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In The IndustryConflict Management
William Earley- CTAC 354 (10305)
THE ARTICLE
The Article• The article I chose to analyze for this assignment was
CBS News Money Watch’s article “Workplace conflict is a management problem”, written by Steve Tobak,• The article basically agrees with the different concepts
that we spoke about in class as for how workplace conflict starts.
What does the article say?• The Seven Examples of Leadership issues that create
conflict:• Shared, split, or unclear responsibility• Centralized organizational functions• Ineffective compensation and review systems• Up and coming stars thwarted by “the system”• Lack of accountability• Poor or nonexistent processes• The Peter Principle
THE CONCEPT OF CONFLICT
MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE
The Concept• What is Conflict Management?• Based on our discussions in class, I’ve found out that conflict
management means different things for different people.• Some people listen to others, respect others, and attempt to
understand others, while others simply argue, ridicule, and criticize.
THE CONNECTION
Margaret Heffernan- Dare to Disagree• Margaret Heffernan’s Dare to Disagree TED Talk gives
a much more in depth explanation as for what my article exactly is talking about when it refers to The Seven Breeding Grounds for Employee Conflict• This presentation will give a better connection
between a few of the breeding grounds, and Margaret Heffernan’s talk, as well as other class discussions.
Shared, split or unclear responsibility• Essentially, more than anything, this concept goes to
show that people need to know what they are responsible for in order to be successful• The CBC news article states, “When responsibility is shared
or isn't clearly defined, that's a recipe for disaster.”• Margaret Heffernan indirectly backed up that statement in a
major way, when she said “She worked with a statistician named George Kneale, and George was pretty much everything that Alice wasn't. So, Alice was very outgoing and sociable, and George was a recluse. Alice was very warm, very empathetic with her patients. George frankly preferred numbers to people. But he said this fantastic thing about their working relationship. He said, "My job is to prove Dr. Stewart wrong."
Centralized Organizational Functions• Tobak’s article states “Whenever you have centralized
organizational functions like HR, IT, marketing or sales, for example, there's serious potential for conflict between people fighting over resources. “• This is to say that organizational conflict is
everywhere…. Question is: How do the organizations deal with it??
A quote• “I wonder how many of us have, or dare to have, such
collaborators. Alice and George were very good at conflict. They saw it as thinking.”- Margaret Heffernan
Ineffective Compensation and Review Systems
Tobak states:• Nothing breeds
employee-level conflict more than when compensation or review systems are dysfunctional
Connection:• In class, we talked in an activity
about a man that felt that he was being reviewed unfairly, as they were criticizing his lateness, yet he argued that he always stayed late and made up his work as well.• Burt, from our class activity, is
another great example.• This is just a real life example
and proof of Tobak’s statement.
Up and Coming Stars Thwarted by The System
Tobak defines this as:• when review and
compensation systems aren't flexible enough to allow for certain individuals with star potential to be identified and offered an accelerated path.
Compared to Margaret Heffernan’s talk• Margaret speaks about
Alice Stewart’s struggles to get funding for her science research. Alice wasn’t respected enough to get much funding towards her research.
Lack of AccountabilityTobak’s definition• I think Tobak’s definition
of accountability is a little complicated. But, it states “usually when objectives or metrics are fuzzy or poorly aligned between groups”
Something a little easier on the mind
• An easier to understand explanation which we discussed in one of my group projects in class, is “When someone is placed into a position, and expected to accomplish something…… Are they, and how are they held responsible for getting those things done?? Also, are all people and their tasks treated equally as important??
The Question Becomes…..• How do we resolve this conflict that is unavoidable,
yet still make it a helpful thing, as Heffernan has told us it can be?
Understanding the Conflict Management Model
The Conflict Management Model• In class, we spoke about the diagram on the previous
slide• The diagram basically helps us realize exactly what
our conflict management style is• http://academic.engr.arizona.edu/vjohnson/
ConflictManagementQuestionnaire/ConflictManagementQuestionnaire.asp
Wrapping it all up!• All of this becomes a big question of “What is the right
way to handle conflict?”• As Heffernan states in her TED Talk, we all need to develop
more conflict management skills… But, still, everyone’s conflict management style is going to be different.
My Idea for the Future• I think that the most important thing we can do to help
people better solve their organizational conflicts, is through education in courses like this, and perhaps a human relations course• Perhaps all people should be required to take classes
like this, where they can learn about, and realize the importance of conflict management skils?
Works Cited• "Dare to Disagree." Margaret Heffernan:. N.p., n.d.
Web. 03 Nov. 2015. • "Workplace Conflict Is a Management Problem."
CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.