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Managing Conflict and Negotiations

Terms in this set (39)

What is conflict?
Conflict occurs when one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party
Common causes of workplace conflict include:
- Personality differences
- Irritating workplace behaviors
- Unmet needs at work
- Perceived inequities of resources and policies
- Unclear roles and responsibilities
A Conflict Continuum
1) Initially experts believed all conflict had to be avoided or quickly resolved

2) It was recognized that conflict is inevitable and managers need to learn to live with it

3) OB Specialists realized that conflict had both positive and negative outcomes and organizations could suffer from too much or too little conflict
Two broad types of conflict:
- Functional conflict
- Dysfunctional conflict
Functional conflict is constructive or cooperative conflict characterized by:
- Consultative iterations
- A focus on the issues
- Mutual respect
- Useful give and take
Dysfunctional conflict _____
threatens an organization's interests
Why do people avoid conflict?
Fear of:
harm, rejection, loss of friendship, anger, being seen as selfish, saying the wrong thing, failing, hurting someone else, and not getting what you want
Desired outcomes of conflict management:
1. Agreement (equitable/fair agreements are the best)
2. Stronger Relationships (build bridges of goodwill and trust for future use)
3. Learning (promote greater self-awareness and creative problem solving)
Personality Conflict:
Interpersonal opposition based on personal dislike or disagreement
- Sexual harassment can grow from personality conflicts
- Critically important to identify and remedy
Two forms of intergroup conflict:
1. Conflict States
2. Conflict Processes
Conflict States (Intergroup Conflict)
shared perceptions among team members about the target and intensity of the conflict; targets can be in the form of tasks or relationships
Conflict Processes
the means by which team members work through task and relationship disagreements
In-Group Thinking (Intergroup Conflict)
too much cohesiveness can increase group-think, leading to challenges
How to Handle Intergroup Conflict
1. Contact Hypothesis
2. Conflict Resolution
3. Creation of Psychologically Safe Climates
Contact Hypothesis:
- the more the members of different groups interact, the less intergroup conflict they will experience
- quality contact matters from the in-group's perspective
Conflict Resolution Strategies
- Work to eliminate specific negative interactions
- Conduct team building
- Encourage and facilitate friendships via social events
- Foster positive attitudes
- Avoid or neutralize negative gossip
- Practice the above, be a role model
Creating a Psychologically Safe Climate
A shared belief that the workplace Is a safe place for interpersonal risk taking, and that it captures a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject, or punish someone for speaking up
Tips to create a Psychologically Safe Climate:
- Assure leaders are inclusive and accessible
- Hire and develop employees who are comfortable expressing their own ideas and are receptive to those expressed by others
- Celebrate and reinforce the value of differences between group members and their ideas
Forms of Conflict Intensified by Technology
- Work-Family Conflict
- Incivility
- Bullying
Work-Family Conflict:
Balance is the key to reducing conflict:
- Work-family balance begins at home
- An employer's family-supportive philosophy is more important than specific programs
- Importance of work-life family balance varies across generations
Work-Family conflict balance requires flexibility:
1) Flexspace
2) Flextime
- both of which require the support of an immediate supervisor
What is Incivility?
Any form of socially harmful behavior, such as:
- Aggression
- Interpersonal deviance
- Social undermining
- Interactional justice
- Harassment
- Abusive supervision
- Bullying
Bullying is DIFFERENT from other forms of Incivility
- Bullying is most often evident to others
- Bullying affects even those that are not bullied
- Bullying has group-level implications
What is Programmed Conflict?
A conflict that raises different opinions regardless of the personal feelings of the managers
- Gets contributors to either defend or criticize ideas based on relevant facts rather than personal preference or political interest (Data Driven Decisions)
Two Programmed Conflict Techniques:
1. Devil's Advocacy - assigning someone the role of critic
2. Dialectic Method - fostering a structured debate of opposing viewpoints; generates critical thinking and reality testing - thesis vs. antithesis
Dialectic Method example
Modern Court System
Conflict Handling Styles:
1. Integrating
2. Obliging
3. Dominating
4. Avoiding
5. Compromising
Integrating (problem solving)
Parties confront the issue and cooperatively identify it, generate alternatives, and select a solution
Obliging (smoothing)
showing low concern for yourself and a great concern for others; you tend to minimize differences & highlight similarities to please the other party
Dominating (forcing)
showing high concern for self and low concern for others; "I win. You lose"
Avoiding
passive withdrawal from the problem and active suppression of the issue are common
Compromising
give-and-take approach with a moderate concern for self and others
Negotiation
A give-and-take decision-making process involving two or more parties with different preferences
Two Basic Types of Negotiation
1. Distributive: Win-Lose
2. Integrative: Win-Win
Distributive (Win-Lose)
A distributive negotiation is a POSITION-BASED style that usually involves a single issue - one person gains at the expense of another
Integrative (Win-Win)
Integrative negotiation is an INTEREST-BASED style where an agreement can be found that is better for both parties than what they would have reached through distributive negotiation (progressive thinking)
Added-Value Negotiation (Win-Win)
The negotiating parties cooperatively develop multiple deal packages while building a productive long-term relationship by following 5 steps:
5 Steps for Added-Value Negotiation
1. Clarify interests
2. Identify options
3. Design alternative deal packages
4. Select a deal
5. Perfect the deal
Tips for Negotiating with Emotion
1. Identify ideal emotions
2. Manage those emotions
3. Hot buttons - what can throw you off your game
4. Keep balance
5. Emotional aftermath - read nonverbal cues, evaluate
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