The conflict management style you choose depends on the situation’s urgency and your long-term goals By Tom Moriarty for Plant Services Magazine Plant Services, November 12, 2018 Conflict in the workplace is very destructive. It makes people reluctant to work together. But what
causes conflict? The simple answer is that conflict happens whenever two parties don’t see eye-to-eye. During everyday activities, conflict comes from ambiguity, gaps, and overlaps in roles and responsibilities among individuals and work centers. If there is urgency, such as when production is disrupted because of equipment failure, conflict is generated by differences in objectives. Operations wants the system up immediately. Maintenance folks want time to repair the system so that it
will not soon fail again. How do you develop guidance or resolve conflict in a way that brings people and work centers together? The first thing to do is to understand conflict management styles. Conflict management styles can be thought of relative to their position on two dimensions. The first dimension is the extent to which the first party is assertive and satisfies its own concerns. This is shown in the vertical axis in Figure 1. Toward the low end of the axis is a lack of assertion – ultimately, submissiveness. Toward the high end is assertion, and ultimately aggressiveness. The second dimension is the extent to which there is cooperation with the other party, represented by the horizontal axis. Within the scope of the assertiveness and cooperation axes, there are five styles for conflict management:
Contact Tom to ask about the two-day Productive Leadership Workshop; [email protected] or (321) 961-4306. Different people use different methods to resolve conflict, and most people have one or more natural, preferred conflict resolution strategies that they use regularly. It is possible to scientifically measure an individual's inclinations toward specific conflict resolution strategies. In this article, we will discuss the five different categories of conflict resolution from the Thomas-Kilmann model, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The Thomas-Kilmann ModelThe Thomas-Kilmann Model identifies five different approaches to resolving conflict. These approaches include: 1. AvoidingSomeone who uses a strategy of "avoiding" mostly tries to ignore or sidestep the conflict, hoping it will resolve itself or dissipate. 2. AccommodatingUsing the strategy of "accommodating" to resolve conflict essentially involves taking steps to satisfy the other party's concerns or demands at the expense of your own needs or desires. 3. CompromisingThe strategy of "compromising" involves finding an acceptable resolution that will partly, but not entirely, satisfy the concerns of all parties involved. 4. CompetingSomeone who uses the conflict resolution strategy of "competing" tries to satisfy their own desires at the expense of the other parties involved. 5. CollaboratingUsing "collaborating" involves finding a solution that entirely satisfies the concerns of all involved parties. The Thomas-Kilmann model identifies two dimensions people fall into when choosing a conflict resolution strategy: assertiveness and cooperativeness. Assertiveness involves taking action to satisfy your own needs, while cooperativeness involves taking action to satisfy the other's needs. Each of the conflict resolution strategies above involves different degrees of assertiveness and cooperativeness. For example, while accommodating includes a high degree of cooperativeness and a low degree of assertiveness, competing consists of a low degree of cooperativeness and a high degree of assertiveness. Choosing the Right Conflict Resolution MethodEven though you may prefer one of the conflict resolution strategies discussed above over the others, all of these strategies can be used effectively in certain situations. For example, if the issue is minor and won't have lasting consequences, it may be in your best interest to accommodate the other party rather than to try to serve your own needs. However, if the issue is more severe and will impact multiple people, it may make sense to choose a strategy with more assertiveness. To choose the best conflict resolution method in any given situation, you need to consider several factors, such as:
Improving Your Ability to Resolve ConflictBeing able to choose and apply the best conflict resolution strategy effectively is made possible by developing better conflict resolution skills. Examples of conflict resolution skills that can help you include the ability to:
Although you may have a proclivity towards a specific type of conflict resolution, you are not required to use this strategy in every situation. With time and effort, you can learn new conflict resolution skills that improve your ability to negotiate and resolve issues with others. Eventually, you will be able to select and use the conflict resolution strategy that is best for the situation, as opposed to the one that is most comfortable or familiar. Topics: HR & Organizational Effectiveness, Communications, Leadership, Management Which of the following conflict management styles is high in assertiveness and low in cooperativeness?Competing (High Assertiveness and Low Cooperativeness) – Involves standing one's ground, focusing on winning an argument/debate, etc. Collaborative (High Assertiveness and Cooperativeness) – Involves working with others to find solutions that will result in a win-win situation.
Which conflict approach is high in both assertiveness and cooperativeness?Compromising: Is intermediate in both assertiveness and cooperativeness.
What conflict style is cooperative and assertive?Collaborating is both assertive and cooperative. When collaborating, an individual attempts to work with the other person to find a solution that fully satisfies the concerns of both.
Is low assertiveness and high cooperation?Accommodation (low assertiveness/high cooperation) - When one is very willing to cooperate or to get along with others, but is not willing to state his/her own wishes or concerns, he/she may accommodate the wishes of others.
|