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Team Conflict




Role Conflict

Conflict generated around an employee's role is very common. Too often, employees are put in a new role and left to "sink or swim". Eager to make a good impression, they are may be reluctant to ask questions.

Over time, their manager is often disappointed when mistakes occur, or work is not done. They may even feel they have chosen the wrong person for the job. The employee can quickly became disillusioned and frustrated. Conflict almost inevitably follows.

To avoid this situation, invest time in meeting your employee at the early stages in a new role. Clarify:

· what tasks have to be completed

· how much authority the employee has to make decisions on their own

· in what ways are they expected to use their initiative.

Avoid making the assumption that the employee thinks the same way as you do! What you might feel is straightforward, the employee could regard as complex. Discuss "what if" scenarios. Meet the employee on a regular basis to discuss progress and answer any queries.

Giving the employees the attention they need will minimise the chance of role conflict in the long term.

Team Conflict

Managing conflict in teams can be challenging as a number of people are involved. Again, destructive conflict can be minimised by investing time in the early stages. Clarify:

· how you are going to use the individual strengths in the team

· how you are going to divide out the tasks and measure success

· what are the ground rules on how the team will work together and communicate.

In the early stages of teamwork, conflict is unavoidable as team members are unsure of their role. As a manager, you can help them move through this "Storming" stage quickly.

When the team becomes established, constructive conflict is healthy, once the views of all team members are listened to with respect.

 

We define conflict as a disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns (проблемы). Within this simple definition there are several important understandings that emerge:

Disagreement - Generally, we are aware there is some level of difference in the positions of the two (or more) parties involved in the conflict. But the true disagreement versus the perceived disagreement may be quite different from one another. In fact, conflict tends to be accompanied by significant levels of misunderstanding that exaggerate the perceived disagreement considerably. If we can understand the true areas of disagreement, this will help us solve the right problems and manage the true needs of the parties.

Parties involved - There are often disparities in our sense of who is involved in the conflict. Sometimes, people are surprised to learn they are a party to the conflict, while other times we are shocked to learn we are not included in the disagreement. On many occasions, people who are seen as part of the social system (e.g., work team, family, company) are influenced to participate in the dispute, whether they would personally define the situation in that way or not. In the above example, people very readily "take sides" based upon current perceptions of the issues, past issues and relationships, roles within the organization, and other factors. The parties involved can become an elusive concept to define.

Perceived threat - People respond to the perceived threat, rather than the true threat, facing them. Thus, while perception doesn't become reality per se, people's behaviors, feelings and ongoing responses become modified by that evolving sense of the threat they confront. If we can work to understand the true threat (issues) and develop strategies (solutions) that manage it (agreement), we are acting constructively to manage the conflict.

Needs, interests or concerns - There is a tendency to narrowly define "the problem" as one of substance, task, and near-term viability. However, workplace conflicts tend to be far more complex than that, for they involve ongoing relationships with complex, emotional components. Simply stated, there are always procedural needs and psychological needs to be addressed within the conflict, in addition to the substantive needs that are generally presented. And the durability of the interests and concerns of the parties transcends the immediate presenting situation. Any efforts to resolve conflicts effectively must take these points into account.

So, is it still a simple definition of conflict? We think so, but we must respect that within its elegant simplicity lies a complex set of issues to address. Therefore, it is not surprising that satisfactory resolution of most conflicts can prove so challenging and time consuming to address.

Conflicts occur when people (or other parties) perceive that, as a consequence of a disagreement, there is a threat to their needs, interests or concerns. Although conflict is a normal part of organization life, providing numerous opportunities for growth through improved understanding and insight, there is a tendency to view conflict as a negative experience caused by abnormally difficult circumstances. Disputants tend to perceive limited options and finite resources available in seeking solutions, rather than multiple possibilities that may exist 'outside the box' in which we are problem-solving.

A few points are worth reiterating before proceeding:

· A conflict is more than a mere disagreement - it is a situation in which people perceive a threat(physical, emotional, power, status, etc.) to their well-being. As such, it is a meaningful experience in people's lives, not to be shrugged off by a mere, "it will pass…"

· Participants in conflicts tend to respond on the basis of their perceptions of the situation, rather than an objective review of it. As such, people filter their perceptions (and reactions) through their values, culture, beliefs, information, experience, gender, and other variables. Conflict responses are both filled with ideas and feelings that can be very strong and powerful guides to our sense of possible solutions.

· As in any problem, conflicts contain substantive, procedural, and psychological dimensions to be negotiated. In order to best understand the threat perceived by those engaged in a conflict, we need to consider all of these dimensions.

· Conflicts are normal experiences within the work environment. They are also, to a large degree, predictable and expectable situations that naturally arise as we go about managing complex and stressful projects in which we are significantly invested. As such, if we develop procedures for identifying conflicts likely to arise, as well as systems through which we can constructively manage conflicts, we may be able to discover new opportunities to transform conflict into a productive learning experience.

· Creative problem-solving strategies are essential to positive approaches to conflict management. We need to transform the situation from one in which it is 'my way or the highway' into one in which we entertain new possibilities that have been otherwise elusive.

 


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