Because unresolved conflict within teams can undermine the talents and efforts of even the most dedicated individuals, conflict resolution is an essential component of modern business management. Specific approaches to conflict resolution generally consist of strategies intended to prevent conflict preemptively and strategies intended to resolve conflicts after they arise. As a rule, eliminating conflict prospectively is more effective and more efficient than resolving conflict after it emerges. Generally, once conflicts erupt within a working group, more time must be dedicated to their resolution than would have been required to avoid the conflict prospectively. Likewise, conflicts that require resolution waste the time dedicated to the conflict, even before any efforts at resolution. However, the primary reason that conflict resolution strategy should emphasize prevention ahead of time is that the mechanisms for resolution are essentially the same, but preventing conflicts in advance spares the organization the lost productivity associated directly with conflicts and their resolution.
Equally important is the degree to which conflict prevention eliminates any residual negative sentiments among team members that often persist even after conflicts are successfully resolved in the short-term (Ross 2002). In practice, conflict avoidance is made possible by identifying its natural triggers and implementing strategies designed to address them in advance. Examples of natural triggers for conflict within teams would include inadequately defined responsibilities of individual team members, insufficient communication, and inefficient direction from leadership (Ross 2002). Other sources of conflict include personality and philosophical differences between team members. In the case of natural triggers for potential conflict, it is possible to eliminate many potential conflicts...
In the case of conflict generated by interpersonal incompatibilities and individual idiosyncrasies, effective minimization of conflict in advance usually requires prior experience with the same individuals involved.
In general, management strategies for eliminating the detrimental potential of conflict require effective communication of specific responsibilities within the team, mechanisms for ensuring ongoing communication to address areas of potential conflict before they materialize fully, and assignment of team members with an understanding of any personal incompatibilities between and among individual team members.
Conclusion:
Despite the fact that conflict is virtually inevitable within working groups, its detrimental effect on business is capable of being minimized by strategies designed to identify it sources. Conflict resolution requires anticipating and eliminating conflicts before they occur, as well as establishing mechanisms for their resolution where they are unavoidable. In many respects, organizational conflict resolution strategy is an ongoing evolution incorporating both general principles as well as personnel-specific information.
References
Bass, B. (1985) Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations.
New York: Free Press
Kinicki, a., Williams, B. (2005) Management: A Practical Approach.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ross, a. (2002) No Collar: The Humane Workplace and Its Hidden Costs.
New York: Basic Books
Russell-Walling, E. (2005) Fifty Management Ideas You Really Need to Know. London: Quercus
