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Managing Conflict Essay example

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Effective managers are successful within the workgroup and organization when a style is used to resolve a conflict. People do experience conflict in their lives. There has always been a lot of interest in how to manage conflict once it appears in the open, and that is important. What is not so common is a concern for preventing unnecessary conflict, so it does not start in the first place. Managers are capable of using all five resolutions skills to deal with conflict in the workplace.

Organizations of all types need good managers in order to survive when dealing with conflicts that will occur within a workplace. Many people holding management positions will be confronted with issues between two people or two groups …show more content…

Some people attempt to avoid conflict by postponing it, hiding their feelings, changing the subject, leaving the room or quitting the project. Sometimes, doing nothing is a smart thing to do, providing the decision to do nothing is well thought out and based on an analysis of the situation. Although avoidance might appear to be a “cop-out,” it can sometimes be the most appropriate response. A common means of avoiding conflict is to be secretive. This can be done by employees and managers. The notion is that if no one knows what is being done, there can be little conflict. By being secretive, one may delay conflict and confrontation, but when it does surface it will have far more negative emotions attached to it than would have been the case if things were more open. It may be wise to avoid a conflict if the issue is minor or if the potential conflict partner is a formidable opponent. Not every conflict justifies your attention. One should not routinely withdraw from conflicts because it provides only a temporary fix and sidesteps the underlying problem. An accommodating manager is also known as a “smoothing” or “obliging” manager (Hemmer, 2003). Accommodating is allowing the desires of the other party to prevail. This resolution reflects low assertiveness and high cooperativeness. Accommodating may be an appropriate conflict-handling strategy when a manager wants to show reasoning, develop performance, create good will, and to keep peace.

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