Conflict Resolution in student organizations
Conflict exists in virtually all sorts of environments. There is no doubt that all organizational teams experience some sort of conflicts within their systems of operations. The genesis of organizational conflicts is varied. The following paper seeks to discuss the various causes of organizational conflict, the possible positive impacts of organizational conflicts and the various strategies that organizations can use to resolve conflict.
Causes of Conflict
Organizational conflicts arise from different backgrounds. One such antecedent is task interdependencies. When different members within an organization work together in form of groups or teams in the hope of accomplishing a common task, they are likely to cause some conflict. When people in a team perusing a common goal have different expectations about the very goal, there are possibilities of building tension in the way as different people begin to follow their interests. Additionally, conflict also arises from jurisdictional ambiguities. When there are no clear guidelines on which offices are responsible for which tasks, members can haphazardly discharge their duties without knowing the limits within which they should operate. Under such circumstances, members of a team can overstep into a territory that is beyond their levels hence causing tension. Additionally, lack of clear guidelines on roles and responsibilities may also make it ambiguous to know who is responsible for what thereby leading to neglect of duty as every other member of the organization may be expecting the other party to step up and perform a given task. Such loopholes on the mandates and duties of group members may lead to creation of a vacuum in the manner in which work is performed hence leading to conflict due to failure of specific individuals to perform their responsibilities. Mostly, jurisdictional ambiguities lead to interdepartmental conflicts where different departments may overstep to the roles and responsibilities of the other department due to lack of clear guidelines on separation of powers.
Poor channels of communication within an organization or total lack of communication may also lead to development of tension which eventually erupts into conflict. Poor communication strategies may lead to delays in dissemination of information from one end of the organization to the other end. Consequently, this may delay the response rate of the parties that rely on the information to act. Such delays may cause annoyance to the top leadership which may in turn consider this as negligence. Additionally, lack of communication may also lead to hoarding of information from others thereby keeping the rest in darkness. When the leadership of the student organization does not convey vital pieces of information regularly, tension and frustration may develop among student body due to lack of proper understanding of the situation. Over time the tension may escalate to fever pitch where disagreements are seen as the subjects will lose trust on their leaders.
Relying on a common resource by a group of members may also lead to development of conflict among the various parties/departments that depend on the common resource. Under such circumstances every department will compete to take enough resources for its needs that may leave the other departments without anything to take home. Consequently, when the common resource to be shared is limited and there are no clear guidelines on how to share it out and then tension will always arise due to feeling of foul play by other departments. Finally, individual differences among members also contribute to organizational conflicts. Different group members have different traits, abilities and skills. Traits like aggression and authoritarianism usually lead to suppression of other group members. When the individuals who are supressed feel that the pressure is too much, they may decide to burst and develop resistance which eventually leads to development of tension. Besides, when a group is composed of complacent individuals, the hard working group would develop a negative perception of the complacent lot thereby leading to disagreements among the group members.
Goodness of Conflict
Though in most cases conflict is considered to be bad and groups and teams strive so hard to avoid it at all costs, conflict is not necessarily bad. Conflict has several positive implications to an organization. First it is imperative to note that conflicts present an organization with a new dimension of thinking and reasoning (Johnson, 2014). Conflict within an organization stimulates a new thinking among the leadership by challenging the status quo. In this regard, conflict has the benefit of opening up new possibilities through generation of new vies and opinions that might otherwise be ignored. Additionally, conflict helps in strengthening relationships. Organizational conflicts among different departments help in developing better understanding of each member. Consequently, when the problems are addressed fully, the members that were once enemies can then develop good relationships (Johnson, 2014). Further, through conflict, members develop to understand the significance of valuing the opinions of others. Conflict also opens up the minds of the leaders. Conflict creates a tense climate to the leadership that calls for critical thinking and innovativeness. Consequently, when tension arises within an organization, it presents leadership with an opportunity to develop innovative ideas to resolve such problems. It also gives management a clue to consider new ways of approaching issues and challenges that might arise within their organizations in the future.
