After
References: Teamwork, Collaboration, and Conflict Resolution Simulation (n.d.) Resolving Conflict in Teams Retrieved February 18, 2013 from http://www.phoenix.edu