CONFLICT IN AN ORGANISATION IS IT ALL BAD?

 

 

We must get productive results from stand offs like this?

 

They used to say that a wedding in Liverpool was never the quite same without  a good punch up and so it is with conflict which expresses itself in many ways. Though I wouldn't recommend that your next works team meeting finishes in a mass brawl - though that could make it a bit more interesting than normal -- perhaps the plenary session of your brainstorm does need a bit of livening up. 

 

Conflict (fight,struggle,disagreement) is not necessarily all bad - one needs clashes about ideas,beliefs and ways forward to ensure that all possibilities are aired and discussed. Conflicts should be out in the open if they are to be addressed and ultimately resolved. There is nothing worse than bland agreements which are designed to keep the peace at all costs. That just leads to more frustration and problems in the long run as nothing is really resolved and situations fester. Some organisations shy away from any form of conflict at all costs - challenges against people and groups are deflected and it becomes the challenge itself that is the problem and not the problem that the challenge was trying to address in the first place.

Conflict can be productive and helpful but it needs to be managed to provide results that will challenge the way an organisation acts and thinks. Conflict can be between individuals and between groups. In an organisational sense - group conflict can be about:

1. Differing views of what the objectives of the organisation should be.

2.Differing views about how the objectives of an organisation should be achieved.

3.Differing interpretations about what is and is not appropriate behaviour within an organisation.

4. Differing interpretations about how a group's opinions are expressed, formulated and indeed what the particular group does or does not stand for in an organisational context.

The focus in this blog is about inter group conflict - usually easier to resolve than individual conflicts where individual personalities and how they interact with each other are usually the key factors.

How can we try and resolve group conflict within an organisation?

 

The first way is for groups to co-exist in a calm way with each other - groups learn to live with each other and to communicate much better with each other than before. Toleration of each others views is encouraged. The second way is to compromise in some way which will give everyone the impression that there is no right or wrong answer and that everyone is right to a degree - no-one is at fault at all and no-one is to blame. These first two approaches can work but rarely if ever do they address the long term problems of an organisation if there are radical issues which do need to be addressed and resolved. Indeed these approaches can give a sense of false security that everything is fine and that nothing really needs doing because on the surface at least - there is an appearance of respect and mutual understanding. Perhaps these approaches are just short term expedients designed to keep the peace for a while and in that sense they are often successful within this context.

 

If there are radical changes which objectively have to be delivered within the organisation - then these first two approaches can cause dangerous inertia in the light of significant external and internal change pressures. If an objective resolution to the conflict is required, then the application of problem identification and solving techniques is necessary to ensure that the respective groups identify and discuss a whole raft of issues which will address their inter group conflicts - not only must this discussion take place but an agreed alternative conflict resolution path must be taken for the good of the organisation as a whole. This is not an easy approach and requires professional facilitation and management to ensure that conflicts can be resolved and an organisation moves forward -

 

No-one said it would be easy - but avoiding the problem solving route, although at first appearing as an attractive option ( because no-one loses any face?) can in the long run mean a much more grave position for your organisation. The temptation to refrain from solving inter group conflicts should be resisted if you wish your organisation to have a longer term future.

 

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