Conflict Management

Khan Sarfaraz Ali∗

Conflict is a situation of tension and friction in which two or more persons or groups who are
dependent upon one another have differing opinions, interests, intentions, motives, action plans
etc. which are important for their future work or live together about which a decision has to be
made. There is a proverb, “a group without conflict is dead one and with constant conflict is sick
one” – nobody wants conflict but it appears automatically in organizational setting. Hence,
conflict management is essential for the sustainability and growth of any organization. There are
some signals of conflict like: disturbed communication behavior, decreasing work motivation,
relational problems, and escapism. In any of these situations HR practitioners take step to resolve
conflict.
The Conflict as Iceberg
The visible symptoms of a conflict are often just as the tip of an iceberg. The biggest and most
important part of the conflict is invisible below the waterline. An important part of any conflict
analysis is to explore the hidden background of a conflict.
Types of Conflict
There are basically three types of conflict visible at organization level. They are – i) Frictions:
staff members fight for a higher salary. ii) Fight for Positions: staff members fight to get a higher
management position. iii) Strategic Conflicts: employees often fight for a revision and a change
of the organizational policy.

Conflict Management Strategy

There are two types of strategy to resolve conflict -
a) The Cold Conflict: At the very beginning of any conflict this approach is effective.
The cold conflict situation provide an opportunity to i) help parties to accept themselves: re-
establish group feelings of their own worth, recognize groups’ positive aspects, praise them and
appeal to them ii) clarify the situation – how the conflict is expected to develop and what sort of
damage will be caused iii) draw attention to the existing avoidance mechanism and behavior and
iv) adopt a relationship of direct face to face communication.
b) The Hot Conflict: This type of situation indicates extreme exposure of conflicting
situation. In hot conflict approach confrontation-meetings are a good idea because the conflict
parties are themselves seeking an encounter and are keen to carry out the conflict on an open
stage. First clarification of the relationship between the parties, then work can start on factual or
organizational aspects. Here, conflict manager should concentrate on clarification of the two
side’s appreciation of each other, of their attitudes and behavior patterns.

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Associate management Counselor, Bangladesh Institute of management (BIM)
01817528067 / sarfarazbim@gmail.com