Conflict Handling Assessment in Organizational Behaviour - Example

CONFLICT HANDLING ASSESSMENT IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR (Student Name) (Course No.) (Lecturer) (University) (Date) Introduction The effective performance of any organization requires a proper way of interaction between the employers and the employees as well as the activities in which they engage. Organizational behaviour refers to the various ways through which people interact within an organization. It involves the study of the performance of both individuals and groups within an enterprise to find out its overall performance. Organizational behaviour also involves the study of the performance of an organization in the midst of other organization (Cole, 2004, p.43). Organizational behaviour is important because it determines the performance of the organization. Human behaviour within a company affects affect its aspects of leadership, motivation, communication, job structure and performance. Many managers and employers who overlook the need of studying behaviour in their organizations are likely to fail because they don’t understand the reasons behind the behaviour of their employees. In this way, they may fail to figure out proper methods of intervention. Organizational behaviour can be viewed in two different approaches. The first approach is called the internal perspective which involves studying the individual needs of employees within the working environment (Information Resources Management Association, 2012, p, 120). This involves having a clear understanding of the feelings and personalities of the employees and finding out how this affects their work. The internal factors that affect the behaviour of individuals within an organization include conflicts, perceptions, changes in the workforce and changes in the management. With reference to the policies of the organization, an important internal factor that affects how well an organization performs is the culture of the organization. This involves how the top management handles the employees, the different modes of motivation and the strategies of growth within the organization. Blending all these together in a satisfactory manner to the employees can lead to increased overall performance of the organization. The other way through which organizational behaviour can be viewed is through looking at the external factors that influence the performance of individuals in a company. It is important to note that organizational behaviour is not only impacted by the internal factors but also environmental factors and external events. This realization helps the company management to not only focus on the personal feelings of individuals, but also on their environment to improve the performance of an organization. The external factors that influence the behaviour of individuals in organization include technology, marketing conditions and the social changes (King and Lawley, 2012, p.98). Discussion For any company to grow properly, conflict is part of the game. This is because the various team players have different opinions and thus consultations must be done to reach a consensus. Conflict is therefore, considered as an important growth factor in any organization. It is the misunderstanding or inappropriate interpretation of a person’s ideas or values (Carmichael, 2011, p.48). It is the difference in opinions and ideas that occurs among individuals within the work place. In a working environment, conflict can occur between the management and the employees, within the top management and within the employees themselves (Cloke et al., 2011, p.37). Two types of conflicts occur in any given organization. The task conflict proposes solutions to a particular problem while the relationship conflict focuses on blame games rather than trying to solve the underlying problem. The task conflict is perceived positively because it focuses on how the different opinions and ideas that cause conflict can be solved. It embraces the idea that conflict can lead to better decision making and creative thinking thus improve the performance of an organization. Relationship conflict is often viewed negatively because it affects the motivation and hence productivity of the workers. For instance, the lack of proper communication among the employees may cause poor decision making and hence reduced productivity of an organization. Additionally, providing inadequate information may cause decision making that overlooks the impacts of an idea and the implementation mechanisms. The sources of conflict within any given organization are varied in nature. Conflicts may occur as a result of different personalities. This happens when the ideas and decisions made by an individual are not considered worthy by an organization or when two or more people, who should form a team, cannot work together. This kills the morale of the workers and the performance of the organization as well (Van Gramberg, 2005, p. 105) Another cause of conflict within a company is the working conditions in the particular company. The working conditions within a company can cause the employees to either be very productive or unproductive. For instance, working for very long hours without proper payment and poor environmental conditions can cause demotivation of the workers. Besides different conditions are favourable for different people and this must be considered by the management (Goldsmith et al., 2013, p. 70). Conflicts in the work place may also arise from the hidden aggressiveness within the employees and the managers. In the employees, this kind of behaviour can cause hostility and poor working environments which may demotivate them, causing them to leave their jobs. This behaviour, when exercised by the managers can affect team work and thus cause the sabotage of work. This is because some people look good from the outside but when elected to leadership positions, can do more harm than good. A common outcome of conflicts in many organizations is stress. When two people in a working environment cannot get along, it causes stress especially on the junior employees. Interpersonal conflicts always result in stress of the employees, causing them to be depressed and thus have very poor productivity. Other stressors that can also occur include a huge workload, ambiguity and role conflict which may cause low levels of job satisfaction. Conflict handling strategies refer to the different ways through which conflict can be managed within an organization. The management of any given organization must adopt proper ways of handling conflict to perform effectively in the competitive market (Lebedun 1998, p.90). The various ways of managing conflicts depend on the culture of an organization and the interpersonal skills of an individual. The ways of managing conflicts include avoidance, compromising, collaborating, competition and accommodation. Recently in the organization that I currently work for, there have been a lot of conflicts resulting from the dissatisfaction of the employees. This has been because of the additional two hours that the employees are required to stay in the offices. The management has mandated the employees to remain in the workplace up to seven o’clock in the evening, but there are no salary increases for the extra hour spent in the office. The workload has also increased and some of the workers are forced to carry the work home so as to complete it within the stipulated time. My organization uses the forcing style regularly in attempting to solve conflicts. The forcing style involves the use of hostility and aggressiveness in finding solutions to conflicts. The method employs the use of force to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. For instance, the decision making process in my organization is done by the top management and communicated to the employees, who have to follow it to the latter. This type of conventional approach leaves the juniors demotivated leading to poor organizational