"Employees need conflict management skills to manage themselves, make decisions, and work effectively in the ever-increasing team environment of today's organizations" (Lang 241). Without these skills, I was unable to work effectively. In addition, my poor conflict management skills resulted in a negative working environment for the entire team, which likely decreased their effectiveness and productivity. Not only did I negatively affect the current team efforts, but I likely negatively affected future projects with these team members, as well as any other interactions we may have outside of a team setting.
I did not complete any of the steps required in effective conflict management. I did not seek to understand the conflict at hand or where it was stemming from. Without understanding where this conflict resided, I was simply operating on instinct and my own personal biases that led to preferring my solution over the other one presented, or any possible alternatives we had yet to consider. This close-minded response meant that all the creative possibilities that were possible, with a collaboration with my team members, was lost. This was not only a disservice to my customer, but also to my organization, my fellow team members, and myself.
Recommendation for Improvement:
There are several recommendations for improvement. First, I should have used some conflict diagnostic tool to better understand the situation...
After properly diagnosing the conflict, I may have found that this may have been partially an issue-focused conflict, with the issue being the recognition of having designed the appropriate solution. If this was the case, there may have been a better way of handling the conflict so that everyone got the recognition and felt valued, as a team member. Handling this issue-based portion of the conflict as a rational negotiation would have allowed for resources to be utilized more efficiently and a better project outcome. Lastly, as Bradlow noted, an apology to my team members for not effectively handling the conflict would go a long way in rebuilding the trust between myself and my fellow team members. In the future, I will utilize conflict management steps in order to ensure I handle the situation more effectively. When I realize I have failed to handle it in an effective manner, I will take responsibility for my actions and apologize, to begin rebuilding trust with my team.
Works Cited
Bradlow, Eric. "Regain Your Counterpart's Trust with an Apology." Negotiation Feb 2009: 6.
Lang, Matthew. "Conflict Management: A Gap in Business Education Curricula." Journal of Education for Business Mar/Apr 2009: 240-245.
Rothman, Jay. Conflict and Creativity: Opening the Window to New Ideas. 2006.The ARIA Group. 9 Apr 2009 .
