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Management - Vikhanskiy OS

4. Conflict Management

4.1. General concept

Working in organizations, people are different. Accordingly, they perceive differently the situation in which they find themselves. Difference in perception often leads to the fact that people do not agree with each other. This disagreement arises when the situation is indeed of a conflict nature. Conflict is determined by the fact that the conscious behavior of one of the parties (personality, group or organization as a whole) conflicts with the interests of the other party. The manager, according to his role, is usually at the center of any conflict in the organization and is called upon to resolve it by all means available to him. Conflict management is one of the most important functions of a leader.

On average, managers spend about 20% of their working time on resolving various kinds of conflicts. To effectively manage the conflict, it is necessary to know what conflicts are, how they arise and flow, how these conflicts can be eliminated.

4.2. Types of Conflicts

From the point of view of the causes of the conflict situation, three types of conflicts are distinguished. The first is a conflict of goals. In this case, the situation is characterized by the fact that the parties involved in it differently see the desired state of the object in the future. There are many methods for resolving such conflicts. The second is a conflict caused by the fact that the parties involved differ in their views, ideas and thoughts on the problem being solved. The resolution of such conflicts requires more time than conflict resolution related to the contradiction of goals. And finally, the third is a sensual conflict that appears in a situation where the participants have different feelings and emotions, underlying their relationship with each other as individuals. People simply cause each other irritation with the style of their behavior, doing things, interacting. Such conflicts are most difficult to resolve, because they are based on the causes associated with the psyche of the individual.

F. Taylor and M. Weber saw in conflicts destructive properties and in their teachings offered measures to "complete" the elimination of conflicts from the life of the organization. However, we know that this did not happen in practice. Behavioral and then modern management schools have established that in most organizations conflicts can have constructive beginnings . Much depends on how the conflict is managed. Destructive consequences arise when the conflict is either very small or very strong. When the conflict is small, it often remains unnoticed and does not thereby find its adequate solution. Differences seem to be very minor in order to encourage participants to make the necessary changes. However, they remain and can not but affect the effectiveness of the overall work. A conflict that has reached a strong state is accompanied, as a rule, by development of stress among its participants. This, in turn, leads to a decrease in morality and cohesion. The communication networks are being destroyed. Decisions are made in conditions of concealment or distortion of information and do not have sufficient motivating power. The organization can, as they say, break up before our eyes.

The constructive side is more vividly manifested when the conflict on the level is sufficient to motivate people. Typically, such conflicts arise on the basis of a difference in objectives, objectively conditioned by the nature of the work performed. The development of such a conflict is accompanied by a more active exchange of information, the harmonization of various positions and the desire to understand each other. During the discussion of the differences that can not be ignored, but can not be combined in the existing form, a compromise solution based on a creative and innovative approach to the problem is developed. Such a decision leads to more efficient work in the organization. So, for example, the different perception of a new product by engineers, manufacturers and marketers, based on their professional approach, usually allows better to take into account both its consumer properties and the organization's capabilities. The presence of positive characteristics of the conflict often causes such conflicts to be artificially built into the structure of the organization in order to obtain the desired positive effect. So, sighting documents in different services and departments is one of such cases.