Conflict Management and Resolution for Teams
When a group of individuals with varying experiences, thought processes and expectations work together as a team, conflict is inevitable. While many people see conflict as a sign of failure, teams can potentially use conflict as an asset. Understanding conflict dynamics and cultural approaches to conflict management help teams to distill key points vital to a successful and productive resolution of team conflict.
John Dewey (1934, p. 207) once said, "Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheep like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving". What did he mean by this statement? The thought of actually being stirred into observation and memory suggests something has to occur to get someone moving. The question has always been what motivates anyone into action?
Types of Team Conflict
Research has shown that there are all sorts of conflict and each conflict varies depending on the person conducting the research. In the book Tools for Teams, Leigh Thompson, Eileen Aranda, and Stephen P. Robbins (2000, p. 514) suggest there are four basic types if conflict: emotional, cognitive, constructive and destructive. Emotional and destructive conflicts lead to an inability to resolve issues. Cognitive and constructive conflicts are a necessary part of finding successful solutions as a team.
Emotional Conflict
Emotional is "personal, defensive, and resentful". (Thompson, Aranda, & Robbins, 2000, p. 514) and of is based on anger, personality clashes, ego and tension. Emotional conflict occurs when individual interests trump the interests of the team as a whole. This type of conflict interferes with the effort of a team to resolve ...