Conflict in the workplace is a common occurrence that causes major disparities between employees. It is important to recognize conflict in a timely manner in order to maintain a healthy working environment. The discussion below will include the major causes of conflict in the workplace and my position on if conflict is always negative. The steps for preventing destructive conflict, negotiating conflict through a win-win solution, and avoiding pitfalls in the workplace will also be included in this discussion. The major causes of conflict in the workplace include content conflict, values conflict, negotiation-of-selves conflict, and institutional conflict (Lamberton & Minor, 2014). Content conflict arises when there’s a disagreement over
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For instance, if an old policy is reformed, but previous employees are not properly informed about the change, then there could be a confusion. The newly-hired employees, who were told about the reformed policy during the orientation, will follow the new policy and the previous working employees will continue to follow the old policy. When a situation occurs that directly requires following the protocols of this policy, there will be a misunderstanding. The new employee will want to follow the new procedure but may not want to undermine the experience and knowledge of the previous employees. The previous employee may think the new employee has not been trained correctly. Regardless of what each thinks of the other, there will be miscommunication regarding the policy. The best course of action is to take the situation to the manager or the charge nurse and revise the policy. The manager should also update the entire nursing staff regarding the changed policy so that everyone is on the same page to ensure this won’t happen in the future. I bring up this example, although I cannot go into much detail, because a situation very similar to this had occurred on my nursing floor. A potential negative conflict became a positive conflict; not only were the employees informed and the policy revised, but it helped prevent future negative situations and increased direct communication between …show more content…
When trying to negotiate a workplace conflict through a win-win solution, the solution should be resolved to make everyone involved feel like a winner. The key to success of the win-win strategy is to satisfy as many people on both sides (Lamberton & Minor, 2014). The steps toward negotiating a win-win solution are getting emotions under control, agreeing on the ground rules, clarifying all positions, exploring multiple needs and issues, developing alternatives, and choosing solutions that are win-win (Lamberton & minor, 2014). Regardless of the effective ways of preventing conflict in the workplace, there are number of pitfalls to avoid. The leaders should be careful that their emotions or personal beliefs doesn’t become involved. The leaders should avoid any bias, no matter how long an employee has been working there; they should listen to both sides equally. Some general pitfalls for others to obey include failing to keep promises, failing to take responsibility for ones of own errors, poor communication, and disrespect in the workplace. If any of these occur in the workplace, it will affect work relationships, dependability, and trust
For instance, if an old policy is reformed, but previous employees are not properly informed about the change, then there could be a confusion. The newly-hired employees, who were told about the reformed policy during the orientation, will follow the new policy and the previous working employees will continue to follow the old policy. When a situation occurs that directly requires following the protocols of this policy, there will be a misunderstanding. The new employee will want to follow the new procedure but may not want to undermine the experience and knowledge of the previous employees. The previous employee may think the new employee has not been trained correctly. Regardless of what each thinks of the other, there will be miscommunication regarding the policy. The best course of action is to take the situation to the manager or the charge nurse and revise the policy. The manager should also update the entire nursing staff regarding the changed policy so that everyone is on the same page to ensure this won’t happen in the future. I bring up this example, although I cannot go into much detail, because a situation very similar to this had occurred on my nursing floor. A potential negative conflict became a positive conflict; not only were the employees informed and the policy revised, but it helped prevent future negative situations and increased direct communication between …show more content…
When trying to negotiate a workplace conflict through a win-win solution, the solution should be resolved to make everyone involved feel like a winner. The key to success of the win-win strategy is to satisfy as many people on both sides (Lamberton & Minor, 2014). The steps toward negotiating a win-win solution are getting emotions under control, agreeing on the ground rules, clarifying all positions, exploring multiple needs and issues, developing alternatives, and choosing solutions that are win-win (Lamberton & minor, 2014). Regardless of the effective ways of preventing conflict in the workplace, there are number of pitfalls to avoid. The leaders should be careful that their emotions or personal beliefs doesn’t become involved. The leaders should avoid any bias, no matter how long an employee has been working there; they should listen to both sides equally. Some general pitfalls for others to obey include failing to keep promises, failing to take responsibility for ones of own errors, poor communication, and disrespect in the workplace. If any of these occur in the workplace, it will affect work relationships, dependability, and trust