A Conflict Management Report

Many people have gone through the process of managing conflict at some point in their lives, which typically occurs at work. The majority of the time, conflict between individuals and teams is unavoidable; nevertheless, the outcomes of those conflicts cannot be predicted. Conflict can sometimes result in nonproductive outcomes, even if it can also be resolved well and produce high-quality outcomes. Therefore, finding solutions to conflicts is essential to a more effective team. Divergence management mostly incorporates the process of being acquitted skills, which are associated with conflict resolution, skills in conflict communication, self-awareness about the conflict modes and the establishment of a structure for managing the conflicts arising in the considered environment (Way et al., 2016).

As per the scenario given, discrimination is evident. Discrimination is something that is common in the workplaces, whereby promotion is awarded by factors, which are not work related but not as per the performance of individuals. The story about Kate is a reminder of the circumstances that occurred to me during my previous occupation in a warehouse. After being employed in the warehouse, I have set big goals with the intention of proving that my previous working experience had developed me into a competitive individual with the ability to comfortably adapt to any environment. I introduced myself to the manager, who was very polite and friendly in the first instances, and he liked the fact that I was determined to do better in the firm. The warehouse was divided into three portions, which included the cooler, freezer and the dryer. Workers were being allocated to every part on shifts, which was based in the order of superiority or the performances of individuals.

Being new in the workplace, I was allocated the dryer part, and within the first quarter, I managed to catch the attention of my supervisor due to my work ethics and also the rate of production, which corresponded to the employee’s one in the senior position. My quarter results were quite a big achievement, since it usually took nearly a year for the other employees to perform this amount of work. I continued working hard with the aim of getting a promotion, though it never happened. In fact, there were others, whose performance could not be compared with mine, and they easily got promotions to better positions.

This made me feel being discriminated and not being treated in a fair manner as my efforts went unrecognized. It has demoralized my interest in continuing to work in that particular firm, which made me leave this job. This is similar to what Kate has been experiencing; she seems to be so patient in her work, and that is the reason she had been waiting for more than 12 years without getting irritated, unlike myself, as I could not stand the mistreatment even for five years.

Ethical and Legal Breach

Looking at the two managers, that is my manager and Kate’s manager, they tend not to have a big difference in the actions they take. Both of them have fallen into a trap whereby they tend to favor certain individuals and ignore others, and we can say they are unaware of the possible consequence that might be realized later. This form of sub-management behavior is in almost all organizations whereby favoritism, nepotism are being seen in them thus there is the development of a preferential group.

Preferential groups develop as a result of what is called the circles of influence. Circles of influence exist where there are people who are treated specially and when they are considered close to the top management thus influencing the decisions of the management and the behavior of various people in the workplace.

The ethical breach observed with these two managers is favoritism. The two managers tend to favor some of the employees, and this is the reason as to why merit in these two particular firms does not apply when promotions are being awarded. Favoritism is considered as a form of discrimination where managers tend to make decision o the basis of certain employees protected characteristic. This is a practice whereby certain people are treated differently or in better ways than others. This form of treatment is not because the person has better qualifications regarding skill requirement, but there are other aspects used that are not even related to job performance (Benner, 2016). This is what Kate’s manager and also my manager did because they never considered both as good performers. If the promotion was by performance, then a person like Kate was required to be a top manager.

Garicano et al. (2005) have identified various forms of favoritism in the organizations which included cronyism, nepotism, patronage and sexual favors. This where family members, friends, and other people are hired in various workplaces due to the connection they have with the top managers or the benefit they offer to those top managers.

A legal breach that the two managers could have committed is discrimination. The two did discriminate both of us, and that is why we could not get any promotion. The favoritism that was in these organization made sure that there were certain employees who were awarded good positions and others denied open chances regardless of their performance. Discrimination either against gender, ethnic group, color or anything is a legal offense which can even result in imprisonment. Discrimination is an obstacle experienced in many organizations; in the United States as a whole, the discrimination, especially against color, has been being a major problem for years.

Approaches to Manage Negative Risks

To manage the negative risk both professionally and personally Kate, first it is important for Kate to watch for any form of rationalization that may arise because whenever one has a feeling in his or her gut that something dodgy is happening, there are many preemptive rationalizations that come in. Before coming up with any solution, it is important for her to consider what is really at risk when she takes that particular action. She might be risking, even her job thinking that she is doing the right way. Another thing is that she has to understand why the top managers are acting the way they are, this is the perspective taking. This is when she gets to understand the reasons behind their actions and whether they have any firm basis. After this, it is important for Kate to talk to the perpetrator first, even before involving the top managers. Whenever one suspect that a certain person is behaving unethically, it is important to apply to them first. And when talking to them, the initiator of the communication should try to ask questions and not accuse them. This practice of asking questions is helpful to gain insight on the main reasons that make the managers behave in such ways.

Once all this has been done, and Kate has clear reason as to why she is being discriminated, she can go ahead and report the matter to the top management is at all the perpetrators are not willing to change. Sometimes reporting to the top managers is not enough. Thus, one can even file a court case, where discrimination is evident and legal actions are taken.

