Five Ways that One Can Use to Handle Conflict - Coursework Example

Experimental Project: Assignment 2 Name: Course Professor’s name University name City, State Date of submission Experimental Project: Assignment 2: Style Conflict Abstract: A conflict is what is described as a disagreement that happens between two or more people with varying opinions about something, leading to anger sparking between them (Jones, 2008). The conflict in the workplace that I recently encountered is a simple one, but all the same, it needed some attention. I had spent some hours writing up a report for my boss which I was to present the next day. So the next day I came with it, handed it over to his secretary, who to my astonishment went over the report and started to correct mistakes here and there. I got angry, and gave her a piece of my mind. The factors that influenced my actions were mostly the secretary’s undermining of my abilities. This report is going to give a detailed account of the happenings of the said day, the conclusions and the recommendations, which included mediation by a neutral office worker. I will base my report on this conflict and outline ways that were used and could have been used. Introduction I had worked about 2 days on a financial report that my employer had asked me for. It had taken hours of sleepless nights, burning the midnight oil, as I had to impress to be considered the best and most efficient employee in the organization. On the presentation D-day, I wore my best attire, ‘dressed to kill’ as they say. I walked into the office confidently and headed directly to the boss’s office ready for my presentation. I was a bit early, so I took a seat at the reception before he came. His secretary came along, walking like we should worship the mere earth she trod on. She sat down and asked me what my business was with the boss of the office. I explained that I had a report to present to the boss in about five minutes and I was waiting for her to come along. She then asked me to hand over my report to her so that she could make a copy for the boss. What a nice idea, I thought. I innocently gave her the report, expecting her to just make a copy without doing any other thing with it. To my amazement, she opened the report and went through it thoroughly as if she knew what she was even reading. A whole five minutes with the report. Then she starts telling me that the boss would not like the format I used, that I should have used better. I just kept quiet. She then said that my financial details did not even make sense to her. That threw me off. She was not a financial expert at all and here she was behaving like she owned part of Dow Jones. I stood up from my seat in a fiery rage and asked harshly who she thought she was. A mere secretary was going over my report. To me, she did not even know the meaning of the word ‘finance’. I was yelling my lungs off while she was doing the same until some of our colleagues came to the reception area to know what the commotion was all about. We both explained the situation vehemently to them. She had really taken the wrong time to start correcting someone. I was really confident and this conflict threw me back. My self-esteem lowered drastically and I could not handle this. Critical and Reflective Discussion There are several factors that influence conflicts in the workplace. I will name each and later on name the ones I deemed as the cause of our conflict. Katzenbach and Smith (1993) have named several factors as the major causes of conflict. They are: Gender – A simple example will clarify this. Some of the men were always taught that men should always stand up for what they believe in and to someone. So this might even make two men fight in the workplace once they disagree on something. Some women also come out as the weaker gender in other societies (Babcock and Laschever, 2007) Self-concept – this is how we view life. It may affect our approach to conflict. We mainly think that our opinions are more important and should be heard by the other. Expectations – are we of the opinion that the other team wants the conflict resolved? Situation – is the conflict at hand based on a personal basis or is it professional? Where is it occurring and do we know the person we are in conflict with? Power status – are we equals in position or are we more or less? Practice – when engaged in a disagreement, do we remember the conflict modes and how to use them to solve the conflict? Which would be most efficient? Are we able to change the mode depending on the situation? Determining of mode - A conflict management understanding is created through knowledge and practice of conflict resolution (Foundationcoalition.org, 2003). Communication skills – the ability to communicate perfectly helps to resolve conflicts, and actually avoid them. Life teachings – we have adapted ways to resolve conflict through what maybe our caregivers have given to us. Some of the people did not really have the best role models. According to my analysis of the situation, several factors came into play, leading to the conflict. Self-concept is one of them. Both of us had their opinion and none of us thought that the other’s words were being heard. We were shouting at each other trying to make our points to each other, which was not helping the situation. Our expectations for the other person were low. We did not believe that either of us wanted to solve the conflict. We just viewed each other as brutal enemies. The conflict was professional but with some hints of a personal one. I had already judged the lady early; from even the way she walked. It did occur in the office making it a bit professional because she had judged my report, which according to me was perfect. Power also does come into play. I felt that I was in a higher position and could not be judged by someone I considered lower than I. A secretary in my head should not tell a senior employee what to do. This to me was unacceptable especially putting into consideration that she had no financial background. We both had no enough practice for handling such a situation. It was evident since none of us helped the other to calm down. We were both shouting at each other, to the extent of attracting the attention of other colleagues, who later mediated between us (Haynes et al, 2004). We had no necessary tools to deal with such a situation thus we could not even determine what mode to use. Our communication skills were also proved weak by the conflict (Deutsch and Coleman, 2000). Conclusion: The handling of the said conflict was through mediation. Mediation is the intervention of a conflict, aiming to solve it (Ammoh, 2007). Our colleagues calmed us down and helped us come to a mutual understanding. This, to me was effective. It helped us understand each other. It came to my knowledge that the lady was only trying to help, but because of my ego, a higher position of power, I could not even listen to anything she was saying. The method used to manage this conflict was advantageous. The process is non-adversial, it is not expensive, it assures both parties of impartiality and neutrality, it is non-legalistic, and it avoids delays and is in fact very flexible. According to Brookins (2015, pp. 1) conflict has several impacts on an organization. We have them listed as: 1. Mental effect. Conflicts in organizations may cause members to feel unwanted and frustrated if there is no possible solution to the problems at hand. Members may become stressed affecting their professional lives. This may impact negatively on the organization, as work will diminish because others may feel stress building up on them. 2. Productivity There will be a sure decrease in productivity. Some members may dwell on discussing the conflict while others vent about their frustrations, wasting the time they would have been working. The organization thus loses focus on its main goals and objectives and may even end up losing investors or even resources. 