Professional DevelopmentConflict Management

DT502a PG DIT0

Conflict Management Strategies

Remember

Conflicts are inevitable

Before applying a strategy

assess the situation

What is the cause of the conflict?

Differing values

Poor communication

Change conflict

Intrapersonal conflict

External conflict

etc

Is this an immediate issue or is

there time for resolution?

What is the impact on the group or

organisation?

What is the impact on the

relationships on each side?

ConflictmanagementProfessional Development

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Nature of Conflict Responding to

Conflict

Handling Grievances Emotional

Stress

Nature of CONFLICT

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Nature of Conflict

Conflict is a form of relating

or interacting where we find

ourselves (either as

individuals or groups) under

some sort of perceived threat

to our personal or collective

goals.

These goals are usually to do

with our interpersonal wants.

These perceived threats may

be either real or imagined

Conflict

Sources

of Conflict (Bisno)

Project

Sources of

Conflict(Thamhain & Wilemon)

Sources of

Conflict (Bisno)

Biosocial

Personality

and

interactional

Structural

Cultural and

ideological

Convergence

Bisno’s Sources of Conflict(Condliffe, 1991, p6)

Project

Sources of

Conflict(Thamhain & Wilemon)

Project

schedules

Project

priorities

Workforce

(Nicholas, 2001, p519)

Components of CONFLICT

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Emotional:

feelings that accompany human interactions

e.g. anger, fear, rejection, and loss

Interests: things that motivate

e.g. managers and workers have different interests

Values:

ideas and

feelings about

right and wrong

(difficult to

resolve)

Emotional: feelings that accompany human interactions eg. anger, fear, reject, and loss

Interests: things that motivate eg. managers and workers have different interests

Values: ideas and feelings about right and wrong (difficult to resolve)

When you have to deal with conflict

tackle the emotional issues first

then address interests and values

Consequence

s of conflict

Consequence

s of conflict

Good

increased creativity

It forces people to clarify their views

It can produce

constructive social

change

It gives people

the opportunity

to test their

capacities

development of group and

organization cohesion

Consequence

s of conflict

Not so Good

Violence

Breakdown

of

relationships

polarization of views into static

positions

A breakdown

of collaborative

ventures

Destruction of

communicatio

n

Groupthink

Groupthink is a tendency for strong conformity

pressures within groups to lead to the breakdown of

critical thinking and encourage premature acceptance

of questionable decisions

Over conformity

You need diversity of opinion

Responding to CONFLICT

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There are five workplace conflict

management strategies

* Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

which can help deal with conflicts among teams and

individuals

Avoiding

Compromise

Competence

Accommodation

Collaboration

* Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

TKI*

Focus on own

agenda

High

Low

Focus on own

agenda

Two factors

strongly

shape our

choice of

conflict style:

1.How hard

do we push

for the

things we

want – our

agenda?

and…

Focus on own

agenda

High

Low

Focus on own

agenda

Two factors

strongly

shape our

choice of

conflict style:

2. How much

do we value

the

relationship?

Lo

w

Fo

cu

s o

n

rela

tion

sh

ip

Hig

h

Fo

cu

s o

n

rela

tio

nsh

ip

Focus on own

agenda

High

Low

Focus on own

agenda

Lo

w

Fo

cu

s o

n

rela

tion

sh

ip

Hig

h

Fo

cu

s o

n

rela

tio

nsh

ip

1 avoiding

4 accommodation

3 competence

2 compromise

5 collaboration

1

2

5

4

3

avoiding

accommodation

competence

compromise

collaboration

AVOIDANCE

Avoidance

Try to avoid this strategy!

“No winners, no losers”

When the issue in conflict is not worth the

time / effort to address it

Make sure this is not going to cause a larger

conflict in the future

CharacteristicsIgnoring conflicts and hoping they’ll go away

Putting problems under consideration or on hold

Use of secrecy to avoid confrontation

Appeal to bureaucratic rules

When to useTrivial, small/unimportant issue

No perceived chance of resolution

To allow a cool down period

To allow others to resolve the situation

Compromise

Compromise

“I sacrifice a little and so do you”

Used when issue is only moderately

important and peace is key or

When issue has potential to become very

significant and so is best dealt with now

Will settle things down temporarily to give

time to figure out a better long term solution

CharacteristicsNegotiation

Looking for deals and trade-offs

Finding satisfactory or acceptable solutions

When to useGoals are important, but not worth effort

Opponents with equal power are committed to mutually

exclusive goals

Achieve temporary settlements to issues

Arrive at solutions under time pressure

Back-up to collaboration or competition

Competence

Competence

“I win - you lose”

When the conflict is less important than

overall goals & objectives

Utilises democratic actions & decisions in

the interest of the group / organization

Usually applied when there is time pressure

and expedient decision required

When to useQuick, decisive action is vital or very important

Unpopular actions e.g. Cost cutting

Issues are vital to companies welfare

Against those who take advantage of non-competitive

behaviour

Characteristicscreate win-lose situations

use of power plays

forcing submission

Accommodatio

n

Accommodation

When you don’t mind losing (“I lose, you

win”)

Maximum co-operation, minimum

assertiveness

Often used when your prime focus is on

creating goodwill and building relationships

Often used when time is more important than

issue

Does this compromise your credibility?

