Week 6: Conflict

Conflict

When playing for a football team their were two players that had a clash of personality and different views and perceptions on how their positions should be played. Both players had a high level of ability. The disagreements between the two players lead to them not being able to play along side each other, this meant we had to arrange the team around which player was more suited to the game in hand. The manager of the football team had to think of a solution to the stop the conflict in order to get the best out of the team. He decided to have team night outs and a lot of team bonding sessions such as quiz nights etc. This meant the two players spent time out of football i.e. where the conflict was rooted. By doing this the two players began talking and this lead them being more accepting of each other.

The sources of conflict

Personally I believe in the work place change is the main cause of conflict. But the biggest factor is personality. I believe that people have a personality which leads them to accept conflict and be able to take part in conflict or they shy away from conflict and are passive. According to Mullins 2010 she believes the sources of conflict can be broken down these are:

·         Difference in Perception: This source is when one person has a different view to another person which then leads to conflict. A good example of this is what I spoke about in the beginning of the post between the two football players.

·         Limited Resources: The London underground workers when on strike because they believed the was not enough staff at the stations and this lead to it effecting the safety of their work (BBC News 2010). This is a example where there is a limited resource of staff which leads conflict to current staff and the business.

·         Division & Separation into department: this is where two departments in a business class and lead to conflict between them. This mainly occurs involving large businesses where each department wants to input views and options.

·         Overlapping and interlinking activities: This is similar to division in departments but this conflict is between people and can happen in where somebody else is taking over a role of another. A example of this is when I was in a team for young enterprise is secondary school person A took completed person B’s job as they believed they would do it better. This lead to verbal conflict and person B then giving all his jobs to person A which lead to person A having to much work to do and could not get it done.

·         Role Conflict: This style on conflict is where two roles clash or can even be where one role interferes with another.

·         Inequitable Treatment: When a person feels discriminated against and feels they are being miss treated which leads to conflict this is inequitable treatment. In a survey done by TMP Worldwide in 2005 it showed that 25% of workers in the UK believe they have been a victim of discrimination, bullying or harassment.

·         Violation of territory: When a person feels like someone else is “treading on the toes” and taking over their work or the space/ role.

·         Environmental changes: this source of conflict can be a change in the working environment. This can lead to people being out of there comfort zone.

·         Individual Conflict: This is were one person has a issue with another person. A example of this is also in my sports team as it was the two individuals that had conflict between each other.

The common issue with the sources of conflict tends to be change. Also for conflict to occur there only has to be on party with an issue. Brooks (2006) said that conflict is apparent when at least one party perceives that it exists.

Sources of Power

·         Coercive

This source of power is used when a punishment is used in order to get a job/ task done. A example of this happening is when a Chairman/ owner of sports club say to the manager you have to win a certain amount of games, get a certain position of we will sack you.

·         Reward 

This is when some uses their power to offer a reward for the work to be done. A example of this is when the football team I played for also had a rule where if we won the game with a clean sheet then the our fines (e.g. for muddle boots, turning up late, wrong clothes) would be scraped and we would not need to pay them.

·         Expert

This power is held b the person who is most knowledgeable about the task/ aim. This power comes from the fact that they are intellectually superior to the rest of the team. A good example of this is in a small firm or when a sole trader has a apprentice, the guy who has the most expertise has the most power.

·         Legitimate

Legitimate power is often used in forces. This is when the person has the power through the right reasons i.e. because they are qualified to have the power or have worked up through the ranks and gained the power over time and experience.

·         Referent

5 Strategies to over come conflict

Policies can be put into place to make people feel they are treated fairly and have equal opportunities. This can be done by HR and they also can get a range of views from across the company to see what should be included in the polices and procedures.

Conflict can be reduced largely by communication. This doesn’t just mean people talking but also can be people consulting senior people, leaders and other people. Companies can also use people when making decisions in order to make people and their views feel valued by the company.

Clear goals and aims make employees have a good understanding of what they are aiming for and what they are expected to do in order to reach them. This again is linked into good communication

It’s a legal requirement that companies have an a grievance policy. This gives employees opportunities to bring their issues to attention early and correctly, instead of letting it build up which could lead to a bigger scale of conflict.

Its also a legal requirement to have a disciplinary policy. All employees should be aware of this so it acts as a deterrent to actions which could cause negative conflict. These legal requirements both link back to having good communication through out so all employees or aware of them and how to use them.

Conclusion

Conflict is always going to occur in a organsation. Conflict has a range of sources but it only takes one person to have a issue for conflict to arise. If conflict is occurs in a orgamnised enviorment and is dealt with quickly and fairly it will have a positive impact. In order for this to happen people have to feel comfotable to bring up their issues, this is vital as if the dont then a persaon can hold the issues in and it then can build up on come out on a larger scale of conflict and will have a negative impact. I also belive that people have to have certain characterstics to be able to handle conflcit, these people often have to be confident, strong minded but also have to be open to idea of them being wrong in order to be able to be able to cope with  conflcit and the possiable solutuions.