Group conflict: causes, dynamics, and resolution strategies

¶ … Conflict at Bimbo's

Conflict resolution is part of our daily lives whether we like it or not. From the United Nations to the street, conflict is an omnipresent event, and it takes skill, understanding and patience to resolve a conflict. According to Phillys Bottome, "There are two ways of meeting difficulties: You alter the difficulties or you alter yourself meeting them," and this is true almost always. This is especially the case in the project presented below, which is a conflict that has to do with a very usual, yet complex and interesting topic. This paper will examine this small conflict and will ponder on the lessons learned from this exercise. [1: Bottome, Phyllis. "Conflict resolution quotations." Tammy Lenski, LLC. 2011. Retrieved from .]

In the story presented in this particular exercise, the conflict arose in a bar. Essentially, according to the case study, the person narrating was the bartender and the owner (manager) of a particular bar-restaurant. The concept of this establishment is simple: it is a bar serving pizza and wings, that sometimes hosts bands and which is popular on weekends in the summer. Another issue presented was that bartenders tend to make most profit from the pulltabs by the bar, which most often capture their attention and therefore keep them from paying attention to other requests, namely those of the waitresses serving the other customer in the bar. Due to this conflict, the tips suffer, especially for the waitresses.

The conflict arose, therefore, according to the study, due to the fact that waitresses expected the bartender's attention (which was not given) and also did not share tips with the bartenders. Further, the bartenders felt no excuse was necessary, as they went to where they saw profit since the waitresses did not share tips. The manager stated from the beginning that this case was not one in which waitresses could see another way of doing business (namely, give the bartenders a share of the tips), and saw very little room to change this habit.

However, the individuals in this case study eventually saw that there was a problem. According to the narration, everyone recognized that it was unfair to the bartenders to simply ignore the pulltabs, just as it was unfair to waitresses to simply ignore the bartenders' attention towards making profit. Therefore, it was established that another way of doing business must be enacted. This way enabled individuals to use personal strength to level the playing field, so to speak. The solution was that the compromise was to ensure, according to the case study, that:

"The pull tabs would be taken down before the bands begin, not only giving the bartenders more time to devote to the waitresses, but also clearing some room for more people to sit at the bar and subsequently tip the bartenders. However, this would be done with the provision that the waitresses would also be tipping the bartenders at the end of the night as they see fit. This makes a waitress somewhat of a patron as good service should be rewarded and if it is not, that waitress may suffer while others benefit." [2: Please note all references taken from case study provided by customer.]

This was a very good solution and eventually helped both sides benefit and find an equilibrium within the bar setting. According to the manager, this worked great because now both sides wanted to excel on an individual level and see their performance raised to a new level.

Clearly, one of the most important conflict management techniques in this case would be to ensure good, clear communication. Just as in any setting this is a vital part of the whole enterprise. Most of the time, it is necessary, especially as a manager to step in and declare not only potency, but also understanding of dynamics and encouragement of task and communication division. In this way, one could ensure that everybody can help everybody else.

In terms of the conflict management techniques that were used to solve the problem, I would say perhaps a little bit of force might have been used, but most of all, collaboration was at the forefront. According to the case study, waitresses had to collaborate with the bartenders to ensure not only great customer service, but also their living. This is a great way to ensure collaboration and cooperation.