Wherever there are people, there always will be conflict.

Managers have to deal with conflict in the workplace

every day. Conflict management is the ability to be able to identify and handle conflicts sensibly, fairly, and
efficiently.

Definition of Conflict Management

Conflict management is the practice of being able to identify and handle conflicts sensibly, fairly, and
efficiently. Since conflicts in a business are a natural part of the workplace, it is important that there are people
who understand conflicts and know how to resolve them. This is important in today's market more than ever.
Everyone is striving to show how valuable they are to the company they work for and at times, this can lead to
disputes with other members of the team.

Conflict Management Styles

Conflicts happen. How an employee responds and resolves conflict will limit or enable that employee's
success. Here are five conflict styles that a manager will follow according to Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H.
Kilmann:
An accommodating () manager is one who cooperates to a high degree. This may be at the
manager's own expense and actually work against that manager's own goals, objectives, and desired
outcomes. This approach is effective when the other person is the expert or has a better solution.
Avoiding an issue is one way a manager might attempt to resolve conflict. This type of conflict style does not
help the other staff members reach their goals and does not help the manager who is avoiding the issue and
cannot assertively pursue his or her own goals. However, this works well when the issue is trivial or when the
manager has no chance of winning.
Collaborating () managers become partners or pair up with each other to achieve both of their goals in
this style. This is how managers break free of the win-lose paradigm and seek the win-win. This can be
effective for complex scenarios where managers need to find a novel solution. (Win-Win approach)
Competing: This is the win-lose approach. A manager is acting in a very assertive way to achieve his or her
own goals without seeking to cooperate with other employees, and it may be at the expense of those other
employees. This approach may be appropriate for emergencies when time is of the essence.
Compromising: This is the lose-lose scenario where neither person nor manager really achieves what they
want. This requires a moderate level of assertiveness and cooperation. It may be appropriate for scenarios
where you need a temporary solution or where both sides have equally important goals.

Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

Conflict Management Strategies to Resolve Issues

Conflict happens when two different groups perceive some incompatibility between themselves, which can lead
to conflict. How a manager reacts and deals with that conflict will have a large impact on the outcome. There
are many different strategies to deal with conflict. One of the more common strategies was developed by
Maccoby and Studder. They determined it was best to prevent conflict from ever taking place. Below are
Maccoby and Studder's five strategies to resolve conflict before it happens:

5 Basic Types of Conflict Situations found in an Organisation Explained!

1. Conflict within the individual

2. Interpersonal conflict
3. Conflict between the individual and the group
4. Intergroup conflict
5. Inter-Organizational conflict

Few more Types of conflict

1. Instrumental/Task oriented conflict

2. Relationship oriented conflict
3. Identity oriented conflict
4. Structural conflict (A structural conflict is when the organizational structure creates the conflict.
In terms of online communities, that would something like a GodKing, a hierarchical
management structure like dmoz, or a BastardOperatorFromHell?.
Structural conflicts are caused by forces external to the people in dispute. Limited physical
resources or authority, geographic constraints (distance or proximity), time (too little or too
much), organizational changes, and so forth can make structural conflict seem like a crisis. It can
be helpful to assist parties in conflict to appreciate the external forces and constraints bearing
upon them. Structural conflicts will often have structural solutions. Parties' appreciation that a
conflict has an external source can have the effect of them coming to jointly address the
imposed difficulties.
5. Process oriented conflict
6. Vertical versus Horizontal Conflict (A Vertical conflict is conflict that occurs between two
different types of members in a channelsay, a manufacturer, an agent, a wholesaler, or a
retailer. By contrast, a Horizontal conflict is conflict that occurs between organizations of the
same typesay, two manufacturers that each want a powerful wholesaler to carry only its
products. )

7. Line - staff conflicts

It is also important to keep the relationship between line and staff healthy all the time. There is always a
chance for disharmony since line and staff personnel have different backgrounds. Some of the most
common reasons for line-staff conflict are given below:
The line managers may think that staff personnel are not accountable for their actions as they have no
direct responsibility in core functions of the organizations. The line positions may not give due
consideration to the advice of the staff personnel thinking that they have no experience in operational
At this, staff managers may feel that line managers do not make the right use of talents of the staff
personnel and are not open to new ideas. Since staff personnel lack authority, they may not be able to
implement their solutions for problems. This creates and embarrassing situation for the staff personnel.
8. Role Conflict (A role conflict is when a person is expected to fulfill the duties of two contradictory
positions.) There are two types of role conflicts. The first is known as intra-role conflict, which is
when there are incompatible components within the same role. Let's use Lexy as an example. Lexy is
a school teacher who wants to be liked by her students. She's noticed that when she has a good
rapport with her students they participate more in class and trust her. This makes teaching much more
fun and interesting for her. Unfortunately, since she is the teacher she also has to incorporate
discipline and rules into her classroom. Without them, the students would never take her seriously or
hand in any of their work. In her role as a teacher, Lexy has to walk the line between being friendly and
open as well as authoritative. The second type is known as inter-role conflict, which is when the
expectations from two separate roles clash. Let's use Lexy as an example again. We already know
that Lexy works full time as a teacher, but she also is a mother to four children. Lexy decided to
become a teacher because she knew that she would get summers off from work to spend with her
kids. However, sometimes during the school year her schedule can be really difficult. She has to assist
with after-school tutoring and tends to have a lot of homework to grade after-hours. This, at times,
takes her away from spending time with her own family. In this situation, Lexy is experiencing a conflict
between her role as a teacher and her role as a mother.

9.

5 Stages of Conflict
These are the five stages of conflict:

In the Latent Stage( ), the first stage in the

five stages of conflict, people may be in conflict without being aware that they are
in conflict. An example of this could be that a server at a restaurant may have
inputted an order incorrectly and the food being made for a table is the wrong food.
The manager and table do not know this yet and conflict has not arisen yet.

The Perceived Stage is when the people involved in a conflict become fully aware
that there is a conflict, so the table has now been made aware and complained to
management. Management will now go over to speak with the employee about it.

During the Felt Stage stress and anxiety are felt by one or more of the
participants due to the conflict, the manager does not enjoy causing conflict and
the employee does not enjoy being under scrutiny.
This will undoubtedly lead to the Manifest Stage, during which the conflict can be
observed. The Manifest Stage can take a number of shapes including: e-mails,
phone calls, phone messages, face-to-face meetings, or any situation in which the
conflict could be observed. When the manager pulls the employee aside to speak
with him or her, others perceive the conflict and it has manifested.

The final stage is the Aftermath Stage, which takes place when there is some
outcome of the conflict, such as a resolution to, or dissolution of, the problem.
When the manager corrects the mistake with the customer and takes appropriate
steps to ensure the server is more careful in the future.

In short:

FIVE STAGES OF CONFLICT:

Latent Stage: Participants not yet aware of conflict

Perceived Stage: Participants aware a conflict exists
Felt Stage: Stress and anxiety
Manifest: Conflict is open and can be observed
Aftermath: Outcome of conflict, resolution or dissolution