Organizational Conflict at Your Workplace

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Roles of Power

Power affects the communication processes that contribute to, evaluate, or resolve conflict. When leaders or managers make decisions, such decisions may stimulate conflict with and between employees. Position and/or titles carry power that can influence reaction to leader or manager decisions. However, many leaders and managers realize the power they carry and also realize that there are several ways to communicate with employees that will negatively or positively influence employee reactions. The type of power a leader or manager uses directly reflects the roles of power in interpersonal communications in organizations.

There are several power types, and the type being used will dictate the type of communications. Three often discussed power types are integrative, distributive, and designated (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013). These power types might also be termed in literature as power with (integrative); power through (distributive); and power over or positional power (designated) (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013). There are various names associated with the power types, but the meaning/intent is essentially the same.

Integrative power is essentially where a person joins forces with another person(s) to achieve a mutual goal/objective (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013). For example, let us say a leader wants to change the way employees are paid and instead of overtime pay would like to see time off given. This may not be preferred by all employees, but if the leader receives buy-in from some employees who would prefer time off vs. overtime pay, the leader can use them to champion the pay change with the other employees. This can essentially be a win/win for the leader and the employees who favor the change. The type of communications used by the leader in this type of situation would likely be verbal using a democratic/participative leadership style. This type of power often mitigates conflict before conflict is even stimulated.

Distributive power may at times seem similar to integrative power, but one clear difference is that the results or outcomes are not shared between the parties. In integrative power scenarios, the outcome is intended to be win/win, whereas in distributive power scenarios, the outcomes tend to favor one party or the other (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013). In short, the involved parties are more focused on winning and the other party losing than on mutually working together for a win/win. An example of this power type is when a leader or manager wants to quickly increase the bottom line of the company even if only for the short term. One of the quickest ways to do this is to cut employee numbers (within legal parameters of course). Getting employees and even other managers on board may be difficult, but not impossible. Hence, the effort to affect this change may be perceived as them or us or perhaps as even me or them. In short, the scenario plays out as a win/lose and the leader or manager might resort to nonverbal communications to communicate the message using a dictatorial or authoritative leadership style. This type of power often serves to stimulate conflict between the parties as the employees are often coerced and forced.

In designated power, there is a power over other people at play (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013). While at first this may appear to be a simple, win/lose situation, such does not have to be the case. In a win/lose type scenario, the leader or manager might communicate a message that a change is taking place that will negatively affect employees and no discussion or employee input is requested. In this type of situation, the change has often already been decided upon and perhaps integrated. Often, this type of message is communicated nonverbally. However, in some situations, a change will be decided and implemented that positively affects employees and no discussion or employee input is requested. This type of message is often communicated verbally with an all-employee meeting (in person or televised in some manner to reach employees not in the same facility) or if not verbally, at least through some medium that allows the leader or manager to directly communicate the message to the employees, even if the message is an e-mail directly from the leader or manager. The leader uses an authoritarian leadership style in communicating the message, and employees may be left wondering why they were not consulted or at least informed of the change prior to implementation. This type of power can serve to cause conflict or perhaps head off or resolve conflict as can be ascertained through the provided examples.

Reference:

Wilmot, W., & Hocker, J. (2013). Interpersonal conflict (9th ed.). Boston, MA:McGraw-Hill.