3. Leaving the organization Some of the members may feel rejected and frustrated to the extent that they even consider leaving the organization. Some organizations actually risk dissolution, for example when crucial members of the board decide to leave. 4. Violence Some may even result to fist fights when they conflict which can bury the organization in legal problems. The members may also face legal action and this may even tarnish the image of the organization. Arguments may also lead to aggression (Avtgis and Rancer, 2010). 5. Inspiration Positively, some other members may actually view conflict as chances to find solutions to problems. They may brainstorm new ideas, at the same examining challenges from various angles. 6. Respect opinions If members share their opinions with each other, they may even end up working together to solve the little conflicts that arise. Conflict may impact them positively when they start listening to each other. 7. Future communication is improved Conflict can assist members to learn more about each other. Learning more on each other grows the organization. They get to understand each person’s communication way. 8. Identification of new members Silent members who normally do not give their opinions in meetings may come out strong and demonstrate their leadership skills. They may give sensible solutions to problems that the organization is facing. Recommendations There are mainly five ways that one can use to handle conflict. This is according to the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), which first debuted in 1974. Kenneth W. Thomas created it together with Ralph H. Kilmann. It was initially a research tool (Kilmann, Pondy and Slevin, 1976). It is a questionnaire that is fabricated to test how a person tends to handle conflict (Meloni, 2011). The five modes are stated as below, but we first need to associate the dimensions associated with the TKI. a) Assertiveness. It is the extent to which a person tries to satisfy his own concerns when a conflict arises. b) Cooperativeness It is actually the opposite of the above. It is when a person tries to satisfy the needs of another when a conflict ensues (Meloni, 2015). The five modes according to Chandos (2015) that could have been used in this situation are: 1. Accommodating It is unassertive and totally cooperative. One might ignore their own concerns to satisfy the concerns of another. This could be a sacrifice to them. It might also portray selfless generosity or charity or even obedience of orders when we would prefer not to. 2. Competing It is a completely assertive mode. It is also very uncooperative. This is actually the direct opposite of the mode above. It is associated with power-oriented individuals. An individual who chases his own beliefs at the cost of others falls under this mode. They use whatever power is appropriate to rise above the others and win their position. There might be some negative values but at times it is the most effective way of solving a conflict as bad as it sounds. 3. Avoiding It is unassertive and uncooperative. The conflict is simply not being addressed. It might be as of the result of withdrawing from a threatening situation. 4. Collaboration It is assertive and cooperative and is the opposite of avoiding. One tends to look for a solution that satisfies both of you. It needs a sit down where you both look at the underlying issue and try to understand each others needs and angles. 5. Compromising We can say this is the neutral ground between assertiveness and cooperativeness. You find a mutual answer that partially satisfies the two of you. In this case you would give up more on competitive mode and less than if it were accommodation mode. Listen to the other party and think. (Spiegelman, 2015) References Ammoh, G. (2007). MEDIATION -The Preferred Alternative for Conflict Resolution. [online] Gdrc.org. Available at: http://www.gdrc.org/u-gov/conflict-amoh.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2015]. Avtgis, T. and Rancer, A. (2010). Arguments, aggression, and conflict. New York: Routledge. Babcock, L. and Laschever, S. (2007). Women don't ask. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Brookins, M. (2015). The Effects of Conflict Within an Organization. [online] Small Business - Chron.com. Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-conflict-within-organization-164.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2015]. Chandos, R. (2015). Five Basic Modes of Conflict. [online] Small Business - Chron.com. Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-basic-modes-conflict-2660.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2015]. Deutsch, M. and Coleman, P. (2000). The handbook of conflict resolution. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass. Foundationcoalition.org, (2003). What factors can affect our conflict modes?. [online] Available at: http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/teams/conflict1e.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2015]. Haynes, J., Haynes, G. and Fong, L. (2004). Mediation. Albany: State University of New York Press. Jones, R. (2008). HRM fundamentals. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Education Australia. Katzenbach, J. and Smith, D. (1993). The wisdom of teams. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. Kilmann, R., Pondy, L. and Slevin, D. (1976). The management of organization design. New York: North Holland. Lewis, P. and Simpson, R. (2007). Gendering emotions in organizations. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Meloni, M. (2011). A Path to Peace. Turning Point. Meloni, M. (2015). ***What are the Five Conflict Resolution Modes?. [online] Selfgrowth.com. Available at: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/what_are_the_five_conflict_resolution_modes [Accessed 7 Mar. 2015]. Spiegelman, P. (2015). 5 Tips to Resolve Conflict (Before it Gets Out of Control). [online] Inc.com. Available at: http://www.inc.com/paul-spiegelman/conflict-resolution-five-tips-to-resolve-conflict.html [Accessed 7 Mar. 2015]. Read More