Conflicts are perverse events in health care environments. Conflicts can be resolved through a number of ways. The most efficient approach is the one that creates a win-win situation for all parties to a conflict. This goal is not always achievable though. Health care managers should be able to utilize the different conflict resolution strategies as appropriate. They must also be well-versed with the conflict development process. This paper will describe the five stages of conflict and the six commonly utilized conflict resolution approaches.
Conflict evolves through five stages namely latent conflict, perceived conflict, felt/affective conflict, manifest/overt conflict, and conflict aftermath. The five stages are interrelated in that the outcome of the preceding stage determines the events of the next stage. The first stage of the conflict process, hidden/latent conflict, is a pre-stage of the conflict itself because at this stage, no conflict has occurred and it is not a guarantee that one will occur. Antecedent conditions that contribute to the occurrence of conflict are, however, present at this stage. These conditions include issues such as understaffing and rapid change. If the conflict evolves, it develops into perceived or substantive conflict which is the second stage of conflict. This stage of conflict is rationalized intellectually and it often involves real issues and roles. The persons involved interpret it logically and do not personalize its occurrence. The third stage, felt/affective conflict, occurs when the conflict in the precedent stage is personalized in an emotional manner. The emotions experienced by the conflicting parties include fear, hostility, anger, and mistrust. Therefore, the second stage is distinct from the third stage in that at the latter stage, conflict is felt and emotions attached to it whilst in the former stage, conflict is perceived but in a rational manner. The fourth stage of conflict, manifest or overt conflict, is the phase during which action is taken by one or more of the parties to the conflict. The actions taken may be to compete, withdraw, debate, or to seek a solution to the conflict. Conflict aftermath is the final stage of the conflict process. This stage is always present. The outcomes of a conflict may be positive or negative. The manner in which conflict is handled determines its aftermath. Poor resolution of conflicts means that the issues that created the conflict are left unresolved and if left unchecked, they have the potential to worsen the original conflict situation (Marquis and Huston 472-473).
The six commonly employed conflict resolution strategies are compromising, competing, cooperating/accommodating, smoothing, avoiding, and collaboration. Compromising entails each party giving up part of its demands. If poorly handled, it may lead to lose-lose situation because of one or both parties feeling that they gave up more than the other party and in effect, feeling like they were shortchanged. Therefore, for compromise to work, both parties must forgo something of equal value. Competing refers to a situation whereby one of the parties to a conflict decides to pursue its own goals at the expense of other parties. In this case, only one party wins creating a win-lose scenario. The losing party may feel frustrated and angry and may seek revenge in the future. Managers utilize this strategy when they have to make quick and unpopular decisions. The third conflict resolution strategy, cooperating/ accomondating, is the antonym of competing. In accomondating, one party gives up its own demands permitting the other party to emerge victorious. The party that accommodates usually collects IOUs from the other party which it can utilize later. Cooperating as a method of dispute resolution is often used when the object of conflict is not of immense value to the party doing the accomondating. The fourth conflict resolution method avoiding is usually used for trivial disagreements, when the problem in question should be solved by other parties, when a problem is bound to resolve itself, when the cost of resolving a conflict exceeds its benefits, and where one of the parties to the dispute is more powerful. In avoiding, the parties to a conflict decide not to acknowledge the conflict despite being aware of it. The final conflict resolution approach, collaborating, results in a win-win situation for all parties. In collaborating, the parties to a conflict set aside their initial goals and work towards establishing a priority common goal. All parties participate in the decision-making process. It is considered to be the best conflict resolution strategy (Marquis and Huston 494-495).
In summary, this paper has described the five stages through which a conflict evolves that are latent conflict, perceived conflict, felt/affective conflict, manifest/overt conflict, and conflict aftermath. It has also discussed the six commonly employed conflict resolution techniques which are compromising, competing, cooperating/accommodating, smoothing, avoiding, and collaboration.
Works Cited
Marquis, L. Bessie and Carol J. Huston. Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009. Print.
