Conflict management
Conflict management
Introduction
Be it the professional front or personal, teamwork is crucial and indispensable in life. That is why working in groups is encouraged from the very beginning of academic life. Group presentations, debates and projects are ways to prepare students to work efficiently in teams in later life. When talking about effective team work, one cannot escape the conflicts which crop up while working in a group. Every member has his/hoer own individuality and hence, a clash of thoughts is obvious to happen. But, it is not the solution to leave the group and join another one- conflicts would arise in the new group too. That is why the concept of conflict management comes into being. I have been working in a team called Angles which comprises four members including me. We are making a project for the current semester. Naturally, we face adverse situations too. But, then we strive to handle it. This essay aims at addressing issues in our group which are strongly in existence and affect the overall working of the group. The issues being discussed here are as follows: Conflict, gender and non-verbal communication.
About the team
Our name of our team is Angles. Other than me, it has three female members- Dejah, Ashly and Brandi. I am the only male member in the team. We have been working on a project called XYZ
in which we are supposed to do the following- ‘THE CLIENT HAS TO EXPLAIN IN ONE LINE ABOUT HIS GROUP PROJECT’.
The Effect of Gender difference
As told in the previous paragraph, I am the only male member in the group. So, naturally there are several effects of gender difference in the team. First of all, it is not necessary that the female members agree with every idea I present for the group. There is an evident difference in the way the female members think and react to various aspects of the projects. In a causal example of the difference of preferences, they would choose a different style and background colour for the presentation than me. The style I choose would seem bit interesting to them and vice versa. But, I have never let these differences come between the smooth working of the team. I have tried to raise a voice against the wrong choice or argument only when necessary for the betterment of the project. Opposing them every time would be degenerative for the team. They might start taking me to be an outsider and hence, we might not get along well. This can hamper the project. Hence, I do not impose every idea on them but let them express their ideas too. And we discuss to choose the best deal before using it in the project.
The major problem with gender difference is not the effect it casts on ideas to be discussed for project. It is basically the environment that we work in. As a matter of fact, while we work, it is often seen that they indulge in girly talks and giggle. The focus often shifts from project to discussion on boyfriends which I really do not prefer. I don’t bring personal discussions while working on project. But I do not oppose them directly when they talk about their boyfriends because it would directly make them think that being male, I am trying to dominate. So, to solve this problem with positivity, I simply ask them a question regarding the
Project or show them something new related to the work so that the focus shifts back to work. It is natural to tend to behave girly for them as they are three in number. If there had been three boys and one girl in our groups, I too have probably talked of bikes or games once. But I would not have disturbed the project by discussing it over and over again. However, this issue is solved only through careful and polite interruption to start a thread of discussion on the academic topics.
Handling Personal Conflicts
When people work in a team, ideally they should forget their individual problems and work as a part of the team. Two members of my team are not very good friends of each other. They have a severe tendency to contradict each other. And it is evident that they do not want to work together in a group. For example, in our recent meeting, one of the two female members who are in a cold war lied to me that the other one is not coming over for work. This was just in order to demean her sincerity. Their incompatibility is understandable only when they are not in a team. Such personal conflicts should be kept aside while in a team. But they rarely discuss on any topic. They do not exchange ideas. Worst of all, if one of them comes with a great idea for the project, the other one instantly refuses to agree and suggest another idea. Both of them do so in order to prove that the other one knows less. It leads to killing of good ideas.
How do we manage then- I and the other girl in group who is not in any conflict with anyone? We support the good ideas no matter who comes up with it. If any member contradicts it due to personal problems, we try to convince that member that a good idea is always helpful in making the project strong.
Understanding the non-verbal communication
Like it is important to read between the lines to get the meaning of a story, it’s crucial to read the
non-verbal communication in a group to function in a better way. There is member in our group who shows excellent leadership qualities and tries to bring the members together. She inspires us to work efficiently together. She does not directly point out the conflicts but through both verbal and non-verbal actions, she appreciates healthy teamwork. She is punctual, sends emails to everyone regarding the timing of meetings and works hard on project- all these inspires the rest of team to work well and in a timely manner.
I have tried to notice the non-verbal communication between us. The conflicts between the two members I talked about in previous paragraph- it was too evident through non-verbal communication. They don’t argue or scream at each other but show very strong signs of dislike for each other. One of them even told me that she wanted the project to be finished soon so that she did not need to face her enemy. But non-verbal communication in a group is not always about understanding who hates whom. I have tried to understand what seems positive to the group. The leader of our team is the source of teamwork spirit; she shows excellent signs of team spirit. I also try to appreciate the good ideas and hard work that we do. Verbally appreciating it is one way to motivate the team members but non-verbal signs such as a smile to praise the work of others or a gentle pat which means ‘well done’ can do wonders for a team. After all, everyone wants to be appreciated. So, non-verbal communication plays a great role in showing how everyone is feeling to be a part of the team. And the same mode of communication can be used to encourage healthy teamwork in the group. It can be done in the following ways:
- Feeling and showing signs of cheerfulness while working: This encourages others to work cheerfully too.
- Behaving positively with others: When few members of a team work positively with each
other and discuss the topics thoroughly, the other members are motivated to do the same way for proving their contribution in the project.
- Appreciation is a must: A smile to acknowledge what one does for the group, a firm handshake to congratulate each other when one stage of work is completed and a sense of saying that we are together can help a team work very positively with each other.
Conclusion
There are conflicts and issues in Angles but I believe in improvising by being an active member of the team. The team leader does her best to keep the group in unity and punctuality. We appreciate each other. It is not that we have solved each issue in our team but we are trying to work with that. Because team work is about management and not complaining all the time! The members of Angles are dedicated. Hence, hopefully we shall overcome the hurdles to make a good project eventually.
