Conflict - An Essential Ingredient For Growth

Conflict is inevitable in business relationships, just as it is in social relationships. Without conflict, growth is limited. Conflict is feared and avoided by many managers because they don't know how to deal with it. Unresolved conflict can be as poisonous to the productivity of your company as the virus is to the computer. Having an understanding about how people deal with conflict gives the manager an additional tool for managing effectively. veryone uses a variety of styles in conflict situations. When looking at conflict resolution, the persons involved, the importance of the issue, emotional states, and desired outcomes may all come into play. !esolving conflict has to do with one's willingness to be cooperative "helping others get what they want# and one's assertiveness "getting what they want#. veryone uses, to some degree, five styles when dealing with conflict. $et's e%amine each style. &. Avoiding ' When employees avoid conflict, they often withdraw and detach themselves from the issue. (hey are not willing to assert their own wants nor do they want to help others get what they want. )or e%ample, they tend to *mind their own business* and look the other way when other employees are discussing office politics or ways to e+uali,e the work load. -. Accommodating ' When your employees accommodate others in order to avoid conflict, they will do whatever they can to help the other person get what they want, often to their own detriment. (hey give in to demands, even unreasonable ones, to avoid disagreement. )or e%ample, your employee may choose to do someone else's job rather than suggest that the responsible person complete it.

.. Competing ' When your employees compete to *be right,* their primary interest is in resolving the conflict their way. (hey have no interest in helping others get what they want. (hey become very defensive of their position and have difficulty understanding the reasons others don't see things their way. mployees may insist that everyone else drop what they're doing so their project can be completed in their time frame. (hose who compete often take advantage of those who accommodate others. /. Compromising ' When employees compromise in order to resolve a conflict, they are willing to *give and take* with the others. (hey want both parties to be either satisfied or dissatisfied with the outcome. Compromising is fre+uently used because it is e%pedient and both parties make concessions. )or e%ample, your employees in the 0arketing 1epartment may agree on the logo for the new sales initiative and disagree on the color. 2o they both may give up their first choices and select a second color that they both marginally agree to use.

3. Collaborating ' When employees collaborate, they are interested in seeing that everyone's wants are met fully. (hese employees tend to consider themselves a team. (hey work creatively and are solution'oriented. (he outcome of the conflict often leads to one that neither party held prior to the collaboration. (he reasons we use different styles varies. We often avoid when we don't want to get involved or we decide it's not worth the effort to pursue. 4t's important to *pick your battles* since they can't all be fought and won. We compete when we strongly believe in our ideas. We accommodate when we want others to like us or we like things to run smoothly or we don't feel like we have the right to remind others of their responsibilities. We often compromise when we are in a hurry. We use collaboration when we want everyone involved to feel *ownership* for the outcome. When you recogni,e how you and your employees deal with conflict, your effectiveness as a manager will increase. ncourage your employees to acknowledge, deal with, and appreciate their disagreements. 1ealing with conflict up front leads to open communication, conscious cooperation among your employees, and increased productivity5

1r. 2usan 6ilgrim, author of $iving 4n2ync7 '' Creating 8our $ife with 9alance and 6urpose "Health Communications 4nc.# and 0oving 4n2ync7 with the 2pirit "in press#, and president of $ife 4nvestments, is an :tlanta'based international speaker, business consultant, and coach. 2he speciali,es in engaging the spirit of individuals, teams, and organi,ations. Her work represents a uni+ue blend of e%perience and education in the areas of business management, education, and psychology. 2he customi,es programs to meet the needs of the client and designs them to increase personal, professional, and organi,ational productivity. 2usan's committed to positively influencing the lives of those in her audiences. 2he encourages all who e%perience her work to invest in themselves so they can get what they want in life. 2he earned her 9.2. at 6resbyterian College, her 0. d. at the University of 2outh Carolina, and her 6h.1. at ;eorgia 2tate University. Her memberships include the <ational 2peakers :ssociation, :merican 2ociety for (raining and 1evelopment, and the ;eorgia 2ociety of :ssociation %ecutives. Her columns appear in a number of business, health, and personal development publications.
Susan Pilgrim, PhD

=>>./?>.@?-> -A@.=-3.@/3@Bfa%
spilgrim@transbay.net

'
Recommend Index

(ell a friend about this article. $ist all articles in this category

Feedback Help ul Sites

What do you think of this articleC 4'd like to hear your +uestions about visiting or creating helpful sites to consider using in a future article for display at this and other sites. 4 publish a weekly newsletter where you can get an entire article delivered to your email address without having to visit this website.

!lick to Subscribe