Skills Needed To Resolve Conflict

I discussed strategies, causes and responsibilities of team leaders & individuals to resolve conflicts in my previous posts. Now I am going to discuss the skills that everyone needed to resolve/prevent conflicts. First of all, approach the conflict with an open mind and don't assume things because most of time conflicts occurs due misinformation or no information at all. So, always approach the conflict with open mind so that you can get proper information about the things that creates conflict. Secondly, Emotions will lead to cause conflicts because by showing crocodile tears and blame someone else is a main reason behind conflicts therefore always control your emotions and behave positively. Also, assumptions are the main cause of conflicts. Sometimes we start assuming things without getting enough information which cause conflicts. So, stop assuming things. If you cannot stop assuming than start assuming positively so that your co worker will get benefit of doubt. As I mentioned earlier conflicts are not always bad. It is on our mindset how we want to take conflict as, So always approach conflict as an opportunity. Because in every conflict there is hidden potential. Always think what is in it for me ? Think in a positive way. In this way you can resolve conflict easily. So that's the skills that everyone needs to handle conflicts. Always keep in mind that life has many ups and downs. Never give up. Never argue with anyone without reason and start making your conflicts your strength so that you team can achieve new height of success because due to positivity productivity of team definitely increases day by day.

  

STRATEGY for Resolving Conflict

Strategy plays crucial role in resolving conflict. As I discussed in my previous posts, conflict is unavoidable due different thinking of everyone. Conflict can weaken the relationships between co workers and it also leads to decrease in productivity at workplace which can become series issue for team leaders and owners. There are various ways to resolve a conflict. For instance: Leaders can help co workers to resolve conflicts, even co workers can also resolve conflicts by various strategies so that they can give their best in work and increase productivity by working hard together. Take a quick look at a link of video that I mentioned below, it tells us a proper strategy for resolving conflict. I will also give explanation of different approach to resolve conflicts. Before I start explaining other process to resolve conflicts just take a quick look at the video:

As you see in video, a guy from MindTools explain a strategy to resolving conflict. He indicates 5 important steps in conflict resolution which is very important in resolving conflict. Beside this team can also resolve conflict with the help of team leaders. Some teams don't have team leaders because they want to treat everyone equally but team leaders can play crucial rule in resolving conflicts. According to me, team cannot be succeed without good team leader who always take good care of work environment. Then, it becomes team leader responsibility to make work environment positive. In addition, role of HR is also important because in the end productivity matters. So, co workers should take advise from experienced people about conflict resolution. People solving conflicts should keep in mind that positivity is a key to success in conflicts. Promotions, little parties on weekends can be helpful in these situations.

Reference: Finding a Strategy for Resolving Conflict. MindTools Videos. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLg4LQinDxU#action=share (March 6, 2016)

Causes of Conflicts in Teams

Conflicts are caused by various factors such as poor communication, backstabbing co workers, clash in persona, competition between co workers etc. Lets talk about poor communication first. As we know in this era of modernisation communication skills are must for everyone because one cannot succeed without these skills specially in a team work. Also, contribution in team work needs proper information which can only be delivered by good communication skills. Some times poor communication skills become reason of conflicts in a team because other member are not happy with the thoughts of poor communicator. This doesn't mean that poor communicator doesn't have ideas. The only problem he or she have at that time is lack of communication skills. Other major reason of conflict is competition between co workers. This competition turns into conflict when co workers starts arguing with each other in front of team leaders to realise team leaders that they are right instead of others. This type of competition make co workers backstabbers because to earn promotion they start backstabbing people in front of higher authorities of team which can also cause some issues between co workers and sometimes this type of conflict leads to fight between co workers if not handled properly by team management. In addition, clash in personalities also cause conflicts in a team. As I mentioned earlier in my previous posts, Thinking of everyone is not same. Everyone have their own viewpoints on different things which cause clash in personalities. These are the main causes of conflicts and if those conflicts aren't handled properly it can affect output of team in negative way.

How Leaders Can Manage Conflict Within Their Teams

Conflict is a part of life and definitely a part of day-to-day business. Conflict become inevitable when we spend so much time with same people everyday. Leaders can play a crucial rule in resolving conflict but most of leaders mainly concentrate on issues like productivity and meeting deadlines instead of conflict resolution. It is a responsibility of team leader to quickly fix the conflict instead of labelling someone as ''the problem'' etc. because it is only going to increase conflict which is going to decrease productivity. Leaders have many options to keep their teams together. Of course, they can give best efforts to keep their teams together. Leaders can easily realise that which team member is not right for their team culture  and then leaders can clarify things to that team member and help him or her to adjust with the culture of their team. Also, Some teams members are good according to team culture but sometimes they starts placing some unnecessary labels on their team members. Leaders can give them instructions in a proper manner so that unity of team doesn't affected by such things. Major responsibility of leader in conflict resolution is to set up environment of work in such a way in which value of each individual is well known for example: appreciating work of others, respect individual personally etc. Moreover, leaders can turn disagreement into a brainstorming session by asking few questions to their team members who are arguing on something. This will end up in new ideas. Conflict is a part of life so it should be handled professionally. Making positive mindset of team members also leads to conflict resolution. Because negative attitude leads to negative output and ideas which can lead to conflict between team members. To sum up, we can say that leader can play a crucial role in conflict resolution if he or she wants to resolve issues between team members. 

Reference: How Leaders Can Best Manage Conflict Within Their Teams. June 12, 2015; Entrepreneur. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247275 (March 5, 2016)

Conflict is Unavoidable in a Group Work

Everyone have different viewpoints which is a main cause of conflicts. Handling of those conflicts wisely leads to the success of group work while failure to do so will end up in a misunderstanding between group members. When conflict takes place between group members they have 5 options like they can ignore it, blame someone for it, complain about it to team leader and try to solve the conflict by giving suggestions to other members. Always stay calm while solving conflicts otherwise it can create an even larger mess. Conflict is not always a bad thing. It happens due to difference between people thinking and experience. Sometimes this type of conflicts make teams more diverse than those teams which have people with same experience. It is a duty of every group member to understand feelings and viewpoints of other group members so that they can make a successful plan together. Unity is strength. Mattie Stepanek (American poet) said," Unity is strength because when there is team work and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved".

The important thing in conflict is that it can't be avoided because thinking of everyone can't be similar. Due to this, it becomes a responsibility of every individual in a group to take conflicts positively and use them to improve group performance. Never argue with each other because it can cause negativity in a group which decrease the effectiveness of group. Moreover, conflicts can be prevent by various ways. Like, always keep team issues within the teams. If we talk outside about it than conflict can create an even greater mess. Patience is a key factor in preventing conflict because person with more patience can prevent conflicts. Don't blame others in a group because its not going to solve conflict. (MindTools, 2016)

References:

•  Resolving Team Conflict. MindTools. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_79.htm (March 1, 2016).
• Caught in the Middle of Big Dispute? Resolution Services Center. http://www.resolutionservicescenter.org/ (March 1,2016)