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Capella University *
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3700
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Communications
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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6
Uploaded by DoctorRaccoon4002
Institutional Conflict
Sabrina Petrichevich
Capella University
COM 3700
January 2024
Institutional Organization Conflict
Conflict is a broad term for any disagreement or argument. These can stem from people having differing viewpoints, personalities, and behaviors. Common differences that can lead to conflicts are religion, culture, ethnicity, gender and age. More often than not, conflicts arise in a workplace environment and can have either positive or negative impacts. There are multiple reasons for conflict within an organization. Three common workplace conflicts are status conflicts, task conflicts, and relationship conflicts. Status conflicts are conflicts that surround the hierarchy in a workplace environment. Most of the time, these conflicts stem from a disagreement about who is in charge. Multiple things can lead to a status conflict, such as not knowing who is in charge in a situation or a misunderstanding about who is tasked with what. These conflicts can escalate into a “turf war”, where co workers will argue about who they feel deserves to be in a leadership position instead of another. Tasks conflicts happen when co workers are tasks with a project or assignment at work and are disagreeing about the process that should take place in order to complete the task. An example of a task conflict could be that a construction company is remodeling a home but cannot decide on wether electrical work or plumbing work should be completed first. This type of disagreement can lead to a delay in the timeline of tasks being completed at work. Relationship conflicts are more personal than other conflicts. These typically result from people who have differing personalities that result in higher tensions between coworkers in a workplace environment. There are multiple behaviors that can lead to a relationship conflict, such as making condescending comments, interrupting others, being disrespectful, yelling, insulting, ignoring or undermining coworkers. While relationship conflict in the workplace is
fairly common, it is imperative that it be resolved in order to maintain a healthy work environment. Functional Conflict
Conflict can sometimes be a positive thing in a workplace environment. Functional conflict is where there is a disagreement or something in the workplace causing conflict, however there is a discussion, constructive criticism and understanding amongst the individuals (Deutsch et. al., 2014). When conflict is resolved efficiently and effectively, it allows coworkers to grow together towards a common goal. Individuals who are able to work together as a team to overcome their differences are able to continue to work together in harmony towards their tasks or assignments at work. The simple solution to a functional conflict is to have a discussion with the people involved in the conflict. Many conflicts stem from a miscommunication, and a quick conversation can help clear that miscommunication up. Dysfunctional Conflict Dysfunctional conflict is very different from functional conflict. With dysfunctional conflict, individuals are unable work through conflicts together. This can be due to miscommunications, high stress, dysfunctional leadership, or simply being incompatible with each other. Constant conflict of this nature in a work place can cause increasing frustration to not only the individuals involved, but to the rest of the employees. Dysfunctional conflict has negative consequences such as unsatisfied employees, high turnover rates, and a decrease in the quality of work performance. Resolving a dysfunctional conflict may be more challenging for management than a functional conflict. The same conflict resolution strategies can be used, but sometimes there is no obvious solution to the conflict.
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Conflict Resolution Conflict is unavoidable in work place situations. Without effective conflict resolution strategies, it would be challenging to continue to work towards a common goal. Leadership and management are often tasked with resolving conflicts between employees. In order to be able to resolve conflicts, a leader must have their own leadership skills. Some of these skills are effective communication, emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills. Effective communication consists of verbal and nonverbal communication. Non verbal communication is maintaining eye contact, having an open stance and good body language, and showing that you are actively listening. Leaders should also speak to employees with respect and avoid using a condescending tone or placing blame. If you are in a leadership position and are maintaining a confrontational stance, while glaring at employees and being condescending, you may not be able to resolve conflicts easily. Emotional intelligence is another key part of being a good leader that can help resolve conflicts. Are you able to place yourself in someone else’s shoes and try to understand why they are upset or angry? You must be able to have empathy towards others and also be self aware enough to know if you yourself are being insensitive. Lastly, it is important as a leader to be able to solve problems. Conflicts arise, but are you able to make a plan to resolve them? Leaders should be able to detect where a problem started, and be able to arrive to a solution. Some strategies to help management and leadership to resolve conflicts are to address the conflict, clarify the issues, set up a meeting, identify a solution and monitor the progress of the proposed solution. For example, in a health care setting a nurse has become increasingly agitated because her certified nursing assistant is failing to provide vital signs to her in a timely manner. This is causing her to fall behind in her daily tasks, and putting patient safety at risk. The nurse
attempts to confront the CAN but because she is stressed, she comes off as aggressive and rude. Now management has been made aware of the conflict and is attempting to resolve it. They must first establish what the conflict is. Next, they should hold a meeting with the two employees that are involved in the conflict. During the meeting, the CNA is able to explain that she does not know how to take vital signs and because the nurse is often stressed out and busy, was too embarrassed to ask for help. The nurse is then able to apologize and show the CAN how to take the vital signs, and also explain that part of the reason she was stressed was because she wasn’t getting the vital signs in time and did not understand why. Now that the problem is addressed, and a solution was given, management should monitor the progress and follow up with both employees to see if the conflict remains resolved. Conclusion
Workplace conflicts are common, and can affect an organizations productivity if not addressed properly. There are multiple different kinds of workplace conflict, and multiple different ways to solve it. What is most important is that an organization appoints leadership that is able to help resolve these conflicts. Once an institution has a strategy to resolve conflicts, they will be able to help employees navigate through conflicts and hopefully create a stronger team in the process.
References
Deutsch, M., Coleman, P. T., & Marcus, E. C. (2000).
The handbook of conflict resolution : theory and practice. Jossey-Bass.
Lee, Eun Kyung (Elise), et al. “Task Conflict and Team Performance: Roles of Expertise Disparity and Functional Background Diversity.”
International Journal of Conflict Management, 21 Apr. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1108/ijcma-08-2021-0130
. Babalola, Mayowa T., et al. “The Relation between Ethical Leadership and Workplace Conflicts: The Mediating Role of Employee Resolution Efficacy.”
Journal of Management
, vol. 44, no. 5, 4 Apr. 2016, pp. 2037
–
2063, https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316638163.
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