Managing conflicts constructively

Psychological approach in industrial relations:

Dr. K. Kuhathasan CEO: CENLEAD

A large number of readers has raised several issues on “How to handle conflicts constructively”. The following response may help them to understand the issues fully.

It has to be appreciated that conflicts in organizations has traditionally been viewed as negative. The more modern view is that conflict is inevitable and in many cases desirable if properly managed.

Managing conflict is an essential skill for team success because conflict has the potential to immobilize virtually any group. Conflicts grow almost naturally out of individual interaction and can be defined as antagonistic interaction in which one person blocks the goals, intentions, or behaviours of someone else.

Conflict can be caused by different individual goals, scarce organizational resources such as money or personnel, power and status differences, personality clashes, personal aggressiveness, ambiguous roles or job boundaries, faulty communications, differences in values or perceptions, inadequate authority or power, and even management’s oppressive behaviour.

Management experts generally recognize five major styles for dealing with conflicts, although subtle variations may be observed.

These style evolve from different levels of the individual attempting to satisfy his or her own goals or concerns.

* The competing style involves a stance of high assertiveness with low cooperation. A person using a competing style wants to get his or her way or to win, and do not care much about the other person’s feelings or about a long-term relationship.

* The avoiding style displays low assertiveness and low cooperation. Here the individuals are not much concerned about personal goals and may not care enough about the larger goal to fight about it. This style might be appropriate on trivial matters and when there is little chance of winning the conflict.

* The accommodating style exhibits low effectiveness and high cooperation. You allow the other persons’ needs to be satisfied at the expense of yours. This is a good strategy when the relationship is more important than your needs.

* The collaborating style shows high assertiveness and high cooperation. Both parties win as they work through issues and reach an optimal solution that meets everyone’s needs to the fullest. This style is appropriate for most important organizational decisions where goals are important and relationships must be maintained.

Conflicts over important issues generally can have a beneficial outcome when everyone collaborates. Team members should care enough about their own goals, the goals of others, and certainly the overall organizational goals to work through problems.

Sources of conflicts

Management thinkers have identified many reasons for organizational conflicts. It is difficult to say which are the most important reasons.

The nature and extent of these casual factors may differ from one organization to another. Therefore, these sources are not indicated in any order of priority.

In many organizations, conflict is the direct outcome of poorly defined goals. Individuals will try to impose their own perception of the organization’s goals on the system, resulting in conflict between people with different perceptions. This explains the emphasis in contemporary management literature on superordinate goals and basic operating principles and values.

Conflicts also arise on account of divergent personal values and aspirations. The organization can satisfy some needs that are common to most of the people in the organization. The same is true of values. The organizational value system is expected to reflect social and ethical values of an enduring nature.

They should satisfy the personal value orientations of different individuals, but often individual values are quite different from what is commonly acceptable. This creates problems.

The needs conflict can impair interpersonal relations. Needs are physical as well as psychological, and they require a definite object or an action that the organization is unable to provide or initiate.

Value conflicts, however, are sightly different. If my values and beliefs are always different from the organization’s values and beliefs, there is bound to be an adverse impact on my thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behaviour. It is important to understand the differences between values and needs.

A common source of conflict in the organization is competition for scarce resources. They may include secretaries, office space, interior decor, telephones, and other things that may be in short supply.

But rarely do these things constitute the only reason for conflict. If so, the remedy simple-expand the resource or distribute it equally.

Some consequences of conflict

Organizational conflict is undesirable because of its adverse consequences for groups and individuals. Edger H. Schein (1970) studied these consequences and analyzed their effects:

What happens within each competing group?

* Each group becomes more closely knit and elicits greater loyalty from its members; members close ranks and sink some of their internal differences.

* The group climate changes from informal, casual, and playful to work and task oriented. Concern for members psychological needs declines while concern for task accomplishment increases.

* Leadership patterns tend to change from more democratic towards more autocratic. The group becomes more willing to tolerate autocratic leadership.

* Each group becomes more highly structured and organized.

* Each group demands more loyalty and conformity from its members to present a solid front.

What happens between competing groups?

* Each group begins to see the other groups as the enemy, rather than merely as neutral.

* Each group begins to experience distortions of perception – it tends to perceive only their way of thinking.

As a Manager can you minimize conflicts. A checklist for you

* I am an efficient manager.

* I encourage employees to think for themselves

* I arrange work encouraging employees to think for themselves.

* I divide work making employees see the end result.

* I listen when there are ideas on how to do things better.

* I inform those who need to know about what is going on.

* I treat employees like professional at all times.

* I recognize individuals for good work – formally and informally.

* I offer challenges whenever possible.

* I encourage skills development.

* I promote job enrichment and job rotation.

* I support employee goals, ambitions, and dreams.

* I provide cross training.

* I challenge employees to redefine themselves and their work roles.

* I match employees to potential mentors.

* I don’t let the physical work environment get stale.

* I ask subordinates what new tasks they would like.

* I encourage employees to join company committees.

* I care about my employees’ personal problems and offer my assistance and support.

* I publicize the accomplishments of talented employees.

* I help people to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.

Organizational structure to minimise conflicts

* Fewer layers of management (flatter)

* A more flexible, adaptive and change – oriented environment

* Mentoring as a workforce development tool, a career – planning instrument, and a personal – enhancement asset.

* More decision making by those closest to the customer.

* The need to solicit and support ideas from the bottom up and across all organizational sectors.

* Mechanisms to speed the flow of skills, knowledge and ideas from the point of origin to where they are needed.

* Appreciation and use of diverse skills and viewpoints

* A need for mentors with different areas of expertise and the ability to meet different men tee needs.

* A more democratic approach to developing people throughout the organization.

Constructive or destructive

Conflict has “destructive” and “constructive” aspects, though much depends on which side of the fence one is standing.

From the organizational viewpoint, conflict is destructive pursuit, focusing attention on personalities rather than issues, and adverse individual behaviour such as frustration, aggression, withdrawal, obstruction, strikes and showdowns.

You are responsible for this behavior

* If people work with criticism, they learn to condemn!

* If people work under a hostile environment, they learn to fight!

* If people are ridiculed, they learn to be shy!

* If people work with tolerance they learn to be patient!

* If people are encouraged they become more confident!

* If people live with praise they will learn to appreciate and contribute.

* If people are treated fairly they learn to be just and fair!

* If people work with job security they learn to have faith!

* If people live with approval they learn to be loyal to the institution!

Six ways to build trust and manage conflicts constructively

* Communication is a matter of keeping subordinates informed, providing accurate feedback, explaining decisions and policies, being candid about one’s own problems, and resisting the temptation to keep information for use as a tool or a reward.

* Support means showing concern for subordinates as people. It means being available and approachable. It means helping people, coaching them, encouraging their ideas, and defending their positions.

* Respect feeds on itself. The most important form of respect is delegation, and the second most important is listening to subordinates and acting on their opinions.

* Fairness means giving credit where it’s being objective and impartial in performance appraisals, giving praise liberally. The opposite kind of behavior-favouritism, hypocrisy, misappropriating ideas and accomplishments, unethical behaviour-is difficult to forgive and hugely destructive of trust.

* Predictability is a matter of behaving consistently and dependably and of keeping explicit and implicit promises. A broken promise can do considerable damage.

* Competence, finally, means demonstrating technical and professional ability and good business sense. Employees don’t want to be subordinate to people they see as incompetent. Trust grows from seeds of decent behaviour, but it thrives on the admiration and respect that only a capable leader can command.