Conflict Management White paper by Kenneth w. Thomas and james rowell

Submitted By:Anand Ayush

Conflict: Disagreement between two or more persons at any point.

Conflict management Conflict management involves acquiring skills related to conflict

resolution, self-awareness about conflict modes, conflict communication skills, and establishing a structure for management of conflict in the environment and organization.

Central Idea• powerful concepts, skills,

data, personal and group insights, and constructive norms can make conflict management a strategic advantage for an organization with resulting

improvements in productivity,

Decision making and retention.

Research Topics

key elements of a strategy for making conflict management a core competency in organization.

Understanding of conflict cycle.

Why conflict management is a important factor for improving productivity of an organisation.

Conflict cycle

Conflict cycleVarious aspects of conflict cycle are:

Conflict of Needs A stressful incident occurs, needs are not being met which triggers a cycle of irrational beliefs. Emotional Stress Conflict of needs often results in negative feelings or sense of loss of control.

Reactive Behavior / Communications Negative feelings about the conflict and/or the other person, not our rational beliefs, lead to inappropriate behavior and/or communications.• Negative Response from Others Others pick up on these negative feelings/behaviors and frequently experience and exhibit similar feelings and behaviors.

five key elements of a strategy for conflict management

DEVELOPING CONFLICT LITERACY

USING THE MODES IN TEAM BUILDING AND INTERVENTION

INVOLVING TOP MANAGEMENT

BUILDING CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SKILLS

MEASURING CONFLICT STYLES

DEVELOPING CONFLICT LITERACY

Appreciating Different Styles

Overcoming the Challenges of Team Style

Understanding the positive intentions and contributions of each style reduces resentments over style differences and makes it easier for team members to listen to each other. They can then learn from one another’s insights.

The challenges and remedies would be quite different for competitor teams, avoider teams, and compromiser teams. To become more effective at conflict management, then, teams need to take different routes depending on their starting points.

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Reducing “Excessive” BehaviorsIt is important to help team members and guard each other

INVOLVING TOP MANAGEMENT

Building Openness into the CultureThe prevailing mind-set in some organizations is that conflict is a threat to relationships and team cohesiveness, so people should do what they can to accommodate others view and needs.

Improving Strategic Decision Makinginvolve creating a culture of openness and open-mindedness where people can safely tell each other the truth, as well as creating multiple arenas for debate, feedback, and critical thinking.

BUILDING CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SKILLSChoosing the Right Conflict ModeIt is important to learn to avoid discussions of personality and blame, and to control expressions of anger, remain civil and respectful, and keep the discussion focused on substantive issues.

Implementing a Mode EffectivelyTwo key skills related to collaborating—distinguishing between concerns and positions, and using “firm flexiblity.”

Reducing the Costs of a ModeThe third level of skill involves reducing the costs, or negative consequences, of the mode you have chosen.

MEASURING CONFLICT STYLES The third level of skill involves reducing the costs, or negative consequences, of the mode you haveconflict, so that choices can be re-examined and made more thoughtfully. Measurement also providesa baseline against which to chart change and improvement.

The contingency approach enables people to see their style as a set of strengths, and to approach change as away of building on their strengths rather than correcting their flaws.

Making measures available online makes it easy for organizations to collect aggregated data on conflict styles. The organizations can use these data in identifying their “conflict culture” and as a benchmark for change efforts.

Summary/Conclusion This paper explored five key elements of a strategy for making conflict

management can be applied in a flexible manner, so that they can be adapted to the special conditions and needs of a given organization. Organizations can focus these elements on issues that have a special priority for them, such as innovation, retention, and productivity.

conflicts typically occur when one person’s needs/desires interfere with

another person’s needs/ desires. These common problems seem to be exacerbated by such everyday variables as differing work styles,

age/generational differences, gender, cultural differences, racial differences, etc. In many cases.however, effective conflict resolution skills can make the difference between positive and negative.