Conflicts are inevitable in the workplace due to workforce diversity and the diverse attitudes that people have towards work. However, conflicts are healthy and what matters are the strategies and skills used to resolve them as they arise. There are different ways of conflict resolution that includes confrontation, compromise, accommodation, avoidance, and collaboration.
Confrontational style involves tackling the conflict head-on without fear of punishment from a higher authority. In such a case, the people involved in this kind of a resolution have a weak relationship, have clear goals, and there are high emotional levels involved. On the part of a compromise, there is a bargain and some form of compensation from the parties as a settlement for the conflict. In this case, the individuals involved have a moderate fear for punishment and have a win-win attitude. This style is commonly used as a quick resolution and the skills applied can be high or low (Gatlin, et al, pp1).
Accommodation involves listening to the other party without resisting the alternatives put forward. In such a case, the relationship between individuals in a conflict has a weak relationship, and the emotions are highly suppressed. The attitude thereof is that of lose-win situation, and there is high fear of punishment. On the contrast, collaboration involves individuals working together to generate a win-win situation and also develop alternatives for resolving the conflict (Gatlin, et al, pp1). Avoidance, just like accommodation involves a lose-win attitude since an individual restrains from addressing a conflict and he, or she has a high fear of punishment from a higher authority.
For one to negotiate and reach a consensus there is a need to have adequate and relevant skills. Active listening is a key tactic in negotiation since there is a need to clarify, understand and also acknowledge other people's point of view. Giving other people a chance to put forward their perspective will help them bring out the issues at hand, make them feel that they have a role to play in the negotiating process and hence resolve conflicts quickly. In addition, assertion skills will aid in the negotiation process since it will give individuals the opportunity to state their case from their strengths other than being quiet and not voice their displeasure. Also, it is important to manage the other party's emotions so as to defuse them. By managing the emotions, an individual will create a ground for common understanding and hence enable the creation of a win-win situation.
In order to resolve a conflict effectively, it is important to follow the four C's of conflict management that stands for connecting, clarify, confirm and contract (Tirado, pp21). Connecting involves addressing issues openly without fear. As such, an individual trying to resolve the conflict will have to all the facts openly whether they are negative or positive so that parties can understand clearly what issues are before them. Clarity calls for active listeni9ng in order t understand whatever perceptions are being fronted by other people. As such, it also calls for individuals not to be passive but active and give alternatives that are geared towards resolving the conflict.
Confirmation involves reaching an agreement by all the parties as to understand their needs in addition to establishing the willingness to collaborate (Tirado, pp21). When parties are willing to collaborate, then it is easy to strike a common ground and hence a solution since they want the matter resolved. Lastly, contract involves binding parties into agreements that will be enforceable in future conflicts. That is, if any conflicts arise in the future, parties will revert to the established contract and hence resolve their conflicts amicably.
Conflict and negotiation are important to managers today in the current setup. This is because, as seen earlier; conflicts are bound to happen, and it is upon the manager to ensure that they are resolved. As such, the topic of conflict and negotiation in the workplace can aid managers in enhancing their skills to tackle workplace conflicts that arise from different situations such as discrimination. Managers will be able to identify conflicts and also apply the most relevant style or method in addressing a particular problem for a quick fix. In addition, managers will know how to strike the right kind of deals or end up losing a lot of money through contracts that have been forced on them by employees' unions. As such, negotiating effectively will enable the manager set the trend in business ethics in his organization and hence the standard for others to follow.
Workplace Illustration
Negotiation and conflict resolution has assisted managers and supervisors cope and resolve conflicts ranging from discrimination, performance reviews to customer conflicts among others. Conflict and negotiation skills did help resolve a performance review conflict where employee felt that they were not being properly compensated and given promotions even when they performed above board. Employees felt that they were getting negative feedback yet their performance reflected a different situation. As such employees would pass the information of being discontented and their negative attitude towards work. They would argue directly with supervisors since they felt that the supervisors were not senior staff or managers that were able to address their problems.
As a result, the information reached the manager, and the manager had to organize a conference in order to address the issue. The employees were given the opportunity to address their concerns openly with the manager nodding and giving suggestions. As a result the manager and the employees were able to strike a deal by creating a time-bound plan for checking and improving performance and ensuring that every employee had a target set to be achieved on a monthly basis. The targets were goal oriented incentives such as increased pay and employees were able to get incentives that they were agitating for. However, problems of implementation develop in some quotas where some employees feel that they will be overworked, and this case was not an exception. There were those who felt that this was a case of over-supervision, but since the agreement was in the form of a contract, one had to adhere to it, failure to which, there was no increased pay or incentives.
As a result, the resolution was successful since the conflict was resolved, and there were minimal cases of worker arguing with supervisors. In addition, there was improved per worker since every individual had to meet the future goals as specified by the agreement. Since the manager involved the employees in setting of the goals, the employees felt that it was their initiative and plan, and hence one had to follow without any complaints. Cost saving was also evident as idle time was minimized and improved customer relations as a result of satisfaction.
Importance to Future Managers
The topic of negotiation and conflict management will aid in coming up with solutions as a future manager in the workplace. This is because; it gives the styles and techniques that I will use to manage workers' grievances and therefore reach a consensus. As such, the topic allows me as a future manager to identify and assess different situations of workplace conflicts and come up with a conflict management plan that will be used within the organization (Tirado, pp25). Such a plan will include different conflict situations and the best way to address the issues, for instance, in case of development of a customer-employee conflict in the future sales transaction.
In conclusion, the topic of negotiation and conflict management is relevant and useful to me as a future manager since it gives an insight as to the types of workplace conflicts, their causes and how they are resolved. Therefore, it gives me an opportunity to be informed as to what to expect and how to apply different skills and techniques to handle conflicts.
Works cited
Gatlin, J, Wysocki, A & Kepner, K. “Managing Conflict in the Workplace”. University of Florida:1-3. Print
Palferman, David. "Managing Conflict and Stress in the Workplace: Theory and Practice." Legal Information Management: 122-25. Print.
Tirado, A, L. “The Art of Teamwork: Negotiations and Conflict Resolution Within the workplace”. Strayer Consulting Group. February, 2009. Print
