What is conflict and why does it arise?
Conflict is not a new thing for human beings; they experience it often, – with their friends, families, and more so in their professional lives. Conflict is a ‘clash of interests, values, actions, views or directions.’ People disagree because they see things differently, want different things, have thinking styles that encourage them to disagree or are simply ‘configured’ to disagree. Other causes of conflict can be communication gaps; personality differences; substandard performance; disputes over approaches, responsibility and authority; lack of cooperation; or competition for limited resources.
What is the result of conflict in the workplace?
In the workplace, conflict causes a massive degree of frustration, pain, discomfort, sadness, as well as anger. It is an expected and undeniable aspect of life. In the modern world, organizations hire employees from diverse geographical locations with dissimilar cultural and intellectual backgrounds, as well as various viewpoints. In a working environment where people have disparate outlooks toward the same problems, disagreements are bound to happen leading to negativity. These negative effects of workplace conflict may range from work being disrupted, decreased productivity levels, project failure, absenteeism, turnover and even termination. Emotional stress can be both, a cause and an effect of workplace conflict.
What to do when conflicts arise?
The next and perhaps the most important query in this article is that when conflicts do happen, what is the response we should adopt to deal with it. Remember, the idea is not to try to prevent conflicts but rather to resolve and manage them in an effective manner. When people use the appropriate tools of resolution to address issues, they will be able to keep their differences from rising to major problems.
The following steps will help in easing off conflicts–
1.Identify the source of conflict
2. Talk with the other person – without bias
3. Focus on behavior and events, not on personalities.
4. Listen carefully and allow everyone to put forward their views
4. Investigate the situation and identify points of agreement and disagreement.
5. Finally, chalk out the areas of primary conflicts and develop a plan to work on each conflict.
6. Agree on the best solution and determine the responsibilities each party has in the resolution
7. Follow up and build on your success in the process of implementation of the plan.
8. Decide preventive strategies for the future to avoid conflicts as much as possible!
Managing and resolving conflict at work is integral in meeting organizational goals and its seamless functioning. So, if there are disagreements between your employers, adopt the above-mentioned techniques and manage the situation. Remember…….The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph – Thomas Paine
Avtar Madan
Himanshu
Shree Lahiri
