Objective 7 Identify ways to overcome interpersonal conflict on the job.

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Objective 7 Identify ways to overcome
interpersonal conflict on the job.

• Conflict, Negotiation, and Assertiveness.

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• Identify reasons why conflict between people
  takes place so often
• Pinpoint several helpful and harmful consequences
  of conflict
• Choose an effective method of resolving conflict
• Improve your negotiating skills
• Improve your assertion skills

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WHY SO MUCH CONFLICT EXISTS

• conflict ultimately stems from an incompatibility
  of needs, motives, demands, or events

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Competition for Limited Resources

• People squabble because not everybody can get all
  the resources he or she wants.
• What are resources?
• What is an economy?
• A limited amount of a resource.
• Multiple claims upon a resource.
• A method for distributing a resource and
  adjudicating conflicting claims.

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The Generation Gap and Personality Clashes

• Members of one generation may not accept the
  values of another.
• Personality clashes, or antagonistic
  relationships among people based on differences
  in personal attributes, preferences, interests,
  values, and styles.
• Clashes sometimes surface after people have been
  working together harmoniously.

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Aggressive Personalities Including Bullies

• Some workers convert disagreement into an attack.
  
• Aggressive personalities are people who verbally,
  and sometimes physically, attack others
  frequently.
• Verbal aggression takes the form of insults,
  teasing, ridicule, and profanity.
• Also referred to as workplace bullies.
• interrupting others
• ranting in a loud voice,
• making threats
• workplace violence.

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Culturally Diverse Teams

• Conflict often surfaces as people work in teams
  whose members vary in one or more ways.
• Ethnicity, religion, and gender differences are
  three of the major factors that lead to clashes
  in viewpoints.
• Differing educational background and work
  specialties can also lead to conflict.
• With direction, most groups can overcome these
  sources of conflict.

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Competing Work and Family Demands

• Particularly intense for employees who are part
  of a two-wage-earner family.
• Occurs when the individual has to perform
  multiple roles worker, spouse or partner, and
  often parent.
• Can be reduced by
• flexible work schedules,
• dependent-care programs,
• compassionate attitudes toward individual needs.

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Sexual harassment

• Unwanted sexually oriented behavior in the
  workplace
• Forces the harassed person to make a choice
  between being treated as a sex object and being
  treated justly.
• Two types
• receiving an unfavorable employment action
  because sexual favors are refused (quid pro quo)
• a hostile environment created by
  sexually-oriented conduct.
• 50 to 60 percent of women are sexually harassed
  at least once in their career.
• illegal and immoral
• job stress, lowered morale, severe conflict, and
  lowered productivity.

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Dealing with Sexual Harassment

• develop an awareness of the types of behavior
  that are considered to be sexual harassment.
• terms of endearment such as sweetheart or
  honey can be considered harassment.
• Suggestions for dealing with harassment are
  presented in Exhibit 7-2.

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THE GOOD AND BAD SIDE OF CONFLICT

• On the positive side, the right amount of
  conflict
• enhances mental and emotional functioning and may
  lead to improved relationships.
• Also helps prevent groupthink (overagreement to
  achieve cohesion).
• On the negative side, intense conflict may lead
  to physical and mental illness, wasted resources,
  
• Sabotage
• excessive fatigue
• and workplace violence including homicide.
• Disgruntled employees may seek revenge by
  assassinating work associates.

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TECHNIQUES FOR RESOLVING CONFLICTS

• Presented here are some field-tested approaches
  to conflict resolution. Most of them emphasize a
  collaborative or win-win philosophy.

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Confrontation and Problem Solving Leading to
Win-Win

• The most highly recommended way of resolving
  conflict is confrontation and problem-solving.
• The person identifies the true source of conflict
  and then resolves it systematically using a
  problem-solving approach. Tactfulness is
  recommended.
• Another approach to confrontation and problem
  solving is for each side to list what the other
  side should do. The two parties then exchange
  lists, and select a compromise both sides are
  willing to accept.
• The intent of confrontation and problem solving
  is to arrive at a collaborative solution to
  conflict. The collaborative style is based on an
  underlying philosophy of win-win, the belief that
  after conflict has been resolved, both sides
  should gain something of value.

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Disarm the Opposition

• A method of conflict resolution in which you
  agree the attacker.
• the attacker has no reason to continue the
  conflict
• Generally works better than counterattacking.
• Of course there is the option of neither agreeing
  nor counterattacking.

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Cognitive Restructuring

• Convert negative aspects into positive ones by
  looking for positive elements in a situation.
• If you search for the beneficial elements in a
  situation, there will be less area for dispute.
• Sometimes this may involve seeking common ground

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Appeal to a Third Party

• Make a formal appeal to a higher-level official
  or authority.
• Virtually all employers have some sort of appeal
  process.
• A labor union represents another method of
  appealing to a third party.

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The Grievance Procedure

• May be regarded as a kind of third-party method
  of resolving conflict.
• Typical steps are as follows
• 1.Initiation of the formal grievance.
• 2.Second-level of management.
• 3.A higher-level manager and the local union
  president.
• 4.Arbitration. (Only about 1 percent of
  grievances go all the way to arbitration.)
• jury of peers (non-union shop)

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Engage in Metacommunications

• communicating about the conflicting part of your
  communications
• talk about whats wrong the communication
• take the initiative to talk about aspects of your
  communication that might cause conflict

Communication about communication.
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Negotiating and Bargaining Tactics

• conferring with adversary to resolve a conflict

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1. Create a Positive Negotiating Climate.

• Negotiation proceeds much more swiftly if a
  positive tone surrounds the session.

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2. Allow Room for Compromise but Be Reasonable.

• The basic strategy of negotiation is to begin
  with a demand that allows room for compromise and
  concession.
• Beginning with a plausible demand or offer is
  also important because it contributes to a
  positive negotiating climate.

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3. Focus on Interests, Not Positions.

• Rather than clinging to specific negotiating
  points, keep your overall interests in mind and
  try to satisfy them.
• Among the interests you and the other side might
  be trying to protect include money, lifestyle,
  power, or the status quo.

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4. Make a Last and Final Offer.

• Make your final offer and leave politely. The
  other side can get in touch with you if your
  offer becomes acceptable.

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5. Role-Play to Predict What the Other Side Will
Do

• An advanced negotiating technique is to prepare
  in advance by forecasting what the other side
  will demand or offer.
• Role-play with a friend in advance of the
  negotiation session you will be facing.

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6. Allow for Face Saving.

• Avoid making the other side feel crushed,
  especially if you will have to work together
  later.

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DEVELOPING ASSERTIVENESS

• Learn to express your feelings and make your
  demands known

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Assertive, Nonassertive, and Aggressive Behavior

• Assertive people state clearly what they want or
  how they feel without being abusive, abrasive, or
  obnoxious.
• Nonassertive people let things happen to them
  without letting their feelings be known.
• Aggressive people are obnoxious and overbearing.

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Becoming More Assertive and Less Shy

• Everyday actions to overcome shyness and lack of
  assertiveness.

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Set a goal.

• Establish in your own mind how you want to
  behave.

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Appear warm and friendly.

• Smile, lean forward, uncross your arms and legs,
  and unfold your hands.

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Make legitimate telephone calls to strangers.

• Telephoning people and organizations for
  information represents a good opportunity for
  becoming less shy.

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Conduct anonymous conversations.

• Talking to people you do not know is sometimes
  less anxiety-provoking than talking to people
  with whom you are familiar.

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Greet strangers.

• For the next week or so, greet every person you
  pass.

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Practice being decisive.

• An assertive person is usually decisive, so it is
  important to practice being decisive.