by Bames24

Created on: April 11, 2011

Different people have different work habits, personalities, communication styles, habits and opinions. Add to those differences, issues of allocation of work, opportunities for promotion, and other factors; the likelihood of trouble increases.

A common example is the conflict we experience during the process of recruitment. There is conflict arising from being in a group of applicants competing for job openings. There is normally tension in the room where the applicants are seated together.

How does conflict affect the workplace?

Workplace conflict can often cause:

Lost productivity: When people within a team are so preoccupied with their interpersonal conflicts, they will not be able to give their job their full concentration. Perception damage: Departments or teams with members who don't seem to get along or who will be viewed as less competent and trustworthy by other departments within the company. Attrition of members in the team: Conflicts within a team can result in competent employees growing weary of the negative environment and leaving the organization to find employment elsewhere.

How do we deal with conflict?

Avoidance:  This is the most common strategy. Here conflict is avoided.

Example: Someone making a mean spirited comment and the person it was aimed at simply walks away.

This is not a very good strategy as avoiding an issue simply will not make it go away. However, it is worth considering if the conflict is minor and is not worth engaging in.

Accommodation: With this strategy, you take the conflict and submit.

Example: Listening to negative criticism and believing it.

This is frequently used by people with very low confidence and self-esteem. This is not a very successful method of dealing with conflict.

Compete: This is when you give the person a taste of his or her own medicine and work hard to win in the conflict.

Example: Someone spreads salacious rumors about you, so you spread rumors about that person too.

This is not very useful even when the conflict is mild because it leads to a vicious circle as the conflict escalates. This strategy may make you appear unprofessional and could damage your career in the long run.

Compromise: This strategy is useful. Here, instead of giving in to the conflict, you work out a solution between you and the other person.

Example: Your team leader dumps more work on you when you are already struggling with the load you already have. You then tell your team leader that you will take some of the work and he can try distributing the rest to other team members.

Collaborate: This is the most useful strategy in dealing with conflict. The idea here is to focus on working together to arrive at a solution to the problem.

Example: You and a team mate have varying points of view regarding how a project should be handled. You sit down with your team mate and ask him to explain his point of you, and then, you explain yours. You can then both find a way to work together on the project.

Remember, that people who enjoy creating conflict are what we call “power-seekers.” They enjoy controlling others. Frequently this is because have been in a similar situation before or get satisfaction out of feeling that they are in control. Showing some compassion will take you a long way in dealing with the situation.

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