Running head: APPROPRIATE WAYS TO HANDLE CONFLICT ISSUES

Select and Defend Appropriate Ways to Handle

Conflict Issues Among Groups and Teams in the Workplace
Desmond Pringle
1200021829

Vocational Training Development Institute

APPROPRIATE WAYS TO HANDLE CONFLICT ISSUES

Select and defend appropriate ways to handle conflict issues among groups and teams in the
workplace

Interpersonal relations between people are often, always inevitable in today’s society. As
we share space, people need to communicate, coordinate, and cohabit or simply just work
together to achieve goals or set objectives. This can range from simply playing a game at work,
deciding where to place a new piece of office equipment or a more complex task such as
remodelling an office to create additional space. One would think coming together to carry out a
task is as easy as reciting the first three letters of the English alphabet once it is clearly defined,
but this is not so. Human relations carry with it an unavoidable component called conflict and
whether it is a small or large group conflicts emerge ever so often, and must be resolved or
leveraged before a group can successfully move forward. But what is conflict, one asks? The
online version of the oxford dictionary defines it as a serious disagreement or argument, typically
a protracted one (Oxford online, 2017). To add to this, there are both healthy and unhealthy
forms of conflicts and both merit attention (McCarthy, 2017). Weighing in on the definition,
unhealthy conflicts among groups or teams in the workplace clearly has to be dealt with once
they emerge. To this end, understanding the causes of conflicts is key to dealing with this ever
present dilemma.

Before looking into ways of handling conflicts, understanding its causes or at least an
attempt to, is an important step toward successfully managing it. Among the many sources are
poor communication, which often leads to misunderstanding; different values, organizations
comprise members with different value systems; differing interests, individuals sometimes
pursue their personal interest and not the organization’s; scarce resources, limited resources at
times causes persons to compete for resources to fulfil assigned tasks; personality clashes, the
environment is made up of diverse personalities which does not always fit seamlessly together;
and poor performance, when an individual performs below required standard and this is not
addressed other employs are affected (“Resolving Conflicts at Work: Employee Information,”
2017).
APPROPRIATE WAYS TO HANDLE CONFLICT ISSUES

There are six steps to resolving conflict (Bruce, 2013). Conflict resolution among groups
and teams in the workplace can be easily broken down into steps to make the process easier to
manage and to leverage the maximum effect of conflict management. The following steps have
been suggested as a good approach in this regard. I will expound on each area.

 Clarify what the disagreement is

 Establish a common goal for both parties

 Discuss ways to meet the common goal

 Determine the barriers to the common goal

 Agree on the best way to resolve the conflict

 Acknowledge the agreed upon solution and determine the responsibilities each party has
in the resolution.

The very first step in resolving a conflict is to recognize that there is a disagreement and
move to clarify what that disagreement is, and getting both sides to agree on what conflict exists.
In doing so, it is important to ask all the relevant questions until a clear understanding of the
views of the affected parties are understood. The main aim is to get both parties to understand
the issues and that there is a need for a balance to be reached. It is also useful for a mediator to
understand that conflict can be beneficial to an organisation or a team in achieving greater
efficiency.

The second step is to identify a common goal and having both parties agreed to this. If both
parties are able to agree to the common goal then the platform is laid for the matter to be
resolved. It is always easier to resolve a conflict when the parties involved are able to come to
an agreement that there is a better way. Doing so may take some challenge but encouraging
listening and being respectful of each side’s views is important to setting a goal.

Once a common goal has been identified, it is time to discuss how to achieve the goal. This
could take time and requires some amount of skills from the mediator. This involves effective
communication and listening skills to effectively tackle varying views as heated emotions tends
APPROPRIATE WAYS TO HANDLE CONFLICT ISSUES

to impact how we come across to each other as humans. In this regard, ideas are to be
brainstormed until all options are exhausted. This is the third step in moving to resolve a conflict.

Although a common goal has been reached and ways identified to achieve it, there will still
be challenges to overcome. To this end, the fourth step to resolve conflicts is for all the
stakeholders to determine the barriers to the common goal and take a proactive approach to
negate them before moving forward. If problems are identified that cannot be overcome then the
parties should look at workarounds to reach the desired goal. Those barriers that can be fixed are
to be discussed and plans made to deal with them if and when they occur during the process.
This will help to stay on course with the goal and prevent any possible diversion from what has
been agreed on.

Having identified a common goal and barriers to preventing a resolution to the conflict, both
parties must now agree on the best way forward. Getting both parties to come to a conclusion on
the best way forward is paramount to the process and each party must also be willing to accept
responsibility for maintaining the solutions identified. The focus must not be on merely fixing
the problem but to take a deeper look at what needs to be done in parts before bringing each
piece as one component.

The final step in resolving a conflict is for both parties to acknowledge the agreed solution
and determine their responsibilities in the process. Both parties must agree and clearly state their
willingness to work on the agreed outcome and a show of solidarity that all stakeholders are in
one accord. If possible all matters discussed and agreed on must be documented for future
reference.

In conclusion, conflicts are synonymous with human relations and resolving them are
inescapable if we must co-exist in an environment shared by varying personalities and with an
array of opposing personal views. There are ways to resolve conflicts and this can be achieved
by following a sex-step process. At the end of the day, it must be understand that conflicts are
not always bad for teams and organisation but should be used as an opportunity to increase
efficiency and boost problem solving skills for team members.
APPROPRIATE WAYS TO HANDLE CONFLICT ISSUES

References

Website Title Oxford Dictionaries. (2017) Definition of conflict in English by Oxford

Dictionaries
Retreived from URL https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/conflict
Date Accessed October 31, 2017

Resolving Conflicts at Work: Employee Information (October 31, 2017).

Retrieved from https://hr.ou.edu/Employees/Career-Development/Resolving-Conflicts-at-
Work#3931281-what-is-workplace-conflict

Brian McCarthy, B. (2017). Five Techniques to Help You Manage Conflict in the Workplace.
Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/ways-to-manage-conflict-2276062
Stephen Bruce, S. (2013). 6 Steps to Conflict Resolution in the Workplace.
Retrieved from http://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2013/06/24/6-steps-to-conflict-resolution-in-
the-workplace/