Friday, May 6, 2011

Conflict Management Explained

By Ruby Murray


There's a lot to discover with regards to Conflict Management. Conflict at work is really a debilitating reality and a key source of poor productivity and frustration. Do you have people in your workplace that cause problems for everybody else? Do they generate additional work for other people? One factor is clear--conflict will not magically vanish entirely and merely gets worse when dismissed.

Few scenarios are simply as they seem or as presented to you by others. Before you make an effort to settle the conflict make sure you have examined each side of the issue. I recall an exchange involving two panel members. One member was frustrated with the direction the business was taking. He informed the other, "Just don't fret about it. It isn't that important." Have in mind what seems to be a small issue for you could be a major matter with another. Acknowledging the frustration and concerns is an important step in fixing the conflict.

That old adage, "Haste makes waste," has a lot more reality in it than we sometimes realize. Take time for you to examine information. A too-quick decision does more damage than good when it turns out to be the wrong decision and further alienating the individual involved. Emotional reactions or coercing people may stop the issue briefly, but do not fool yourself into thinking it is a long-term answer. Odds may be the problem will resurface. At that time not only will you get the initial problem to deal with, but also the angry feelings that have festered below the surface over the interim.

This view of conflict is observed in lots of businesses where the notion is that the objective of an organization may be accomplished only by giving structure to the business which totally defines the function and obligation of each and every member. This traditional view of organization will watch conflict as an evil, and rather than dealing with the conflict it will only wind up quelling it. This bad perspective of conflict of a business has a tendency to produce many problems. If the so called Construction of the organization is greatly regarded more than the conflict it will end up in siding away the issue and suppressing the reason behind the conflict. This sort of an organization is certainly one that does not have development and change. Many government agencies operate in an extremely disorderly context, thus enabling the room for a continuous transformation and adaptation. Suppressing the conflict will have many negative effects including missing the beneficial part of conflict - that is studying the other part of the coin. Advancement and improved decision making are lost along the way.

Conflict Management should be actively pursued. We must all be in the movies because most of us somehow kid ourselves by assuming that we are totally blameless for the causes of most conflicts. Press the pause button and wait a minute before you decide to reply to any conflict. Carefully think back about all of your previous actions, and take a deep honest look at your unknown contributions to the problem. Then gather up the courage to go talk matters over by saying the parts that you may have induced.




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