Evaluation of the Advice Given to Kate by Her Colleagues

The advice that Kate has been offered by her colleagues on reporting her immediate manager to the top managers is not bad if proper channels are followed. It is important for Kate to understand the consequences of her actions, and to ensure that she has firm clear and evident accusations to her immediate manager. The reason to this is that most of the managers tend to know less than the employees do about the organizational rules. Therefore, it is possible that when the employee reports about the supervisor’s actions to the top management, he or she can convince them that no offense on whichever decision was taken, and as a result, he or she comes out clean. But what follows later, is a grudge between an employee and the supervisor, and obviously the working environment will worsen to the employee (Way et al, 2016).

The Best Way of Resolving the Conflict

The best way of resolving Kate’s conflict in this particular situation was by recognizing the value of the conflict. This is what could ensure that Kate also her colleagues were relieved. This was a problem that had been noted by many people, and it reached to the point that Kate was being advised by her fellow colleagues meant that it was not just a small issue to ignore. If Kate could ignore the problem, it might end up affecting her in future thus demoralizing even her efforts. So it was crucial for her to recognize the conflict and find the best way to resolve it.

Conflict Resolution Skills Rating

In the last five years, this is how I can rate conflict resolution skills as it is shown in the Table 1 below.

Table 1

My Personal Conflict Resolution Skills Rating

Conflict Resolution Approach

Rating

Prevent the conflict

4

Suppressing the conflict

3

Avoiding the conflict

1

Using false emotions for distracting the conflict

2

Eliminating the conflict

3

Accepting the conflict

4

Recognizing the value of the conflict

5

Encouraging interpersonal criticism

5

Managing the conflict

5

An Individual Improvement Plan

I have been trying to avoid conflicts, thinking that it is the best way to resolve them. However, it became clear to me that conflicts will always arise, especially when one is involved with a person, who has diverse ideas. Therefore, my plan to improve my attitude to the conflicts is formulated in the Table 2 below.

Table 2

Conflict Management Individual Improvement Plan

Stages

Action

Stage A

Assessment of the conflicts which arise.

Stage B

Identification of areas for improvement; determining how well I can manage the conflicts that arise.

Stage C

Development of options for actions and if it is possible I present them to the decision makers.

Stage D

Come up with a plan to implement the improvements.

Stage E

Implement the improvements.

Stage F

Evaluates the success of interventions.

Mediation Process

Mediation is considered to be an informal and dispute resolution process, which is flexible. This process in conflict resolution always helps in guiding the parties towards their resolution. It is mainly done through joint sessions and also separate caucuses with the parties involved, where the mediator helps those involved parties in defining those issue clearly and understanding the position of each other, so that they can all move closer to the solution (Bühring-Uhle et al., 2006).

Arbitration Process

Arbitration is a process of dispute resolution where the disputing parties’ present the case they have to the third party, who is the intermediary and this individual evaluates all the proof and then makes a verdict for the parties. This helped in resolving conflicts, since the resolution that is implemented is always mandatory (Bühring-Uhle et al., 2006).

Conclusion

The plan that I developed has sufficiently helped me to improve my conflict management skills. First, I have accepted the fact that conflicts are inevitable and people all have differences in their way of thinking. Before adapting to the plan that I have formulated, I was proactive to many things that took place in the workplaces, which resulted to deepened conflicts, which could have easily been avoided. I never saw any positive result that could come from a conflict and never thought that a conflict could any time be resolved and become beneficial to the organization. Rather than just facing conflicts in a direct way, I have adopted the following steps, while resolving conflicts.

Today, I am always prepared for a resolution first. In this step, I acknowledge the conflict, analyze its impact and develop a way of resolving it. This is possible if I understand the situation, which is via clarifying the positions of those, who are involved in the conflict. I list the facts, beliefs and also the assumptions underlying to each position. With all this information, I can reach to the agreement or manage the conflict. With implementation of the individual improvement plan, preventing a conflict has become easier for me. I am capable of dealing with various conflicts immediately, which is possible through being open, communicating in a clear manner, practicing of active listening and identifying of other parties’ assumptions; I do not let conflicts get personal and I always focus on the actionable solutions and encourage different point of views.

References

Benner, P.W. (2016). Corporate Conflict Management 4.0: Reflections on How to Get There from Here. Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal, 16(2), 289-302.

Bühring-Uhle, C., Kirchhoff, L., & Scherer, G. (2006). Arbitration and mediation in international business. New York: Kluwer Law International.

Garicano, L., Palacios-Huerta, I., & Prendergast, C. (2005). Favoritism under social pressure. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 87(2), 208-216.

Way, K.A., Jimmieson, N.L., & Bordia, P. (2016). Shared perceptions of supervisor conflict management style: A cross-level moderator of relationship conflict and employee outcomes. International Journal of Conflict Management, 27(1), 25-49.

Deadline is approaching?

Wait no more. Let us write you an essay from scratch

Receive Paper In 3 Hours
Calculate the Price
275 words
First order 15%
Total Price:
$38.07 $38.07
Calculating ellipsis
Hire an expert
This discount is valid only for orders of new customer and with the total more than 25$
This sample could have been used by your fellow student... Get your own unique essay on any topic and submit it by the deadline.

Find Out the Cost of Your Paper

Get Price