Verified Document

Conflict In The Workplace Workforce Within Organizations, Essay

Conflict in the Workplace Workforce within organizations, whatever the level, constitutes one of the most important resources within such environments. Harmony among the human resource and shared vision among employees is one mandatory factor in ensuring that goals are appropriately met. Conflict if however, one inevitable occurrence in the workplace and organizational leaders has to deal with it appropriately (Flagan & Craig 8). Conflict in organizations neither occurs nor happens in a vacuum. Usually, there are some underlying issues which instigate the conflicts either between workmates or teams. Fortunately, the capacity of conflict management can help in such situations and even turn the organization into a better place. This can be achieved either through preventing the conflicts or resolving them. Personally, I have been in a conflict situation within the office; a state which was handled appropriately by the management but would however been avoided had appropriate prevention structures been constituted.

Causes of Conflict

Conflicts in the workplace are exhibited in different form and occur between different kinds of people or groups. Just as natures of these conflicts differ so are the causes which give rise to them. Some of the common ways in which conflicts originate within organizations include;

Scarcity of resources; when there exists shortage of resources within different departments or the entire organization, competition becomes widespread and the occurrence of conflicts almost inevitable. This scarcity can come in the form of finances, office facilities and equipment just to mention but a few. When it becomes impossible for individual to share the few resources provided for them within a work environment, quarrels erupt and disagreements emerge.

Personality differences; this is probably the most common factor that causes disagreements, more so between individuals in an organization. The clash between personalities and language among workers in workplaces is widespread and sometimes leads to unpleasant occurrences like rumours and gossip. Differences in race, family background and ethnic identities are among the instigators of personality differences in organization and occur in varied degrees from one organization to the other.

Ambiguity in roles and responsibilities; proper accomplishment of tasks and...

When instructions, more so from the superiors, are not provided clearly, it becomes possible for workers to fail in their lines of duty. Inappropriateness in the accomplishment of tasks encompasses one of the most irritating instances for bosses. This could cause conflicts between workers and their superiors within the departments or in the entire organization.
Poor communication; lack of proper forms of communication can plunge individuals and teams into conflicts. Communication is the single most important aspect when it comes to things being done within any environment. The workplace is clearly not an exception in this case. When communication is poor within an organization, things either do not get done or are done in an appropriate means. Poor communication can lead to other causes of conflict in organizations. For instance, it can interfere with team work which is an essential element in the success of organizations.

Conflict Management

In spite of the fact that conflict within organizations is inevitable, management of such disagreements is mandatory. This is because, conflicts, when left to thrive within organization can cause serious consequences which may constitute, increase in complaints against the organization, high employee turnover, sabotage, inefficiency and low productivity among others (Alberta Employment and Immigration 5). Conflict management comes in two forms and include the prevention of conflict and the resolution of disagreements once they have occurred. Various strategies can be applied within organizations to check the occurrence of conflicts and to ensure that they do not cause irreversible and grave consequences for the organization.

As regarding prevention of conflicts organization ought to facilitate mental preparation for members prior to business engagement is important. The fact that personality issues and external pressure determines the conduct of an individual should not be ignored. In addition, organizations ought not to assume that all individuals, regardless of their age and professional achievement, would act maturely under different circumstances. Mental preparation in such instances would provide value not only in the short-term but also in the long-term as…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Alberta Employment and immigration, let's talk: a Guide to Resolving Workplace conflicts, Alberta: government of Alberta, Department of Employment and Immigration, 2007

Flagan, Tim. A & Runde, Craig.E, Hidden Potential: Embracing Conflict can Pay Off for Teams in, Leadership in Action, 28(2), 2008
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Analyzing the Organizational Leadership
Words: 6715 Length: 23 Document Type: Essay

Organizational Leadership Program Reflection Survey What was your experience of the modular format of the courses? Did the courses in each module seem to fit together well? Why or why not? I have enjoyed this particular modular format. It had all of the academic quality that I expected from the Masters Course. For starters, it maintained high and extensive standards for academic excellence and classes that are quite intensive. In addition, the modular

Organization Behavior Competitive Advantage Through Human Resource...
Words: 4150 Length: 13 Document Type: Essay

Organization Behavior Competitive Advantage through Human Resource Management Practices Human Resource Management Practices Competitive Advantage through Human Resource Management Practices HUMAN RESOURCE Management Human Resource Management involves all those activities which are related to the management of workforce or employees of an organization. It is also one of the core functions which managers perform at the workplace. Human Resource Management entails activities like recruitment and selection, training and development, performance assessment, compensation, leadership, and motivation

Conflict Management in the Workplace
Words: 1147 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Workplace Conflict Management The modern business environment comprises individuals from different nationalities, racial and ethnic backgrounds because of increased globalization and rapid technological advancements. As a result, human resource management practices in today’s business atmosphere have incorporated diversity as a crucial component towards promoting the wellbeing and success of the workforce. Diversity is seen as an important factor in enhancing the contributions of the workforce toward achievement of organizational goals and

Organization Behavior Strategic Management of Human Resources
Words: 5609 Length: 15 Document Type: Essay

Organization Behavior Strategic Management of Human Resources This paper acquaints the reader with the Human Resource Management at the largest fast food brand in the World -- McDonald's. It describes the core HRM practices which are currently in use at the company and discusses them in the light of modern International HR Management practices. The paper also contains recommendations on how McDonald's can improve its HR practices. MCDONALDS: INTRODUCTION McDonald's is the World's largest

Workplace Stress All Stressed Out
Words: 3269 Length: 12 Document Type: Term Paper

G., interrupted when speaking) Someone interfered with your work activities (Kowalski, Harmon, Yorks & Kowalski, 2003, p. 39) One can see from this list that there is a significant development of aggression, in relatively mild forms that probably occurs across the board, to some degree in every business environment. Workplace aggression, between low level employees as well as between supervisors and employees is clearly a significant cause of workplace stress as well

Conflict Management Conflict Within Any
Words: 2900 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

This naturally tends to exacerbate the tension and increase the potential for conflict; as with many competing visions and views there are bound to be differences of opinion and consequently conflict between different individuals." As a result many people in many organizations are forced to invent their own corporate vision. When you have different versions of goals, direction, and values among different individuals and groups, you increase the probability

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now