This article talks about the most common types of conflicts that arise at work, and provides researched evidence on how people tend to deal with the conflict. This is highly reflective of chapter 10 in our textbook, titled "Conflict and Negotiations."
Interpersonal conflict is mostly referred to throughout this article. Interpersonal conflict is simply conflict that arises between two people. This can be due to to personality differences, power struggles, and authority struggles. I thought that the statistics provided were really shocking when looking at how many people say they have lost productive time at work worrying about conflict with another person. Over 50% of workers say they have lost time due to, and only due to, workplace conflict.
According to the article, 28% of people say they have avoided confrontation. This can be related to the conflict handling style called avoidance that we learned about in class. Handling conflict in this manner is highly unproductive because you are being both uncooperative as well as unassertive. 37% of people say that they have lost their commitment to the company due to hostile confrontation. I believe this is most relatable to handling conflict based on competition. You want it your way, and you are not willing to cooperate with your coworkers, resulting in altercations.
But, work conflict doesn't always have to be negative. In order to get the most out of work, and resolve conflicts both effectively and efficiently, workers should pick their battles. There is no need to constantly fight about everything. Each person should try to negotiate with the other to come to a mutual agreement. You may need to distribute or compromise some of your wants with the other's wants. Most importantly, there needs to be some form of leadership in the organization. Whether it is authority or emergent leadership, there needs to be a person in the workplace to help resolve conflict that arises between two or more coworkers.
How do you think conflicts should be treated at work? Do you think a boss should get to resolve all conflicts that arise, or do you think leaders emerge during times of need to help others out?
http://articles.cnn.com/2008-01-02/living/cb.work.conflict_1_conflict-resolution-workplace-stress-worker?_s=PM:LIVING
- Kelly Moran
The way conflict is treated at work really depends on the situation that the conflict arises from. If there is conflict within a team situation when a team is working on a specific project, I believe conflicts that arise between the members should be handled by the employees. This forces them to learn how to cooperate with each other and hopefully a leader will step up and help guide the team. But, if the conflict goes so far that it effects the actual outcome of the project and can seriously hurt the company in some way, management definitely needs to step in. In conclusion, I don't really think there is one answer to this because it is highly dependent upon the situation and the employees involved.
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