The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Organizational Conflict

Conflict Definition• “A process that begins when one party perceives another party has or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about.”

• This can range from a simple difference of opinion to overt acts of violence

• Is organizational conflict negative or positive?

Conflict Definition• “A process that begins when one party perceives another party has or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about.”

• This can range from a simple difference of opinion to overt acts of violence

• Is organizational conflict negative or positive? Yes

Conflict Cultures

Embrace & Manage

Suppress Indulge

• Traditional View of Conflict

• Interactionist View of Conflict

• Resolution Focused View of Conflict

Antecedents to Conflict•Communication – Either too much or too little

•Structure – Jurisdictional ambiguity and interdependence

•Personal Variables – I hate you and you hate me

Types of Conflict• Task Conflict – Is related to goals and the actual work that gets done

• Process Conflict – This is related to how the work gets done

• Relationship Conflict – This is related to interpersonal relationship breakdowns

Conflict Handling Intentions

• Compromise

• Win-Lose

• Win-Win

• Lose-Win

• Lose-Lose

Conflict Outcomes

Conflict Outcomes

Supervisor Involvement

When does a supervisor become a “conflict resolver?”

• When a law, policy, or rule is being broken

• When the involved parties’ performance starts to suffer

• When the climate gets so bad that morale or other employee’s performance begins to suffer

Supervisor’s Role

Mediator – a “neutral” third party who facilitates a resolution by “forcing” the conflicting parties to come together and by encouraging honest communication. • Non-Coercive and unbiased

Arbitrator – A third party who can dictate an agreement on the conflicting parties. • Because it’s a “forced” solution conflict

may arise again.

Conflict Management Techniques

Resolution – • Problem Solving• Superordinate Goals• Expansion of Resources• Avoidance• Smoothing• Compromise• Authoritative Command• Altering the Human Variables• Altering the Structural Variables

Conflict Management Techniques

Stimulation – • Communication

• Bringing Outsiders

• Restructuring the Organization

• Appointing a Devil’s Advocate

Modeling the Way

See/Hear Tell a Story Feel Act

Path to Action

Don’t Confuse Stories With Facts

Ask Yourself “Why Would a Decent Person do This?”

Check Your Perceptions by Telling at Least Two Stories to Every Situation

Use Your Self-Awareness and Self-Control

Crucial Conversations: Tools for talking when the stakes are high. Patterson, Greeny, et al.

Organizational Conflict

• Functional Conflict vs. Dysfunctional Conflict • Don’t let Process and Task Conflict Become Relationship Conflict

• The Conflicts That Cause the Most Trouble are Those That are Never Addressed Directly