Conflict Resolution Conflict Conflicts in the Workplace

Conflict Resolution CONFLICT Conflicts in the workplace are a common phenomenon and people are usually anything but shocked to find themselves or their colleagues in such conflicts. But the ubiquity of such conflicts doesn't follow we are equally ready to tackle them properly. In fact on the contrary, most people have absolutely no idea what needs to be done when conflict arises.

Conflict resolution and management are certainly the key words these days because of intensely competitive and diverse workforce of today yet it appears that most companies hardly pay any attention to conflict resolution training and thus are not properly prepared to handle such situations. In my workplace, I have noticed that despite diversity training and supposedly polite and healthy working environment, conflicts are almost a norm and most of them are grounded in interpersonal problems.

Personality clashes are common and on numerous occasions, we find employees complaining about their colleagues or teammates thus resulting in tremendous loss of productivity and efficiency. No one pays any attention to the cost of such conflicts and thus they largely go either unnoticed or unreported. Employees are expected to resolve problems on their own and management intervenes only in exceptional cases of conflict. Last month, we saw how a small interpersonal conflict turned into a gigantic issue resulting in severe productivity loss and humiliation.

Debra and Joshua, two of our most valued employees were part of a bigger team that was working on a new shoe design fall collection. Debra is the design coordinator and her work is basically collection and sorting of new designs while Joshua is research assistant who focuses on latest trends and brings in useful information to help Debra select most appropriate designs. The two, we thought, enjoyed exceptional rapport but last month we learnt the truth.

Debra complained that while she gathers designs, selects the 'good' ones and makes changes or give suggestions on the same, it is Joshua who is always given the credit for all the work. She felt that Joshua was responsible for this since he is always trying to remain in the limelight and undermines the significance of Debra's work. Joshua had no such complaints but he was rather surprised by Debra's sudden outburst. Things got worse when Debra decided to take the matter to the higher-ups namely our supervisor Mr. Matthews.

Earlier Joshua had tried to approach Debra to talk about this issue but it appeared that Debra had been amassing a lot of resentment and bitterness about Joshua and thus simply refused to discuss things with him. Some colleagues tried to intervene but quickly withdrew unsuccessfully since Debra was simply unwilling to pay not prepared to listen to anyone and requested immediate removal of her name from the project. Since the project deadline was only two weeks away, the supervisor couldn't possibly comply with her request.

The management then intervened and sought a rapid solution of the problem from other employees since the conflict had already cost the firm a lot in terms of productivity. No work had been done for four precious days and deadline was fast approaching. This is the solution a colleague and I came up with which was actually accepted and applied successfully. Solution: In any interpersonal conflict, it is extremely important to bring disputants together.

The firm needed to bring Joshua and Debra together so a channel of communication could be established between the two. Since there had been practically no communication between the disputants, the situation was getting worse not to mention the toll it was taking on other employees. Bringing the two parties together is important because it helps both sides see the conflict from other angles and they can also vent their feelings openly.

Most of the time, people have pre-conceived notions about their colleagues but open communication can help them resolve some misunderstandings. At the base of many interpersonal conflicts are flawed assumptions we make about people and situations. Our assumptions are often not founded on factual information regarding the actions and motivations of those involved in an issue. When we target others with unfounded assumptions, we usually get very negative reactions from them.

(Seaman) We feel that third party mediation would work better since a negotiator from outside is more likely to be perceived as an impartial and neutral judge of the situation. We suggest that both sides must be prepared to actively listen to each other. Listening was extremely important because it showed that the person cared to resolve the conflict. However since all efforts to make Debra listen had failed, we felt that a professional negotiator could play an important role by maintaining his authority.

"If negotiator authority is high, then resolution is easier. If negotiator authority is low,.