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Chapter3.pptxConflict, Culture, and Relationships
Chapter 3
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Conflict is impossible to avoid
If managed effectively, conflict can result in improved team relationships, communication, and productivity
Managing Conflicts in the Workplace
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
A-type conflict
Relationship conflict
Sidetracks team from issues and creates defensiveness and anger
A stands for affective or emotional
C-type conflict
Task conflict
Improves team productivity and relationships and creates feeling of satisfaction
C stands for cognitive
Conflict Types
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Avoidance
Accommodation
Compromise
Competition
Collaboration
Conflict Strategies
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Robert Blake and Jane Mouton refer to strategies as:
Withdrawal
Smoothing
Compromising
Forcing
Problem solving
Conflict Strategies
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
This person:
Feels equally little concern for others and for self
Maintains neutrality at all costs
Removes self either physically or mentally from groups experiencing any type of conflict
Avoiding/Withdrawal
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
This person:
Feels a higher concern for others than for self
Views open conflict as destructive
Believes surface harmony is important to maintain good relationships and receive personal acceptance
Accommodating/Smoothing
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
This person:
Takes middle-of-the-road stance on assertiveness and cooperation and believes high-quality solution is not as important as workable or agreeable solution
Views conflict as solvable but uses voting and other methods of compromise as way to avoid direct confrontation
Tries to find solution that everyone can live with
Usually views compromise as a second, back-up choice
Compromising
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
This person:
Views personal goals as much more important than goals of others
Views conflict as win-lose situation or as contest of power
Has great respect for power and will submit to arbitration only because arbitrator’s power is greater
Competing/Forcing
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
This person:
Gives equal consideration to others and self
Views conflict as beneficial if handled openly
Guides groups through the basic problem-solving procedure
Attempts to reach consensus
Collaborating/Problem-Solving
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
When selecting conflict strategy for specific situation, consider:
Strategy you feel most comfortable using
Strategy your organization or team prefers
Advantages and disadvantages of each strategy
No one seems to benefit if they stick to one style
Choosing the Best Conflict Strategies
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
May be best response to conflict when:
Issue is trivial
Power relationships make successful resistance impossible
Parties lack communication skills necessary to prevent destructive escalation
Potential losses from open conflict outweigh potential gains
There is insufficient time to gather needed information or to work through issue adequately
Drawback is confrontation is usually only delayed or transferred to another issue
Avoiding
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
May be best response to conflict when:
Issue is minor
Damage to relationship would harm both parties
Temporary reduction in conflict needed to give time for additional research or information
Tempers are too hot for productive discussion
Drawback is it only temporarily solves problem
Accommodating
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
May be best response to conflict when:
Decision or action must be immediate
Parties in conflict expect and appreciate force and power necessary in a win-lose situation
Combatants recognize power relationship between themselves
Drawbacks are:
Real cause of conflict not resolved
Solution may be only temporary
Competing
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
May be best response to conflict when:
Both parties stand to gain
An “ideal” or “quality” solution not required
Time is short
Temporary solution needed for complex problem
Parties in conflict are equals
Drawbacks are:
Everyone loses something
Best solution probably not reached
Compromising
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
May be best response to conflict when:
Members are trained in problem solving
Parties have common goals that require everyone’s cooperation
Conflict has arisen from misunderstandings or communication breakdown
Conflict occurs during crisis
Drawbacks are:
May not be successful when parties have different values or goals
Usually takes longer to achieve than other strategies
Collaborating
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Raymond Friedman and colleagues:
Collaborating reduces both C-type and A-type conflict
Avoiding and competing increase C-type conflict
Accommodating decreases A-type conflict and stress that goes with it
Choosing the Best Conflict Strategy
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Five conflict strategies can be divided among three categories:
Win-lose
Lose-lose
Win-win
Reaching Consensus in Conflict Management
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Western cultures tend to be individualistic cultures
Individual and individual rights valued more highly than group identity or group rights
Asian cultures tend to be collectivistic cultures
Put more value on group membership, group obligations, and group goals than on the individual
Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Individualistic cultures are problem oriented
Collectivistic cultures are more relationship oriented
Individualistic cultures value autonomy, assertiveness, and democracy and prefer competing strategies
Although they also use collaborating and compromising to solve problems, collectivistic cultures value empathy and listening and prefer avoiding and accommodating to preserve friendships and save face for themselves and others
Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Context - “the information that surrounds an event”
People who communicate with low-context messages tend to come from individualistic cultures
People whose messages are high context tend to come from collectivistic cultures
In low-context cultures, messages are clearly spelled out
High-context cultures rely only minimally on spoken words that tend to be brief, indirect, and implicit
High- and Low-Context Cultures
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Monochronic (m-time) cultures view time as a “scarce resource which must be rationed and controlled through use of schedules and appointments”
Polychronic (p-time) cultures see “the maintenance of harmonic relationships as most important thing so use of time needs to be flexible in order that we do right by various people to whom we have obligations”
Monochronic and Polychronic Cultures
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
M-time relates closely to low-context, individualistic cultures
P-time corresponds more to high-context, collectivistic cultures
Monochronic and Polychronic Cultures
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Regardless of the culture, team members could improve communication by using the following tips:
Realize there is more than one reasonable position in a conflict
Look for the “trigger” to conflict
Use storytelling as a way to talk about conflict when a direct approach is undesirable
Use a neutral third party to mediate really serious conflicts
Cultural Differences and Conflict
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
The quality of employee relationships affects:
Job satisfaction
Morale
Ability to meet others’ communication needs
Commitment to and knowledge of the organization
Interpersonal Relationships in the Workplace
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
The quality of supervisors’ relationships is equally important
The need for strong interpersonal relationships is especially important in new organization models
Interpersonal Relationships in the Workplace
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Strong, lasting relationships that we develop with people at work fulfill a need for us
As long as the relationships are mutually satisfying, they will endure
If not, they will deteriorate
Keys to Building and Maintaining Relationships
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
The key to good communication is flexibility of styles
If you discovered some discrepancies, you may be down to two choices:
Change your job
Adjust your style
Becoming Flexible in Use of Styles
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Adapting or changing a style will require changes in your use of feedback, disclosure, or both
The person with dominant tendencies needs to ask for more feedback from others to discover areas needing change
The person with sociable tendencies needs to disclose more and should slowly begin to share more information, opinions, and feelings with others
People with private or open styles need to work equally on both feedback and disclosure
Becoming Flexible in Use of Styles
Communicating for Results, 10th edition
