In life conflicts is not evitable; conflict can be defined as a disagreement between two or more parties having different views, opinions, and interests; solving a conflict can be a challenging or simile issue depending with the parties involved as the nature of their conflict, conflict resolution contains substantive, procedural, and psychological dimensions of human mind.
There are different types of conflict each calls for its special resolution approach (Jeong, 2009). This paper discusses three main conflicts types and the way they can be solved.
Relationship conflicts
Relationship conflicts occurs when people working, living, staying or in close proximity have some differences; the differences leads to disagreement and either party feels oppressed by the other. A certain level of conflict is healthy as it assists a parties involved to deal with challenging issues and let them solve and air out their differences in life.
In intimate relationships , healthy conflicts are known to lead to more intimacy between the parties; in whichever the relationship, conflicts are not evictable so the best method to live with them is to handle them effectively:
- Solving relationship conflicts
To solve effectively relationship conflict, the following is the best style:
- Every party get in touch with its feelings
- Listen to the other person and let them say what they feel without interacting
- Give your views and practice Assertive Communication
- Jointly develop a common ground
- Seek the solution and stick to it (Fenn & Gameson, 1992).
Task conflict
Task-led/task conflict occurs when people working together have some differences arising from the tasks, roles, responsibilities, and powers they have compared to the other person. It is mostly common in those organizations where there is poor leadership and no clear cut of division of labor.
The best approach in solving task conflicts follows the following process:
- Have clear definition of tasks within an organization; every employee should be made aware of his role and responsibilities within the organization
- Offer appropriate training to employees on the right approach they should use when conducting their operations
- Enact good leadership policies in teams and seek to build orchestrate teams
- Embark on effective communication among team members and their leader and ensure that they build relationships that can facilitate effective inter-member conflicts resolutions; when managing conflicts there is need to involve managers and employees (Margerison, 2002).
Process conflict
When operating within an organization, there are times that the internal process and way of operating is affected or confronted by opposing sides; some people may want the process follow one direction while others feel the opposite.
At the end, the general operation of the business is hampered. The conflict is common to those organizations whose manufacturing processes are not well planned and controlled. To solve the conflicts, the following is the main process:
- Business processes should be well documented and work schedules drawn for every process
- Have process managers who develop and given the role of seeing the procedure process growth
- Developing proper leadership and management of processes within an organization
- Using program management tools like Gantt charts, work schedule, and process flow charts
To manage effectively conflicts in work places, managers should embark on development of positive organizational culture and good communication strategies. As much as conflicts cannot be evicted, they can be controlled, managed and resolved (Margerison & McCann, 2004).
References
Fenn, P.,& Gameson, R. (1992). Construction Conflict Management and Resolution. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Jeong, H.(2009). Conflict Management and Resolution: An Introduction. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Margerison, C. (2002). Team leadership. London: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Margerison, C., & McCann, D. (2004). Team management: understanding how people work together. London: Business Library.