Conflict Resolution, Essay Example

Conflict resolution in any work place is a challenge to employees and employers. There are many causes of conflicts that include poor communication which leads to misunderstandings and differing personalities.

According to the Make Talk Work Bookmarks, there are a number of ways that conflicts can be managed and avoided in any work place. For example, in the first concept ‘To Keep an Open Mind’, one is required to listen to other people without interrupting them, to consider their ideas and ask questions in order to understand them better. The ‘try brainstorming’ concepts talks of individuals in an organization listing all ideas in any exercise they are engaged in, avoiding criticizing other people in the same entity, considering all sides(pros and cons) and formulating solutions that can solve the problem at hand. Finally individuals are required to accept personal differences, to acknowledge the feelings of their workmates and to put themselves in the same state as their workmates under the ‘try to understand others’ concept.

As a conflict resolution consultant, I will have to use the concepts presented in the bookmarks to teach the employees conflict management skills. The main objective of the workshop is to create an understanding of each other in order to avoid conflicts in the work place. The objective includes listening to each other’s ideas, eliminating criticism and accepting individual differences. In order to foster these skills, the above mentioned bookmarks will be used in a group within the work environment.

The trainees will have to work in groups that will help them understand each other’s weaknesses. The groups will also help them appreciate the different abilities and individual differences that exist in a work environment. Assignments will be handed out on a weekly basis which requires employees to work in groups and present their findings on the last day of the week. The exercise will run for three weeks. Every week poses a new challenge for employees to tackle. They will be required to research together and come up with a final draft or model of their findings. The findings have to be presented at the end of the week and every member of the group must participate in the presentation. By the end of the three weeks, the employees could have learnt to tolerate each other which reduces criticism that is a source of conflict among them. They would also have learnt to accept the different personalities and abilities that exist in any workplace. They would have understood each other well, which goes along way into improving the way they communicate to each other and will eventually have a positive impact on the productivity levels of the organization.

In order for the employees to fulfill the objectives of the exercise and to learn the intended conflict resolution skills, as the training manager I will have to put them through a number of self driven conflict resolution practices. They will practice on their own the skills imparted through the training exercise. For example, I will have them work on more challenging exercises without my supervision. In order to complete the self driven assignments and to find out whether they met the objectives of the workshop, they will have to work with other people they have not met before within the same work environment. At this stage, as the training manager, I will only observe to see if the employees understood the concepts of the workshop and if they would be able to follow and apply them without any supervision. If they manage to work harmoniously with the new colleagues and manage to accomplish the set tasks within the given time without any misunderstandings or delays related to conflicts, then it will be concluded that the workshop was a success. If they have conflicts and are unable to resolve them and as a result lead to delays in completing the set task, then it will be concluded that the workshop was not a success. They must be able to avoid conflicts, or to resolve any conflict that arises in their midst and still be able to work harmoniously to deliver as required by their employer.

References

Make Talk Work. Try Brainstorming.

Make Talk Work. Try To Understand Others.

Make Talk Work. To Keep an Open Mind

Masters, M. F., & Albright, R. R. (2002). The complete guide to conflict resolution in the workplace. New York: AMACOM.

“Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Resolution: Implications for Human Resource Development .” Advances in Developing Human Resources . N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2013. <http://adh.sagepub.com/content/4/1/62.

“Conflict Resolution in the Culturally Diverse Workplace: Some Data from Hong Kong Employees – Chan – 2003 – Applied Psychology – Wiley Online Library.” Wiley Online Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2013. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1464-0597.00143/full>.