WEEK 7 7.1 This week's focus This week's topic is Conflict management. Having looked at motivation, emotion and stress, this week we look at the dynamics of conflict in workplaces. First, we define conflict and then the conflict process and then we investigate some approaches to conflict management. One of the facts of life is that you will not always agree with everybody - sometimes your viewpoint or goals may differ from those around you. This week's objectives By the end of this week you should be able to: · define conflict and debate its positive and negative consequences in the workplace · distinguish task from relationship conflict and describe three strategies to minimise relationship conflict during task conflict episodes · diagram the conflict process model and describe six structural sources of conflict in organisations . outline the five conflict handling styles and discuss the circumstances in which each would be most appropriate . apply the six structural approaches to conflict management and describe the three types of third-party dispute resolution · outline strategies that skilled negotiators use to claim value and create value in negotiations. 7.2 Conflict One of the facts of life is that you will not always agree with everybody - sometimes your viewpoint or goals may differ from those around you. We've looked at motivation, emotion and stress, this week we investigate the dynamics of conflict in organisational settings by first defining conflict and then the conflict process. Finally, we will investigate some approaches to conflict management. The meaning and the consequences of conflict Conflict isn't necessarily bad; there are both negative and positives outcomes of conflict. Negative consequences of conflict: · wastes time, energy and resources · less information sharing, productivity · more organisational politics · more job dissatisfaction, turnover, stress · weakens team cohesion (when conflict occurs within team). Positive consequences of conflict: · better decisions (tests logic, questions assumptions)
· improves responsiveness to external environment · increases team cohesion. In attempting to encourage constructive conflict, some negative relationship conflict may also occur. However, high levels of EI amongst cohesive team members, who enjoy supportive team norms, can mitigate this negative outcome. The Prezi presentation illustrates one way of understanding conflict. There are five approaches to handling conflict: Problem solving is best when interests are not perfectly aligned, both parties have trust/openness, and the issues are complex. Forcing is best when you have a deep conviction about your position; a quick resolution is required and the other party would take advantage of cooperation problems. Avoiding is best when the conflict is emotionally-charged and the cost of conflict resolution is higher than the benefits. Yielding is best used when the other party has much more power, the issue is much less important to you than to the other party, and the value/logic of your position is imperfect. Finally, compromising is most effective when both parties have equal power, a quick solution is required, and parties lack trust/openness. Negotiation We do this all the time. It's