Conflict and Conflict

Management in Teams
 What is Conflict?

A few definitions of conflicts are:

1. A state of open, often prolonged fighting; a battle or war.
2. A state of disharmony between incompatible or antithetical persons, ideas,
or interests; a clash.
3. A state of opposition between ideas, interests, etc.; disagreement or
controversy
4. A state of opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible wishes or
drives, sometimes leading to a state of emotional tension
 Context of Conflicts at work
As organizations continue to restructure work teams, conflicts will arise
from differences, and when individuals come together in teams, their
differences in terms of power, values, and attitudes contribute to the
creation of conflict.

Some disputes managers and employees alike may be subjected to in the

workplace include:
Unfair or unequal treatment
Emotional Abuse
Discrimination
Sexual harassment
Angry/ Resistant individuals
Inability to saying no
Feuding groups
Environments in transitions (i.e. changes)
Inability to ask for what one needs
Culturally diverse environment
Unclear or undefined organizational directives
Physical attributes of the workplace (e.g. health and safety issues)
An overlook of
organizational conflicts
 An overlook of
organizational conflicts
Interpersonal Conflict:
Conflict between individuals due to differences in their goals or values.
 Can be between colleagues, senior and junior team members, employee and
client
Common types of interpersonal conflicts
Emotional Conflict
Conflict due to different needs
Conflict due to different values and attitudes
Select Examples
A Senior and Junior may have conflicts around how a poor done was done by the
team member
Intragroup Conflict:
Conflict within a group or team.
Select Examples
 Conflicts may arise due differences of opinions around allocation of work,
different views in solving a problem, sharing of
recognition as well as risks.
 An overlook of
organizational conflicts
Intergroup Conflict:
 Conflict between two or more teams, groups or departments.
 Managers play a key role in resolution of this conflict
 Intergroup conflicts often lead to a minimization of intragroup conflicts as people
come together to oppose another group
Select Examples
 Business Origination team and Execution team regarding requirements
 Between HR team and the Business Development Teams on recruitment
policies,salaries etc
Interorganizational Conflict:
 Conflict that arises across organizations.
Select Examples
 Different businesses are competing against one another for a same
piece of business
 Between an organisation and the client in terms of the nature of
work product delivery against the specification
 Impact of conflict
When Conflict is constructive?

 Results in clarification of important problems and issues

 Results in solutions to problems
 Involves people in resolving issues important to them
 Causes authentic communication
 Helps release emotion, anxiety, and stress
 Builds cooperation among people through learning more about each other
 Helps individuals develop understanding and skills
When is conflict destructive?

 Takes attention away from other important activities

 Undermines morale or self-concept
 Polarizes people and groups, reducing cooperation
 Increases or sharpens difference
 Leads to irresponsible and harmful behavior, such as fighting, name-calling
Conflict Prevention
As well as being able to handle conflict when it arises, One should first
focus on ways of preventing conflict from becoming damaging. A
constructive approach would be to:

 Being open – if we have issues, we need to express and deal with them
immediately and not allow it to accumulate and dwell upon.
 Maintain clear communication – articulate thoughts clearly, question and
clarify views.
 Encouraging different points of view and evaluating each fairly without any
personal bias
 Not looking for blame – encourage ownership of the problem and solution.
 Demonstrating respect for team members rather than resorting to blame
game.
 Keeping team issues within the team, talking outside results in conflict
escalation.
Conflict in the video
 A video capture from the sitcom “The
Office”
Conflict Resolutions in the
Video
 Video link
Conflict Resolution
 What is conflict management?
• The results of conflicts are not predetermined.
• Conflicts might escalate and lead to nonproductive results, or they can be
beneficially resolved to lead to high quality productive results.
• Learning to manage conflict is integral to a high-performance team.
• Conflict management is the principle that all conflicts cannot necessarily
be resolved, but learning how to manage conflicts can decrease the odds of
nonproductive escalation.
• It involves acquiring skills related to conflict resolution, self-awareness
about conflict modes, conflict communication skills and establishing a
structure for management of conflicts.
 Dealing with Conflict
Accommodating
The accommodating strategy essentially
entails giving the opposing side what it wants.
Avoiding
The avoidance strategy seeks to put off
conflict indefinitely.
Collaborating
Collaboration works by integrating ideas set
out by multiple people. The object is to find a
creative solution acceptable to everyone.
Compromising
The compromising strategy typically calls for
both sides of a conflict to give up elements of
their position in order to establish an
acceptable, if not agreeable, solution.
Competing
Competition operates as a zero-sum game, in
which one side wins and other loses.
 Healthy and Unhealthy ways of managing
and resolving conflict

Inability to compromise or see other Ability to seek compromise and

persons side.
Explosive, angry, hurtful, resentful
reactions
Withdrawal of love resulting in
rejection, isolation and
abandonment
Fear and avoidance of conflict; the
expectation of bad outcomes
avoid punishing
Calm, non-defensive and respectful
reactions
Readiness to forgive and forget and
to move past the conflict without
holding resentments or anger
Belief that facing conflict head on is
the best thing for both sides
Conflict Management Skills
 Good and a patient listener
 The pitch and the tone have to be taken great care of
 Adopt a positive attitude
 Never criticize anyone or make him feel small
 Prefer the conference room, board room or any suitable place for
presentations, seminars and discussions
 The superiors must ensure that the team members are assigned responsibilities
according to their KRAs and specializations
 Avoid gossips and rumors

Conflicts must be avoided at workplace so that

employees do not carry tensions back home and are able
to give their best to benefit themselves as well as the
organization.
Importance of Conflict
Management
 Facilitates employees to concentrate on their
work.
 Strengthens bonds amongst employees
 Helps finding a middle way – an alternative to
any problem and successful implementation of
any idea.
 Motivates employees to strive hard to live up to
the expectations and contribute to the
organization in the best possible way.
 Prevention is better than cure.
 Conclusion

"The better able team members are to

engage, speak, listen, hear, interpret, and
respond constructively, the more likely
their teams are to leverage conflict rather
than be leveled by it”
 Presented by:

Neha Kumar (A029)

Nitya Murthy (A031)

Rashi Kapur (A039)

Sonal Rajadhyax (A050)

Yuvraj Tandon (A059)