Assignment 4 pdf
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3700
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Communications
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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6
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Conflict Negotiation and Resolution
Sabrina Petrichevich
Capella University
COM 3700
January 2024
Conflict Negotiation and Resolution
Conflict within an organization is common, unavoidable, and can often lead to positive or negative outcomes. Conflict can occur from many different types of factors. Understanding what causes conflict, how conflict affects an organization, conflict resolution strategies, and conflict negotiation strategies can help an organization quickly settle conflicts and prevent them from reoccurring. For this particular assignment, I will be referring back to a mock organizational conflict. Within this mock conflict situation, there is an organization whose leadership has been conflicting with each other for about a year in public ways on many different topics. Some of the topics were about the types of events the organization sponsored, but more recently members of the team have been accusing the director of making decisions by bias due to race, culture, social status and religion. There are seven members of the leadership team that are all different genders and races. Factors Responsible for Conflict in Organization
There are multiple different factors that can contribute to conflicts in an organization. Understanding these factors and formulating strategies to resolve conflicts are essential to keeping an organization running smoothly. Some common factors that contribute to conflict are communication issues, behaviors, lack of accountability, misunderstandings, and lack of respect. Other differences that people have that could be contributing to conflict are religion, race, culture and gender. Communication is a very common contributor to conflict. Communication is often misunderstood which leads to rising tensions between individuals. Body language, workplace gossip, tone, facial expressions and lack of knowledge can escalate conflicts as well. In our particular mock conflict, it seems that members of the leadership team are upset that the director is supporting certain organizations. It’s possible that the director is supporting an organization
that doesn’t coincide with the beliefs of other members of leadership. A potential example of that is that perhaps the director is supporting a local church, while other members of the team are not religious and do not agree that that should be brought into the workplace. How Conflict Affects Organization
When team members are constantly in conflicts with each other the functionality of the company is affected.
Organizations suffer a lot from conflicts and results in problems like low performance, poor compliance on organizational policies, disciplinary issues, and some occasions severe threats (Hussain, 2018). Unresolved conflict can cause issues such as a mistrust for coworkers or authority within the organization and an unwillingness to cooperate. Leaving conflicts unresolved can cause frustration, increased tension, and an overall decrease in satisfaction from employees. Employees who are dissatisfied with their work environment are more likely to leave, which would increase a company's turnover rates. A company with poor retention could struggle with productivity due to a constant need for retraining new staff. Another effect of unresolved conflict is a lack of commitment and lack of desire to succeed at work. This leads to lower levels of productivity. Conflict Resolution Styles
Conflict resolution is critical in order to maintain a successful organization. There are many different styles that can be used to resolve conflicts, and determining which style to use depends on what the conflict is about and who it is between. According to the Thomas-Kidman Conflict Mode Instrument, there are five styles of conflict management. These styles are accommodating, avoiding, compromising, collaborating, and competing. Accommodating style can be described as simply “giving in” during a conflict. This style can be used when you would rather keep the peace than continue to argue. The avoiding style is exactly what it sounds like-
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avoiding the conflict. It may be that the conflict seems trivial, or you don’t like to be involved in conflicts. The avoiding style is not always the best option for resolving conflicts as it can leave things unfinished, and make other people feel like you don’t care about their feelings. The compromising style attempts to find a middle ground between everyone’s needs. This can often leave one side of the conflict unsatisfied. The collaborating style is similar to the compromising, but instead of trying to find a middle ground, you aim to find a solution that ensures satisfaction to all individuals involved in the conflict. The competing style is a style that can be used in situations where you have to stand up for what you’re fighting about. This style leaves little room for the perspective of other individuals, and instead is focused on pushing your own views. In our mock situation, a few different strategies would have to be used in combination in order to meet everyone’s needs. Because this conflict involves sensitive topics such as race and culture, it is important that the avoidance style is not used. Avoiding a problem with this level of unhappiness within the organization is not the proper approach. The collaborating style is the style I would use to attempt to resolve the issues within this organization. I would use this style because it is imperative that all members of leadership are happy with the outcome, and that no one feels like the compromised or “gave in” for a resolution. Conflict Negotiation Strategies and Outcomes
Negotiation during a conflict is a form of communication that focuses on resolving the conflict by addressing the concerns of individuals and working together to find a solution. For starters, leadership needs to clearly define the goals of a conflict negotiation. This helps everyone stay focused during the negotiation. Another strategy is to consider the background of everyone involved. Attempt to place yourself in your peer’s shoes and try to understand why they might be upset. Actively listening, being respectful of each other and attempting to not take any criticism
too personally are all good strategies to use during negotiations. The common goal of all conflict negotiations is to resolve the original conflict. During these debates, it is important to clearly define the problem, be empathetic towards individuals who have beliefs that are different than your own, and to work together to produce a solution that everyone is satisfied with. Conclusion Understanding which factors lead to conflict, and how to resolve conflict is important for any organization to understand. Conflicts in the workplace are unavoidable, but how they are handled by leadership is what can make or break an organization. Leadership that can help their staff resolve conflicts in a positive manner are essential to the ongoing success of an organization.
References Leila, C. M., Karkoulian, S., & Abdul-Nasser El-Kassar. (2016). Conflict resolution styles and personality.
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management,
65(6), 792-810. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-01-2016-0014
Goldsmith, B. (2003). Conflict resolution in the workplace.
Office Solutions,
20(6), 46-47. http://library.capella.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-
journals%2Fconflict-resolution-workplace%2Fdocview%2F216429329%2Fse-
2%3Faccountid%3D27965
Hussain, K., & Zaman, K. (2018). USING THOMAS-KILMANN INSTRUMENT TO EVALUATE THE MODES/METHODS OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN PAKISTAN'S INSURANCE COMPANIES.
International Journal of Information, Business and Management,
10(3), 58-68. http://library.capella.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly
-journals%2Fusing-thomas-kilmann-instrument-evaluate-
modes%2Fdocview%2F2060920667%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D27965
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