Conflict Negotiation and Resolution
Conflict is a dispute between two or more people. Conflict arises within an organization due to differences in people’s backgrounds, interests, opinions, personalities, and how they view and perceive things. Depending on how it is managed, conflict can be beneficial to an organization or negatively affect organizational productivity.
Factors that can lead to Conflict
Many factors can lead to a conflict in an organization. Conflict in an organization may arise due to lack of communication, interpersonal differences, lack of role clarification, scarce resources, deficiency in information, and differences in values and beliefs can also result in organizational conflict. “Factors such as lack of resources, competition, or poor communication more readily give rise to the conflict” (Sterud, Marti, & Degerud, 2022, para 2). Poor communication may cause tension in the workplace and lead to employees making wrong assumptions and disseminating misinformation which will cause barriers to achieving goals. Lack of role clarification in an organization can create an ineffective working environment leading to confusion and breakdown. Scarce resources in the workplace can lead to employee competition resulting in violent conflict. Differences in values and beliefs can trigger emotional resistance leading to conflict. Interpersonal differences can lead to conflict due to differences in personality, values, expectations, and opinions. Conflict occurs when people interact with someone who does not share the same thoughts, ideas, and goals.
How Conflict Affects an Organization
Conflict is bound to occur in an organization because of differences in people’s opinions and interests. Conflict can be negative or positive, depending on how it’s managed. A conflict that is well managed can be beneficial to the organization because it helps reduce workplace tension, allowing people to focus more on their job, which will lead to high productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. It also helps people learn new ideas and improve organizational problem-solving skills. Also, poor conflict management can drastically impact an organization, leading to increased stress and anxiety on the employee, depression, absenteeism, turnover, and termination. “Conflict is commonly perceived as a negative phenomenon because if it is poorly managed, it may result in low job satisfaction and staff turnover” (Czyż-Szypenbejl et al., 2022, para 2). Unresolved conflict in the workplace can negatively affect employees’ physical and mental health leading to decreased productivity, customer dissatisfaction, wastage of resources, errors, and the inability of the leaders to reach company goals.
Conflict Resolution Style within an Organization
Organizational conflict is a disagreement among employees on work-related differences in opinions which can result in arguments and loss of time, resources, and productivity. Also, some conflicts can result in improved employee performance, increased productivity, and revenue. To resolve conflict in an organization, leaders should first identify the root cause of the problem causing conflict. Identifying the root cause will give the leaders more insight into what is causing the problem, recognize the differences in their opinions and help them understand differing points of view and arrive at a better solution. Also, establishing healthy two-way communication is another way to resolve conflict within an organization. This strategy allows the employees to share ideas and concerns and serves as an avenue to receive feedback, improving workplace communication (Nandini, 2021). Other conflict management strategies include Avoidance when parties avoid conflict by denying its existence; accommodation is another strategy to resolve conflict. This consists of a party giving up on one’s goals. Compromising is another conflict
resolution style when both parties can express their concerns and respect other persons’ goals and opinions. Collaboration is a conflict resolution style when both parties state their viewpoints are supporting them with facts. Both the parties work together to resolve a conflict, promoting problem-solving skills.
Conflict Negotiation Strategies
Conflict negotiation strategies allow both parties involved in the conflict to reach a solution. Knowing how to negotiate during a conflict is essential to attain a better outcome. Conflict negotiation uses communication to address the concerns of both parties to find a solution. Integrative negotiation or a Win-Win approach allows both parties to achieve their goal by looking for solutions that benefit each other. This approach creates a positive connection for future negotiation, focuses on mutual interest, and creates a working relationship. Distributive negotiation or a lose-win process allows one party to win, leaving one party resentful and resulting in a bitter dispute. An organization’s win-win approach is the best in conflict negotiation. It enables both parties to be happy, feels satisfied, and feel committed to the action plan.
Outcomes of Conflict Negotiation
Outcomes of well-managed win-win conflict negotiation enable both parties to be happy, satisfied and committed to the action plan. Still, a lose-win approach will make the staff have a sense of resentfulness and anger. The win-win approach will enhance customers’ satisfaction because both parties have a mutual interest and working relationship that leads to collaboration and increased productivity.
References
Czyż-Szypenbejl, K., Mędrzycka-Dąbrowska, W., Falcó-Pegueroles, A., & Lange, S. (2022). Conflict sources and management in the ICU setting before and during COVID-19: A scoping review of the literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1875.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031875
Nandini, S. (2021). 5 strategies for managing conflict within an organization
Sterud, T., Marti, A. R., & Degerud, E. (2022). The relationship between workplace conflicts and subsequent physician-certified sick leave: A prospective population study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10), 6047.
