Resolving Conflict Conflict is inevitable. Individuals or groups of people have differences in gender, race, ethnicity, religion, values, beliefs, and personality. These differences can often be a source of conflict (Raines, 2012). This is particularly true in the organisational environment, where individuals work alongside others in the accomplishment of set goals and objectives. In such an environment, conflict is bound to occur. The likelihood of conflict is even greater where an organisation's workforce comprises individuals from diverse backgrounds. Accordingly, an organisation must create an atmosphere where conflict is resolved in a proper manner. Without effective resolution of conflict at the workplace, the achievement of organisational goals and objectives may be hindered. This paper focuses on a number of issues relating to conflict resolution. Attention is specifically paid to conflict resolution strategies, whether conflict is always bad, conflict management in a diverse workforce, as well as the role of supervisors in resolving conflicts at the workplace.

Conflicting Resolution Strategies

Theoretically, there are five major approaches for resolving conflict: competing, accommodating, avoiding, collaborating, and compromising (Prause & Mujtaba, 2015). Competing entails pursuing one's concerns without regarding other people's concerns (Prause & Mujtaba, 2015). For instance, a supervisor or manager may ignore the feelings or views of subordinates irrespective of how important they may be. Practically, competing is not uncommon. In a conflict situation at the workplace, for instance, it is not rare for supervisors or managers to want to impose their decisions, views, or way of doing things on their subordinates. This is particularly true in organisations characterised by bureaucratic or autocratic structures. Competing is also common at the home setting. Parents will often ignore the views and thoughts of their children regarding important matters such as sexuality, friends, academics, and career. They often want their children to abide by their decisions. In most cases, the competing approach ends up disfavouring the less powerful party, which may often heighten the conflict. It is, however, important to note that...

It basically entails giving in or allowing the other party to have their way. An individual acknowledges the other party's point-of-view. This approach is also common at the workplace. There are people who easily give in during a conflict situation, which is not necessarily a bad thing. They focus more on ensuring peace and cooperation rather than engaging in attempts to consider other ways of doing things. This is particularly true when the other party has a better solution. While accommodating can easily end conflict, the accommodator may sometimes harbour resentment toward the other party. Closely related to accommodating is compromising. In this case, attempts are made to find a common ground, though partially or temporarily (Prause & Mujtaba, 2015). The parties in conflict may compromise certain aspects so as to find a solution. Nonetheless, the fact that a permanent solution is not established is a major shortcoming of the compromising approach.
Conflict can also be resolved through avoidance, which entails ignoring the conflict altogether (Prause & Mujtaba, 2015). It is common for some individuals to avoid participating in a conflict -- they often choose to remain silent. Indeed, a research conducted by Goulston (2015) demonstrates that 10% of individuals at the workplace never ask colleagues to end or change behaviours that trouble them, and that 24% rarely do so. Choosing to remain silent during a conflict situation often occurs when one of the parties is not interested in the conflict or winning it, is not willing to create tension, and hopes the situation will normalise even without attempts to resolve the conflict (Prause & Mujtaba, 2015). It is not hard to observe conflict avoiders in real life, whether at home or the workplace. There are people who naturally do not want to engage in conflict. For them, keeping quiet is the best way of resolving a conflict. While it can be good sometimes, pretending nothing is wrong can be disastrous. Unspoken disagreements may pile up over time, eventually causing enmity and even stress.

Collaboration arguably offers the most appropriate solution for a conflict. The conflicting parties work together to find a permanent, mutually beneficial solution (Prause & Mujtaba, 2015). Every party is given a chance to narrate their side of the story, and then a win-win scenario is created. Though collaboration is the best approach for conflict resolution, it is not as widespread in the organisational setting as expected. Indeed, it would not be surprising that collaboration is less prevalent compared to the other four styles of conflict resolution. Overall, each strategy offers its own merits and demerits. There is no single approach that is applicable to all situations. Practically, some situations call for avoidance or accommodation, while others call for competing or collaboration.

Is Conflict Always Bad?

Generally, conflict is viewed as a bad thing. It is perceived as negative, fighting, shouting matches, bitter exchanges, harsh confrontations, disharmony, or hostility. This is not always true. Indeed, conflict can sometimes be positive or productive (Prause & Mujtaba, 2015). For instances, disagreements or differences in opinions over how to go about a certain task may be good in the sense that the disagreements may offer an opportunity to consider different ways of accomplishing the task, thereby selecting the best or most appropriate way. Therefore, conflict can be good for enhancing the quality…