Circumstances when Conflict is considered Bad
Though conflict may have positive values to an organization, it may sometimes be very detrimental to the success of an organization. When conflict leads to disintegration and collapse of an organization then such conflict is bad. Catabolic conflicts that create animosity, disunitiy and disagreemnents among team members has the potential of destroying the whole organization. In circumstances where conflict cannot be resolved and has the likelihood of affecting the entire organization, it is considered bad. For instance, when tension between two different fronts has reached a level where it connot be ironed out and even presents threat the the survival of the organization, then it is perceived to be bad. Additionally, conflict is considered to be bad where, it is created with the sole purpose of benefiting an individual member of the organization (Johnson, 2014). Some form of conflicts are created by individuals for selfish gains. In this regard, a conflict whose motive is not for the general good of the organization but rather supports selfish interests of a few individuals within the organization is considered to be bad and dangerous for organizational growth. Furthermore, conflicts that are pegged on personal differences between members as opposed to ideological differences are also considered to be bad since such conflicts typify hatered and disunity among members since they are not based on any tangible agenda for the general good of organizational development and prosperity (Johnson, 2014). Finally, conficts that are sponsored by other individuals for purposes of making it difficult for those in power to discharge their duties and responsibilities are also perceived to be bad since they are not founded on any developmental agenda for the organization.
Conflict Resolution Strategies
Conflicts should be handled with a lot of wisdom in order to avoid any would be ripple effects that are likely to occur when they are not given the best approach. It is worth noting that failure to handle conflicts properly and with an open mind; conflicts have the potential of breeding a very destructive culture among employees. Conflict resolution envisages combatting occurrence of conflicts by addressing the grievances presented by parties involved in the conflict in order to establish stability and satisfaction among all parties involved that eventually translates into effective service delivery (Ingram, 2018).
The epitome of conflict resolution is having the administration and the people invlolved in the conflict coming in the limelight. The management should always be on the watch out to address any unscrupulous actions that would lead to brewing of tension and disagreements. Huan & Yazdanifard (2014) postulates that brushing aside the issues only increases their magnanimity and may make them very explosive when they finally erupt.
Effective communication is recommended in addressing pertinent issues that would lead to emergence of conflicts. The two conflicting parties need to disclose all the material facts relating to the subject matter if at all they expect to overcome the stalemate. Communication should be done in an open and transparent manner without any form of witch-hunting or fault finding. McKibben et al. (2017), argues that observing emotional intelligence is very important in realizing the best resolution of any conflict. He further asserts that being sober while presenting personal grievances would help the parties to present facts without being carried away by their emotions. Emotional intelligence also gives the parties involved the ability to understand their colleagues in a better way since it helps in IQ development and superb reasoning.
Conflict resolution also requires that both parties involved should not take hard stands but instead, they should be flexible to develop a win-win situation for both. At the very onset, there is need to fathom the root cause of the conflict. Once this is done, it is imperative to distinguish the parties from the scene. Huan and Yazdanifard (2014) postulate that it is important to separate the conflicting parties from being the source of the conflict. He argues that the arbiters should try to establish lucidity and openness in addressing the conflict and its root causes. Being open and transparent in handling the conflict helps in establishing a neutral point that is satisfactory to both parties. Being empathetic and showing concern to the feelings of the parties involved helps in building trust and unity.
In the third tier of conflict resolution involves striking a compromise by the parties involved. The parties must show their willingness to support the resolution process to make it a success. Finally, after accepting to strike a compromise, the parties need to develop and support mutual goals that would ensure that they have shared vision and mutual working relationship.
References
Huan, L. J. & Yazdanifard, R. (2014). The Difference of Conflict Management Styles and Conflict Resolution in Workplace. Business & Entrepreneurship Journal. Vol. 1, (1), 141-155
Ingram, D. (June 30, 2018). Examples of conflicts & resolutions in the workplace. Chron
Johnson, K. (August, 2014). The Good and Bad of Conflict. Mediate.com
McKibben, L., et al. (2017). Conflict management: Importance and implications. British Journal of Nursing, 16(2): 100-103.