Respond to Two W5D1 Wald

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Discussion: Picking a Fight

What is the source of the conflict? A conflict in any organization to which you belong may have a root cause in the issues identified in the Boundary Model. And, the sources of work conflict identified in the text exist in most organizations, be they volunteer, home associations, schools, or places of worship, to name a few.

Take a moment to reflect on the personal approach to conflict you have been developing in your coursework. While this course has attempted to give you the tools necessary to detect confrontations before they arise, not all disagreements are avoidable. Sometimes an argument becomes inevitable, and when this occurs, it is important to remember the old admonition to pick your battles carefully. As a leader, it would be foolish to pursue an all-or-nothing strategy, taking on anyone who thinks differently than you do just to win the point. So, where do you draw the line? What is important about the change you are trying to make, and how much are you willing to invest in it?

For this Discussion, using a new conflict that may have recently surfaced, you will assess whether it is worthy of a fight.

To prepare for this Discussion, pay particular attention to the following Learning Resources:

· Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially:

· Cahn, D. D., & Abigail, R. A. (2014). Managing conflict through communication (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

· Joni, S.-N., & Beyer, D. (2009). How to pick a good fight. See attachment

· Segal, J., Robinson, L., & Smith, M. A. (2020). Conflict resolution skills. Retrieved from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/conflict-resolution-skills.htm

· The Boundary Model – See Attachment

Cahn, D. D., & Abigail, R. A. (2014). Managing conflict through communication (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

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Assignment:

Respond to at least two of your peers' postings in one or more of the following ways:

· In which area – material, future-focus, or noble purpose – what recommendation can you offer to strengthen or challenge your peer’s assessment of the conflict described as worthy of a fight?

· Given the nature of conflict your peer presented, which of the nine principles of engagement as discussed in Joni and Beyer (2009), might they want to watch to ensure that the engagement in conflict is productive?

· Explain why.

· 3 -4 paragraphs

· No plagiarism

· APA citing

1st Colleague – Natasha Mills

Natasha Mills 

Discussion: Picking a Fight

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There is an upcoming project that my team and I have been assigned. Some of the tasks of the project overlap with those of another department, which means that including them in the project would lead to its tremendous success. However, the department’s leader and I always disagree on almost every issue, a situation that has caused a ripple effect and infiltrated the relationships between my team members and his team members. I want to change this element of distrust between our teams by asking the team leader to collaborate with me on the project. Given our history, I anticipate conflict to occur. The primary source of the conflict that I anticipate is relationship conflict. This refers to when colleagues have power differences, are unsupportive of one another, as well as display distrust and competition between one another (Cahn & Abigail, 2014). I expect this conflict to occur because its elements form some of the key features of the relationship between my team and that of the other department.

Functional conflict is characterized by the recognition by those engaged in a conflict situation that both their needs are important (Cahn & Abigail, 2014). Therefore, the options for resolving functional conflict include compromising and collaborating. On the other hand, dysfunctional conflict is characterized by the existence of negative attitudes toward conflict by those involved, which adversely impact their ability to resolve conflict issues (Cahn & Abigail, 2014). As a result, issues remain unresolved in dysfunctional conflict. Examples of dysfunctional conflict approaches include avoiding or accommodating, and competitive conflict.

My conflict falls under dysfunctional conflict. The relationship between my team and that of the other department that I intend to collaborate with is significantly competitive. Hence, it is most likely that the conflict will take the direction of competitive communication, stemming from the power differences, distrust, and unsupportiveness of the teams. These factors are bound to lead to the divergence of the teams rather than their integration. “A dysfunctional conflict cycle is the competitive conflict escalation cycle, in which the conflict bogs down in the differentiation stage when competitive interests lead to divergence rather than integration” (Cahn & Abigail, 2014, p.38). Nonetheless, the purpose of engaging in the conflict is to transform these negative attitudes and competition into collaboration for the greater good of both teams, as well as that of the organization.

My planned change measures up efficiently to the three key areas that warrant a fight. Joni & Beyer (2009) identify these areas as making the fight material, focusing on the future, and pursuing a noble cause. My planned change passes all these areas of assessment in the sense that the collaboration between the departments will make the project more successful, which will increase the rewards of those who engage in it. This aspect fulfills the area of making the conflict material. Further, the success of the project through the collaboration of the two teams will influence the team members to take the risk of collaborating more in future, thereby embracing the intended change. Lastly, the fight will be for a noble purpose because it will speak to more than making money by repairing the relationship between the two teams. Hence, the panned change measures up in all the three areas that make the conflict worth it.

The two most fundamental skills that I might use turn conflict into an opportunity include quick stress relief and emotional awareness (Segal et al., 2020). In the conflict situation I am about to face, I am bound to experience high levels of stress because persuading the team manager of the other department to collaborate with my team will not be easy. These high levels of stress have the potential to obstruct my ability to respond in healthy ways, leading to destructive conflict outcomes. Thus, it is necessary for me to acquire skills to relieve stress for me to attain constructive outcomes.

Segal et al. (2020) also identify emotional awareness as a critical skill for turning conflict into opportunities. Emotional awareness enables one to understand self and others because it requires one to connect with different feelings that emerge during conflict. The outcome will be the resolution of conflict in mutually satisfying ways, making emotional awareness a skill that I must have us to transform the conflict that I am anticipating into an opportunity.

Cahn, D. D., & Abigail, R. A. (2014). Managing conflict through communication (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Joni, S.-N., & Beyer, D. (2009). How to pick a good fight. Harvard Business Review, 87(12), 48–57.

Segal, J., Robinson, L., & Smith, M. A. (2020). Conflict resolution skills. Retrieved from  https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/conflict-resolution-skills.htm

 

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2nd Colleague – Ty West  

Ty West  

RE: Discussion - Week 5

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The element likely to be changed at work or on a social change project

The element that is likely to be changed in the workplace is how people relate to others. In this case, there is a need for people to have some boundaries, and this is important in putting limits on how people relate to each other in the organization (Provost, n.d). This kind of association is essential in dealing with conflicts since it ensures that the actions and behaviors of individuals in the organization are based on boundaries and adherence to the laws, agreements, contracts, rules, procedures, order, and decisions.

The differences between functional and dysfunctional conflict  

Functional conflict refers to the type of conflict that is health is characterized by constructive disagreement between people and groups of people. The dysfunctional conflict is a conflict characterized by the unhealthy disagreement that takes place between groups or individuals. The type of conflict that my conflict falls under is the functional conflict (Provost, n.d). It aims to promote an effective team to function as a united team.

How the planned change will measure up based on the three areas.

Based on the measurement tool provided by Joni and Beyer (2010), the three areas focused on are that an excellent future-facing fight speaks what can be done, changing the debate away from what took place to what could have occurred. It is compelling, thus focusing people so intently on tangible, attainable benefits that they are ready to work through any related costs and controversies. Therefore, using these arguments, the focus will be to determine the nature of the conflict since it can be considered a source of creativity and improving the team engagement in the process (Joni & Beye, 2010). Conclusion: there will be a cultivation of the development of the good fights to help improve the team's performance and communication network.

The skills that can be used to transform the conflict into an opportunity

The skills that are important in transforming conflict into opportunity involve handling conflict respectfully and positively. This is important in strengthening the bond between the two individuals. The skills help in keeping professional relationships stronger.

Joni, S. N., & Beyer, D. (2010). The proper fight: How great leaders use healthy conflict to drive performance, innovation, and value. Harper Collins.

Provost, L. (n.d). Chapter: Model # 3, The Boundary Model.

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