1 / 17

Importance of Conflict Management Skills

Importance of Conflict Management Skills. “As managers we spend about 21% of our time dealing with conflict.”. Conflict management skills predict managerial success High Emotional Intelligence (EI) needed to manage conflict. Perspective of Conflict. Interactionist view

andren
Download Presentation

Importance of Conflict Management Skills

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Importance of Conflict Management Skills “As managers we spend about 21% of our time dealing with conflict.” • Conflict management skills predict managerial success • High Emotional Intelligence (EI) needed to manage conflict

  2. Perspective of Conflict • Interactionist view • Conflict is valuable to organizations • “When two people in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary” • “You put a lot of smart people in a room and listen to them duke it out, and the best idea will pop out” • View of Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney • Minimization view • Conflict reduces harmony and should be avoided • Norm of agreement

  3. Functional Outcomes • Improve quality of decisions • Boost innovation and creativity • Vent problems and tensions • Promote self-evaluation Chapter 13

  4. Dysfunctional Outcomes • Impede communication • Reduce cohesiveness • Replace goals with infighting Chapter 13

  5. Causes of Conflict • Perceived fairness of resource allocation decisions • Budgets, raises, promotions • Structural variables • Goal incompatibility • Sales department versus credit department • Dependence issues • One group (accounting) dependent upon another (MIS)

  6. Causes of Conflict • Communication problems • Ambiguity • Mixed messages • Verbalize one thing, yet your body language says another • Jargon (finance, accounting, info systems terminology) • Personal factors • Personality clashes • Type A versus Type B • Value systems • National culture dimensions • Different emphasis on quality or quantity

  7. Types of Conflict • Task conflict- conflicts over content and goals of work- low-to-moderate levels usually lead to functional conflicts (i.e., those that support goals of the group and improve performance) ~ stimulation of discussion of ideas • Process conflict- conflicts over how work gets done- low levels lead to functional conflicts but intense levels creates task role uncertainty, longer time to complete tasks

  8. Relationship conflict- conflicts resulting from interpersonal relationships- dysfunctional conflict (i.e., hinders group performance) ~ personality clashes, decrease mutual understanding and hinders organizational tasks

  9. Emotions and Conflict • Negative emotions (Tension, frustration, hostility) • Limits ability to generate solutions • Oversimplification of issues • Distrust • Positive emotions • Generate more solutions • More creative solutions • See the bigger picture

  10. Survey

  11. Stage III: Dimensions of Conflict-handling Styles High Competition Collaboration Compromising Interest in achieving OWN goals Avoidance Accommodation Low Low High Interest in helping the other party to achieve its goals

  12. Conflict-Handling Styles • Competing (assertive & uncooperative) • “I am right, you are wrong” approach • Use in emergency situations • The plane is leaving in 5 minutes • Short-term relationships, one-time interaction • Avoidance (unassertive & uncooperative) • Suppress conflict by avoiding it or the other party • Use when the matter is trivial Allow other party or yourself time to cool down

  13. Conflict-Handling Styles • Accommodating (Unassertive & cooperative) • Put the interests of the other party above your own • Use when the issues are more important to others than to you • Cautions: • You may eventually “blow-up” by continuing to put others interests above your own

  14. Conflict-Handling Styles • Compromising (the middle ground) • Each party intends to or is asked to “give-up” something: “Let’s split the difference” • Middle ground results in incomplete satisfaction of both parties concerns • Collaborating (assertive & cooperative) • “Win-win” strategy • Each party seeks to fully satisfy their concerns and the concerns of the other party • Searching for a mutually beneficial outcome • Commitment to long-term relationships

  15. Nonaction Character Assassination Secrecy Due Process Nonaction Ineffective Techniques forDealing with Conflict Conflict

  16. Organizational Conflict Resolution Techniques • Superordinate goals • Overarching, shared goal that cannot be attained without cooperation of each of the conflicting parties • Altering structural variables • Changing the organizational chart • Reporting relationships • Create joint-task forces • Gain appreciation of each others (groups) constraints and needs • Altering individuals • Human relations training • Transfers

  17. Minimizing perceived conflict through fairness • Procedural • Interactional

More Related