2. What is Conflict? A disagreement between people that may be the result of different: – Ideas – Perspectives – Priorities – Preferences – Beliefs – Values – Goals – Organizational structures
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4. Conflict Can cause organizational distress • Low morale • Complaints and bickering • Minimum creativity • Lack of team spirit • Absenteeism and turnover
7. Sources of Conflict • Ambiguous jurisdictions: “ I don’t know who has the sign off on that issue.” • Conflict of interest: “ Doesn’t she belong to the College too?” • Communication barriers: “ They never return phone calls.” • Unresolved prior conflicts: “ We always have a problem with the Feds about the final report.” • Over dependency of one party: “ We will have to wait until the Budget is announced.”
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12. Conflict is destructive when it • Takes attention from important activities • Undermines morale or self-esteem • Polarizes people and groups • Jeopardizes teamwork • Leads to negative behavior • Creates stress
13. Conflict is constructive when it • Identifies and clarifies important issues • Solves problems • Results in “something for everyone” • Causes authentic communication • Leads to sharing information • Encourages cooperation • Builds/strengthens interpersonal skills
31. Wilson’s Method of Conflict Management 1. Evaluate interpersonally: know and understand the conflict. 2. Define interpersonally: share feelings and perceptions publicly. 3. Identify shared goals: this may mean developing some ideas about both parties would like to have as a result. 4. Generate possible resolutions: develop a list of all possible ways the differences can be resolved.
32. 5. Weigh the resolutions against the goals: find out how well each of the possible resolutions satisfy or meet the goal or goals generated in step 3. 6. Select best solution: identify which among the alternatives is the best, most satisfying and agreeable one. 7. Evaluate resolution: when the resolution has been put into place or acted upon, ascertain whether it had its intended effect