performance. I am employed by a non-governmental organization that deals with child support services as a monitoring and evaluation officer. Since the annual verification period is approaching, and the project funders are about to land on the ground for accountability purposes, the management team is riding everyone hard within the organization. We are always in the field collecting data and in the office revising the past data to ensure that it was properly done. The employees feel overworked and underpaid. They contribute to the profits of the organization yet there are no incentives to boost their morale. The management is nonetheless concerned with other businesses other than the welfare of the employees. To avoid the pressure and noise at the work place, some of us have begun being absent from work. This affects teamwork at this crucial time of the year. I have worked for this company for two years but since the change in management four months ago, we have always been forced to deliver. The project manager says in meetings while tapping the table, “You have no choice other than to deliver”, and we take this seriously especially at this time of the year. The management tends to think that the employees are content with this kind of treatment. However, that is not the case as many employees are considering leaving the company. Lately, there has been a lot of absenteeism by the employees who think that the bosses nag a lot, and one or two desks are often empty. There is also the challenge of very poor decision making because the employees are not consulted. In response to such kind of treatment in the workplace, the employees have resolved to use the avoidance method to solve conflicts since they have no powers to influence decision making. Maravelas (2005) defines the avoidance method as a strategy for conflict management in which individuals stay away from situations that may cause conflict. The avoidance style enables the users to assume the existence of conflict within an institution but does not resolve a thing. This is because through avoidance, the management is not able to find out the root cause of the problem and cannot, therefore, deal with it. For years, the receptionist has been welcoming visitors and clients to the organization in a good way. Her strategy often included inquiring the well-being of the clients and engaging them in a little talk before helping them out with their problems. Being hospitable, most of the clients liked her a lot. The new management, however, provided her with a manual to follow to do her work, and this totally led to her unproductivity. Confronted by the clients, she would say, “I’m sorry, there is nothing much I can do. It is the company’s policy.” Amazingly, when asked about her failure to deliver by the management, she simply said she is okay, avoiding to tell the management the truth of the matter. As a Monitoring and Evaluation officer, I also have a team that I work with. In our everyday interaction, conflict has become part of the game and this we have to develop strategies to handle different situations when they arise. Detection of conflict among the team members early enough has always helped me in finding solutions to these problems (Doherty and Guyler, 2008, p. 65). The conflict between two team members can be seen through a bitter exchange between the two individuals, emanating from a very simple discussion. This shows that there is a hidden problem between the two, and it is important to find out the root of the problem. One way through which I try to solve the issues that arise between the team members is arbitration. I act as a mediator and try to reach a common ground acceptable to the two. Arbitration or mediation requires listening to both sides of the issue first before arguing out my point for or against an issue. This enables the conflicting parties to understand the sense in the issue, reconcile and work as a team, thus enabling the achievement of the specific goals of the company (Johnson and Keddy, 2010, p. 51). This method pf conflict resolution works best for me. The team players also feel satisfied in the end because their needs are taken into consideration in the final verdict, leaving them encouraged. Two of the team mates recently had a quarrel over the promotion of one of them. The other party felt that the position should be given to him and would pick on the colleague whenever they worked. The issue was brought to my desk, and I had to arrange for a meeting with the two of them. Having heard from both parties, I encouraged them to work as a team and perform better, rather than individuals and record dismal performance. I told them that for one to get a promotion, they must have showed very good performance and encouraged them to both improve their work and see the results. Surprisingly, they took on the challenge and even became friends, producing better results than they used to as individuals. Collaboration is the other method that works for me in conflict resolution. Collaboration involves reaching a consensus among the conflicting parties. The final verdict is normally acceptable to all of the participants since all their needs are taken into consideration. The method is advantageous over the others because the needs of the employees are catered fro in decision making, thus increasing their morale and leading to better output. However, in the organization that I currently work for, there is the application of force in making us deliver our duties and thus I am limited in the methods that I apply in solving conflicts especially with the top management. An employee who tries to do things differently in the organization is considered as a challenge to the management and can be sacked at any time once a person who can replace them are found. The conditions are not favourable for us and working in such a hostile environment, in which we cannot make decisions from our own judgement is considerably difficult. Conclusions Conflict, being part of any organization, is important in shaping or breaking an organization. The occurrence of conflict means that one party is not satisfied and this affects the overall performance of an organization. Managers should, therefore, employ different strategies in handling conflicts. The strategies should not be in the traditional top-down format but allow the consultation of the employees. Such a method ensures that the different needs of the employees are taken into consideration in decision-making. Employees are motivated by this, leading to increased company productivity and a better public image. References Carmichael, J. (2011). Leadership and management development. Oxford, Oxford University Press, p. 48. Cloke, K., & Goldsmith, J. (2011). Resolving conflicts at work: ten strategies for everyone on the job. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, p 37. Cole, G. A. (2004). Organisational behaviour: theory and practice. London, Thomson, p.43. Collins, S. D., & O'rourke, J. S. (2009). Managing conflict and workplace relationships. Mason, OH, South-Western Cengage Learning, p. 25 Doherty, N., & Guyler, M. (2008). The essential guide to workplace mediation & conflict resolution rebuilding working relationships. London, Kogan Page, p. 65. French, R. (2011). Organizational behaviour. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley, p.87. Goldsmith, J., Bennis, W., & Cloke, K. (2013). Resolving conflicts at work eight strategies for everyone on the job. San Francisco, Calif, Jossey-Bass, p.70 Johnson, C., & Keddy, J. (2010). Managing conflict at work: understanding and resolving conflict for productive working relationships. London, Kogan Page, p.51 Information Resources Management Association. (2012). Organizational learning and knowledge: concepts, methodologies, tools and applications. Hershey, PA, Business Science Reference, p. 120. International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance, (2013). 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