Awareness and Understanding of Conflict

What is Conflict Management?

Conflicts may occur between colleagues, between staff and a customer, or between large groups. Some are short-lived, others are deep-seated and take a long time to resolve. 

During conflict management your aim is to find a positive, win-win result from disagreements between people in the workplace in a way that respects everyone’s wants and needs.

Chances of conflict are becoming more prevalent as:

• The pace of work and competition increases

• People are exposed to higher stress levels

• Organisations employ more culturally and generationally diverse workforces

Therefore, developing a robust skillset to deal with the challenges of managing and resolving conflict is essential.

Types of Conflict Management

Preventative measures:

• Workplace changes

• Job role changes

• Training staff

• A thorough conflict resolution policy

Alternative dispute resolution possibilities: 

• Informal discussions and mediation

• Conciliation and arbitration

What does an organisation with effective conflict management 

processes look like?

Common Sources of Conflict

The reasons behind conflicts are rarely black and white, and it’s unlikely that just one person is to blame. But figuring out the cause is essential so you can determine how to address the problem positively and prevent it from happening again.

Conflict isn’t all bad…

While “conflict” often has a negative connotation, the effects of conflict within an organisation can be positive and can help an organisation grow, if managed correctly.

Positive effects of conflict in an organisation:

Negative effects of poor conflict management in an organisation:

Conflict and Triggers

Triggers and Behaviours during Conflict

Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann

There are two main behaviours observed when a person is handling conflict. These can be described as:

• Assertiveness: the degree to which you try to satisfy your own needs

• Cooperativeness: the degree to which you try to satisfy the other person's concerns

These two behaviours can be used to define five different conflict resolution strategies, which assume that people choose how cooperative and how assertive to be during a conflict situation. However, the behaviours are normally triggered by a person’s previous experience, understanding of a situation and their relationship with the other person, and they just aren’t managed well.

5 conflict management resolution styles:

1) Avoiding

Avoiding is when people just ignore or withdraw from the conflict. They choose this method when the discomfort of confrontation exceeds the potential reward of resolution. While this might seem easy to accommodate, people aren’t really contributing anything of value to the conversation and may be withholding worthwhile ideas. When conflict is avoided, nothing is resolved.

2) Competing

Competing is used by people who go into a conflict planning to win. They’re assertive and not cooperative. This method is characterised by the assumption that one side wins and everyone else loses, and it doesn’t allow room for diverse perspectives. Competing might work in sports or war, but it’s rarely a good strategy for group problem solving.

3) Accommodating

Accommodating is a strategy where one party gives in to the wishes or demands of another. They’re being cooperative but not assertive. This may appear to be a gracious way to give in when one realises they have been wrong about an argument. It’s less helpful when one party accommodates another merely to preserve harmony or to avoid disruption. Like avoidance, it can result in unresolved issues. Too much accommodation can result in groups where the most assertive parties commandeer the process and take control of most conversations.

4) Collaborating

Collaborating is the method used when people are both assertive and cooperative. A group may learn to allow each participant to contribute with the possibility of co-creating a shared solution that everyone can support.

5) Compromising

Compromising is where participants are partially assertive and cooperative. The concept is that everyone gives up a little bit of what they want, and no one gets everything they want. The perception of the best outcome when working by compromise is that which “splits the difference.” Compromise is perceived as being fair, even if no one is particularly happy with the final outcome.