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Category: Conflict Management Styles

  • Managerial Implication of the discussion on conflict management

    In the last byte, we looked at the appropriate situations and the choice of the conflict management. In today’s byte, we try to summarize the discussion on conflict management with what implies from a managerial perspective.

    Following are four suggested and interrelated steps towards creating a conflict-positive organization:
    1. Value diversity and confront differences: Looking at differences as opportunities for innovation and celebrating diversity form a key to having open and honest confrontations that allow conflict to be positively used.
    2. Seek mutual benefits and unite behind cooperative goals: Individuals often depend on others to accomplish tasks and so, conflicts have to be managed together. A joint reward for teams when they accomplish some task together is a good way to encourage cooperative behavior.
    3. Empower employees to feel confident and skillful: Making people feel, they are in control of their conflicts and that they can deal with their differences productively is important. Recognizing such instances is important.
    4. Take stock to rewards success and learn from mistakes: Employees would benefit from appreciating one another’s strength, weakness and direct discussion. They should celebrate their conflict management success and work towards constantly improving the same in the future.
    Last but not the least, it is important for a good conflict manager to have a high emotional intelligence. This ability to influence one’s own and other’s emotions is an important tactical asset and helps negotiate situations better there by reducing conflicts.

  • Conflict Management Styles 4

    In the last byte, we looked at when three of the conflict management styles could be used. In today’s byte, we look at the apt situation when the remaining two of the styles could be used.


  • Conflict Management Styles 3

    In the last byte, we discussed what each of the conflict management styles meant. In today’s byte, we look at when three of the types of conflict management styles could be used. 


  • Conflict Management Styles 2

    In the last byte, we looked at diagrammatically understanding the positioning of various conflict management styles.  In today’s byte, we look at each of these styles in a bit more detail:

    Avoiding: Is a style low on both assertiveness and cooperativeness. It is a deliberate decision to take no action on a conflict or to stay out of conflict situation. 

    Accommodating: Is a style in which you are concerned that the other party’s goals be met but relatively unconcerned with getting your own way is called accommodating. It is cooperative but unassertive.

    Competing: Is a style that is very assertive and uncooperative – one party may want to satisfy your own interests and are willing to do so at the other’s expenses.

    Compromising: Is intermediate in both assertiveness and cooperativeness, because each party must give up something to reach solution to the conflict – it is often made in the final hours when time is of essence.

    Collaborating: Is a win-win style that is high on both assertiveness and cooperativeness. Working towards collaborating involves an open and thorough discussion of the conflict and arriving at a solution that is satisfactory to both parties.

  • Conflict Management Styles

    In the last byte, we looked at how confronting and negotiating could help effectively resolve conflicts. In today’s byte, we begin our discussion on Conflict Management Styles.
     
    Managers have at their disposal a variety of conflict management styles: avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromising and collaborating. We could represent these on a matrix as indicated below: