7. Conflicts

Conflict is inevitable because we live and work in the world which imposes restrictions on our opportunities. We seldom get what we want. You have to distribute bonuses among your subordinates and each of them deserves at least half of the sum you have. Three of your best employees want to go on holiday at the same time and so on. Conflict arises in every situation as different interests collide.

Conflict is a natural phenomenon of organization, no matter if it is a big company or a small office. Working together people compete for status and career advancement, which are limited in any organization. But conflict doesn’t always mean bad environment. It even guards the organization from getting apathetic and stagnant, create the atmosphere of development. It makes employees keep on learning and be flexible to the changing world. It sometimes can become a source of innovation. Thus conflict’s nature can be both positive and negative. And modern managers should study how to handle it with the benefit for the organization.

In order to tackle the problem, a manager should know the following: the parties of the conflict; the cause of the problem, and how to choose the right strategy.

THE SOURCE OF CONFLICT

Conflicts always have causes. To be effective the solution process depends on the right identification of its source. The causes of conflicts can be grouped into three categories: communication differences, structural differences, and personal differences.

Communication differences appear from misunderstanding, not the lack of communication. Discordance in the organization is caused by different aims, tasks, values, and personalities.

Structural differences arise from people’s want to be promoted, increased payments. Usually managers divide tasks up, group common tasks and give authority to coordinate the work of different teams. It frequently results in conflicts. In this case conflicts are not caused by bad communication or personal dislikes. People want promotions, pay increases, which are often limited in organization.

Personal differences have roots in personal value systems. For some people it is simply impossible to work together, because each person is a unique personality with a definite set of values, background, education, life experience, etc. These personal differences can create conflicts.

For a manager the process of conflict resolution has five strategies.

1. Competition (assertive and uncooperative): when the conflict is ignored in the hope it will go away itself, slow procedures are used to solve the problem, the secrecy is used, and bureaucratic rules of conflict resolution are applied.

2. Collaboration (assertive and cooperative): the process of negotiations and finding acceptable solutions.

3. Avoidance (unassertive and uncooperative): create win-lose situations, use of competition, forcing submission.

4. Accommodation (unassertive and cooperative): giving way, submission and compliance.

5. Compromise (midway on both assertiveness and cooperativeness): problem-solving; confronting differences and sharing ideas and information; search for integrative solution; finding situations where all can win; seeing problems and conflicts as challenging.

Task 1

Translate into Russian.

Inevitable; to distribute bonuses among one’s subordinates; to go on holiday; career advancement; apathetic; to create the atmosphere of development; to handle; the cause of the problem; the source of conflict; the lack of communication; an aim; a value; a personality; to have roots in smth; a unique personality; competition; uncooperative; avoidance; accommodation; a compromise.

Task 2

Translate into English.

Налагать ограничения на что-то; заслуживать; соперничать за статус; оберегать организацию от чего-то; бездеятельный; источник инноваций; приниматься за решение проблемы; участники конфликта; коммуникационные различия; структурные различия; индивидуальные различия; разногласие; личная неприязнь; система индивидуальных ценностей; разрешение конфликта; самоуверенный; сотрудничество; подчинение; одобрение/согласие.

Task 3

Speak of interpersonal skills that should be used in the process of resolving conflicts, using the given words and word combinations.

Goal-setting; to motivate employees; to provide standards of performance; to listen to smb; feedback; effective communication and oral persuasion skills.

Task 4

Complete the following sentences with appropriate words from the list.

Conflict; handle; compromise; collided; coordinate; aim; authority; root; tackled; collaboration; promotion; compete.

1. There is a growing _____ of interest between her position of a politician and her business activities.

2. The President of the bank _____ with Finance Manager over his budget plans.

3. Two companies have to _____ for a profitable project.

4. He _____ his material problems.

5. I don't know if I can ____ the job.

6. It was our _____ to complete the work by the end of the month.

7. Both sides are determined to get what they want, and there seems to be no possibility of _____.

8. The two companies are working in close _____ with each other.

9. Let’s try to get to the ____ of this problem.

10. There are good chances of _____ for you in this firm.

11. We used a computer to _____ the marketing campaign.

12. He doesn’t have the necessary _____ to make this sort of decision.

Task 5

Read and translate the text.

Particularly useful for problem solving are some of the thinking tools devised as a skill by Edward De Bono, a leading authority on teaching thinking.

Just as a carpenter learns how to use specific tools for certain tasks, attention-directing tools in the field of thinking and problem solving can be learned and used also.

For example – The APC Tool for Problem Solving

APC stands for:

• Alternatives;

• Possibilities;

• Choices.

The three words are close in meaning, although one or more may be more appropriate in a given situation.

Doing an APC means thinking of alternatives, or different approaches, in solving the problem. Then, with these multiple choices before us, we can select what seems to be the best solution.

Generating alternatives opens up possibilities. It requires special mental effort as the human brain naturally looks for patterns and certainty rather than alternatives. That is why a thinking tool such as APC forces the mind into new directions, into actually focusing, concentrating on alternatives.

The Ideal Solution Method

In this method the alternatives are listed and then ignored. Instead, an 'ideal solution' is fashioned for the situation.

Once that is considered, the list of alternatives can be consulted again to see which one of them comes nearest to the 'ideal solution'. So, the alternatives are now considered not on their own individual merit but according to how close they come to the 'ideal'.

The TEC Framework

• T stands for Target and Task;

• E stands for Expand and Explore;

• C stands for Contract and Conclude.

This framework can be put into a time-limited 5-minute problem solving session.

• Spend 1 minute on Target and Task: The target is the precise focus of the thinking and the task is the thinking task to be performed.

• Spend 2 minutes on Expand and Explore: Open up the phrase, explore the territory, and pull in information and concepts.

• Spend 2 minutes on Contract and Conclude: Try to make sense of what you have, come to a definite conclusion or solution.

By strictly timing ourselves according to this framework the mind really focuses and produces results!

Task 6

Answer the questions.

1. Do you think that such thinking tools work in reality?

2. Which of these tools is closer to you?

3. Don’t you think that the method of problem solving depends not only on the problem, but also on the form of the organization and collective peculiarities?

4. Should problem solving techniques be taught in every company?