Handling and Circumventing Conflicts


It is said that where-ever human beings work conflicts always occur as that is human instinct. People have different kinds

of emotions and feelings and different approach in seeing the things. So when it comes to handling and circumventing conflicts, it is a difficult art but a clever person can easily master it. There are different kinds of people working in every organization and they deserve to be treated differently.

One is the competing style, where one faces the music and drives others to excel. Through low tolerance for alternative views and results oriented approach, conflicts can be dealt with an iron hand. Another style is the compromising one where one can be democratic and believes in working as a group. This kind of style needs one to be articulate, perceptive, optimistic and well-organized in process skills.

Then is the collaboration style of handling the conflicts. This type wants one to be team-oriented, ambitious and creative. One, who is respectful of others’ views, enjoys a debate and believes in perfection i.e. best people for the best results. Another style of handling and circumventing conflicts is to avoid them. This calls for peaceful co-existence and peace keeping qualities.

In this case one has to respect diversity and give quality assurances through high premiums. People of this kind can be used as a support staff for competitive ones and are loyal to the agenda of the client. They understand responsibilities and are very reliable.

Last but not the least is the style of handling and circumventing conflicts is of accommodating others. This kind is highly perceptive, nurturing, and motivational. It creates an atmosphere of trust and collaboration. Hence, handling and circumventing conflicts is not a cake walk and requires some man management skills along with accommodation shuffle where as in dancing in order to have a fluid rhythm we balance on one foot then the other.

A typical conflict episode can be explained as a set of conflicts arising in carrying out a task given to an organization or a team. In an organization conflicts may occur due to the fact that divisions and departments may have different goals. If their members cannot find common values and objectives, they will not collaborate.

There are many other reasons that may lead to a typical conflict episode.
One can be that employees are more knowledgeable and comfortable being solo contributors than being thorough members of a team, despite the need for interdependency in most work. This is inflated when, through their incentive systems, organizations push employees to compete with one another.

Teamwork is a concept that must be learned and applied throughout the organization. Another reason can be that employees are neither qualified nor equipped to discuss shared areas of task and production gaps at ease.
Another reason for a typical conflict episode can be that the supervisor has not elaborated the work precisely to the employee but expect cent percent outcome from him/her.

In some cases conflicts may arise because organizational troubles and tasks are analyzed from individual or departmental viewpoints, rather than from that of the whole organization. On the other hand Executives require considerable information from front-line employees to make high-quality decisions.

A typical conflict episode may arise due to differences in traits, approach to tasks and individual values generate even more friction than that caused by racial or cultural background differences. Another reason of conflict is that good communication calls for trust and hard work, which most organizations do not exhibit well from executive level downward to lead employees. Sometimes the emotions of the employees are not considered in organizations as employees can more easily acclimatize to alterations if they are equipped, included and supported. 

Conflict resolution may require constructive conflict courses. These courses help in conflict resolution in a constructive way. Constructive conflict courses tell us that there are four basic conflict resolution skill sets, useful to both members in conflict and third parties. First are skills for establishing an efficient, open, trusting working association between the parties, and any involved third parties.

Second are skills for creating a constructive problem-solving approach to the conflict. Third are skills for developing effective group processes and decision-making processes. Fourth is substantive information of the related issues.

Any organization works on the principle of trust. So an efficient and trusting working relationship between all the parties is very important. This is the cornerstone of resolving any conflict in a constructive manner. This would decrease the temperatures and once trust has been built the ice on both sides would start to melt.

Once this is done, time for a constructive problem solving approach arrives. This should be done through thorough negotiations keeping in mind the requirements of all the parties. This technique involves finding a middle way between both the points of views. This should be done with great care as this is the basis of conflict resolution and the cornerstone of constructive conflict courses.

Then is the power of developing a working relationship in the decision making processes on all the parties as the problem solving approach tabled by the mediator has to be approved by the higher-ups of both the parties. On the other hand the information of the issues related to the conflict should also be kept in mind while coming up with the problem solving approach as no know-how of these issues might lead to further disaster and all the work done under the banner of constructive conflict courses may not bear any fruit.