Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
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Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
College of Humanities and Social Studies, Grand Canyon University
COM-500: Relationship in the Workplace
July 26, 2023
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Conflict within a company is going to happen whether the company wants it to or not.
When one thinks of conflict, most people think of the negative. However, conflict can be
beneficial because it aids in addressing difficulties before they intensify and benefits from the
variations between team members (Clark, 2015). Challenges that can affect the cohesiveness in
the workplace are members with different personalities, backgrounds, and work experiences.
Conflict can also occur between teams when they cannot communicate effectively, collaborate to
achieve the requested goal, or bring personal issues to work with them on a daily basis. To
reduce conflict the leader must know how to disengage conflicts and use strategies to resolve
them quickly and with minimum disturbance. There is no one way to resolve conflict and the
leader must handle each case individually and with different conflict resolution measures
depending on the circumstance. Ferrington & Associates, a consulting company, is having
financial and team conflict problems that could lead to restructuring of the company and lay-offs
(Grand Canyon University, 2014). The leader Erica Jasmir and her team has been tasked with
finding ways to avoid lay-offs and provide suggestions on how to cut costs but first she must
deal with the lack of camaraderie within her team.
Ferrington & Associates’ Conflict
Ferrington & Associates, financial troubles are due to the lack of billing hours that
generates revenue which has spread across the company to its employees. The infamous rumor of
lay-offs and restructuring has caused negative discussions among the team. Due to the internal
conflicts among some members, it is hard for Erica to pull her team together to come up with
solutions on how to address the decline. During the first meeting the four team members argued
back and forth more than trying to come up with suggestions on how to cut costs. All four have
conflicts ranging from personal matters, resentment for not getting the promotion to the lack of
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loyalty to the company. Erica needs to provide some encouraging words and directions to the
members to deal with the problem.
Suggested Conflict Solutions
No one conflict style works best for a team. Keeping in mind that there are multiple
personalities contributing to the conflict. However, out of all the different resolution styles that
can be used the most effective will be collaboration, compromise, and accommodating, which
should produce good results for the team. There is no guarantee that what is present by each
member will be the suggested idea of the team. This is the start of collaborating so that open
communication can begin. Collaborators mutually agree, giving all sides a say in the decision.
There are times when members need to compromise where there is a give and take between sides
(Griffin, et al., 2020) Compromisers stay neutral to conflict. Then you have the one person who
will accommodate for the good of the team and forgo their ideas. Accommodating members will
go along to get along. This team has challenges that Erica is going to have to work around to get
the job done.
Team Members and Strategies
Erica, Timothy, and Shelia need to focus on the requested task and come up with methods
to collaborate in a practical and productive manner. Erica, who has been with the company for
fifteen years, has only been a team leader for a year and is enthusiastic about her promotion. She
needs to find her voice and be assertive so the group can come up with ideas for upper
management. She is experiencing some personal issues that could distract her from giving one
hundred percent to the team, but she pushes forward with the intent of managing the group
effectively.
Timothy, who did not get the team lead position is resentful towards Erica and is
going through a major change at home. So, he is distracted and not as committed to hearing what
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others have to say. Shelia, the new member of the company and team, has no loyalty to either
and has made it known that she is actively looking for employment elsewhere. She is emotional,
speaks her mind and doesn’t want to help with finding a solution.
Erica must find ways to address open communications during their meetings without
criticism from all on the team. Negative criticisms only hinders the progress of the team. Erica
will need to be an active listener, ingest what is being offered and then present her feedback to
further encourage participation. Erica’s open and welcoming demeanor does not mean she cannot
take charge of the team. While working on this task Erica is going to need to put her personal
emotions to the side and redirect them to meeting the goals requested. In order for the team to
understand the seriousness of this project she must set clear goals and expectations, so everyone
understands their purpose. This just maybe the motivation Shelia needs to see how great working
for Ferrington & Associates could be in the long haul.
With Timothy’s resentment for being passed over as lead, he is more focused on the
suggested rumors of lay-offs and his financial hardship. This is Erica’s opportunity to get
Timothy to collaborate with her and redirect his energy to finding a solution which can lead to
other team leader opportunities for him.
Shelia has already checked out and is suggesting to others to follow her out the door.
Erica needs Shelia to communicate her ideas to feel valued as a member. If she does not feel
welcomed to the company, then she has no loyalty. Erica should have a one-on-one to understand
her why she feels the way she does. This may change Shelia’s attitude toward working for
Ferrington & Associates.
Workplace conflict is inevitable. It is up to the leaders to address it as soon as possible so
it does not bring down the team and does not have a negative reflection on the organization.
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References
Clark, M. J. (2015). The art of managing workplace conflict.
Public relations tactics
,
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(8).
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=bth&AN=110168687&site=ehost-
live&scope=site&custid=s8333196&groupid=main&profile=ehost
Grand Canyon University. (2014). https://halo.gcu.edu/resource/9273d71f-f290-413e-98b7-
c5ace40c2f83
Griffin, R. W., Phillips, J.M., & Gully, S.M. (2020).
Organizational behavior: Managing people
and organizations
. Boston, MA: Cengage ISBN-13: 9780357689998
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