This paper concerns several which managers may use to resolve conflicts and arguments within their team which are having, or are likely to have a negative effect on projects which are being undertaken or are being planned. It will consider a hypothetical situation in which two co-workers present themselves and claim that they are unable to work together and that the project cannot be completed unless arrangements are changed. I will begin by giving an overview of measures necessary for effective conflict resolution and will then describe how I would implement these measures.
In order to resolve the conflict, I would make use of an ‘integrating’ and ‘collaborating’ style of management. In doing this I would attempt to gather as much information as possible from various sources of understanding and to integrate it into any thinking of a possible solution. Before taking any action on a conflict, then managers must attempt to determine whether or not a conflict is constructive or destructive. (Collins, 2009.) They must also identify the level of interdependence between any situational or structural factors which may contributing to a conflict. In order to this, a manager must make time to listen to both sides of the conflict as voiced by their employees and also consider both external and internal elements within the work environment which may be contributing to conflict. These may include cultural elements as well as elements which exist in the personal lives of the employees. Things such as heavy familial responsibilities or increased stress due to health problems or other external factors may play a role in conflict which is not immediately obvious, even to the individual who is suffering from them. Likewise, cultural differences may play a part. According to Nan, cultural can be understood as ‘fluid and dynamic in the way is shapes individual’s experience of conflict.’ (Nan, 2004.) Different individual’s cultures may lead to a conflict, the motivations of a which are left unacknowledged and understood. Therefore, before beginning to implement the necessary measures in conflict resolution, it is first important for any manager to understand the terrain upon which this resolution may take place, both in terms of cultural and personal differences between employees and in terms of the possible work place factors which may be different to those which are voiced by the employees themselves.
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A collaborative and integrative style of management is marked by the necessity of understanding each of the possible disputes which have emerged in order to contribute to the conflict. This first process which I would go through in order to employ this method would be to calmly encourage each of the employees to explain to me, in the presence of the other employee and at the first the time that they bring the conflict to my attention, precisely what the nature of the conflict is and why it is that they feel that they are unable to work effectively together. This would allow me to gain a relative overview of the conflict and to be able to relate it to the nature of the project and would allow me to determine whether or not the conflict was constructive or destructive. If it was constructive, I would encourage the two employees to bring their differing ideas to me in writing and would attempt integrate them into the project. However, it was clearly destructive, then I would ask the employees to distill the conflict into the simplest possible description and to make simple point about the situation which they feel makes it impossible for them to work together. Throughout this process, I would bear in mind the reasons why I have chosen them to take part in the project together and remind myself of the strengths of each of the employee. This combination of careful attention to the first presentation of a conflict and the keeping in mind of the overall nature of the project and the strengths of each of the candidates, would enable me to understand the conflict within the overall context of the project and within the needs of each individual employee.
After this initial inquiry into the conflict had been carried out and confirmed, I would apply Nan’s understanding of culture as ‘fluid and dynamic’ and would consult my knowledge of each of the employees past histories. By doing this I would be able to integrate this knowledge with the conflict as it had been presented to me. I understand the cultural of conflict to emerge from changing dynamics in the lives of the individual employees’ lives and would therefore seek to employ and understanding of this dynamism to any attempt at conflict resolution. In order to be able to do this, the second step which I would take would be to meet with each of the individuals separately to ask them to once again explain the nature of the conflict, and precisely why they felt that it would prevent them from being able to work together on the project. I would also ask them whether or not there were new developments in their own lives which they felt were impeding the work which they had been assigned and which could be given attention or resolved without necessarily affecting the current working environment. I would seek to integrate this information with the previous comments and with my previous understanding of the lives of the employees before deciding what action needed to be taken on the project.
Finally, in order to determine possible workplace environmental factors which may be affecting the capacity of the individuals to work, I would ask other members of the team whether or not they felt there were problems with the structure of the task which they had been collectively assigned. I would not do this in such a way as to draw attention to the employees who had raised the issue, but would attempt to gather information about any other existing tensions or problems which may be contributing to a sense of dissatisfaction that had not been formally expressed by either of the employees who had drawn my original attention to the conflict. I would seek to integrate this further information into the information which I had previously gathered, and by doing this I would aim to be able to develop a holistic account of the working situation and be able to use this integrated knowledge to determine the best mode of action to resolve the conflict.
In conclusion, in order to begin to resolve the conflict mentioned at the start of the paper, I would employ an integrative approach. This means that I would understand conflicts and the cultures which give rise to them to be fundamentally fluid and dynamic and would therefore seek to gather information from the employees together, to integrate this with my own previous understanding of them, to integrate this with information gathered from the colleagues on an individual basis and then to finally integrate this knowledge with an understanding of any other work place factors which may emerge from the consultation of other members of the team. The integration of all of these factors would enable me to develop a full and rounded picture of the nature of the conflict and to put myself in the best position position to employ an effective strategy for its resolution.
- Collins, S. D. (2009). Managing Conflict and Workplace Relationships (2nd ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.
- Nan, S. A. (2004). Consciousness in culture-based conflict and conflict resolution. 21(3), p. 239.