CharacteristicsGiving way

Submission and fulfillment

When to useFind you are wrong

Issues more important to others than yourself

Maintain co-operation

Build social credits for later on

Minimize loss

Harmony and stability are important

Allow team members to learn from their mistakes

Collaboration

Collaboration

A ‘win-win’ strategy

Utilised particularly when conflict / parties are

of real value

Requires a lot of co-operation &

assertiveness from everyone

Requires time, patience & teamwork

Requires strong leadership

CharacteristicsProblem-solving carriage

Tackle differences

Sharing ideas and information

Seeing problems and conflicts as challenges

When to useFind an integrative solution when both sets of

concerns are important

Objective is to learn

Which conflict handling style

will you use?

Which conflict handling style

will you use?

You each may have a preferred style

of managing conflict

Which conflict handling style

will you use?

You each may have a preferred style

of managing conflict

You should use different styles

depending on the problem – and get

there by using your ability to read a

situation

avoiding

accommodation

competence

compromise

collaboration

Handling Grievances

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What’s a grievance?

Any behaviour or action of another

member(s) of a team, which has or

is likely to have an unreasonable

negative impact on the ability of a

team member to undertake their

duties

Most grievances are never raised with management

Why?

Lack of

trust

Our

complaint

s are

trivialized

No action gets taken!

They only take

defensive action

What should you do?

Listen

Discuss

Plan

EmmotionalSTRESS

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StressWhat is Stress?

What is Stress?

A pattern of emotional states and

physiological reactions occurring in

situations where individuals perceive

threats to their important goals that they

feel unable to meet

(Greenberg & Baron, 1993, p257).

Effects of Stress

Physical illness

Lack of sleep

Reduction in task performance

Poor quality decision making

Long hours

Tight schedules

Transient work force

High risks

Work overload

Role uncertainty

Social relations

Causes

How do you cope with stress?

STRESSManagement

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Stress Management

1. Organizational Level

2. Individual Level

Stress Management at the Organizational

Level

Setting reasonable work plans and schedules

Delegating responsibility and increasing

independence

Clarifying responsibilities, authority, and

performance criteria

Clarifying goals, procedures, and decision

criteria

Giving consideration and support in leadership

Stress

Management

for the

Individual

stress

management

program

relaxation training

diversions from

work-related

problems

Handling Conflict

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What skills are needed to handle

conflict?

What skills are needed to handle

conflict?

Ability to make decisions

Ability to be objective

Negotiation skills

Leadership skills

Empathy

Time management

Ability to listen - and to hear

IntergroupConflictResolution

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Resolving Conflict in a team

Intergroup Conflict Resolution

Intergroup Conflict Resolution

Each group should prepare list of what they would

like

the other groups to start doing, stop doing, and

continue to do.

This list narrows he scope of the dispute and

makes

it easier to work on the core problems.

Sum up

Professional Development

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Conflict is best avoided

Just because no one is complaining

doesn’t mean they are happy

Allow a forum to pre-empt discontent

Be available to colleagues and clients

Be discreet

Be fair

DO NOT GOSSIP

Review

1. Conflict is the opposition of people or forces that

develops into an aggressive state or action.

2. Sources of project conflict includes; schedules, priorities

and workforce issues.

3. Conflict can be good and bad.

4. Conflict handling styles include; avoiding, compromise,

competition, accommodation, and collaboration.

5. Grievance handling strategies include; listen, discuss,

and plan. Not dealing with grievances can be harmful to

projects.

6. Work environment improvements and reducing stress is

essential to a team’s health and the success of the

project.

And the very best of luck to you all!

References

Condliffe, P. (1991). Conflict management – A practical guide.

Collingwood, Vic.: RMIT.

Greenberg, J. & Baron, R. (1993). Behavior in organizations (4th

ed.). Syd., NSW: Allyn and Bacon.

Nicholas, J. (2001). Project management for business technology

– Principles and practice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.:

Prentice-Hall.

Darling, J., & Walker, W. (2001). Effective conflict management.

Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 22 (5), 230-

242. Retrieved February 10, 2006 from:http://faculty.business.utsa.edu/dwalz/Classes/S2003PhD/Articles%5CMISQ%20Barki%202001.

pdf

Cadle & Yeates, 2004, Ch 23.

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