CONFLICT

RESOLUTION
TRAINING &
DEVELOPMENT
Learning Outcomes 2

 Enable participants to recognize the cause of workplace conflict

 Develop importance of understanding others point of view
 Types of approaches to use for resolving conflicts
Conflict

 A conflict is a clash of interest. The basis of conflict may vary but, it is always a part of society. A serious
disagreement or argument, typically a delayed one.

• A conflict which has been handled in a destructive way. What • A conflict which has been handled constructively. What
are some of the outcomes in such a case? are some of the outcomes in such a case?
• Relaxation
• Tension
• • Openness
Unresolved problems
• Stress • High Productivity
• Low productivity • Expanding friendly relationships
• Sour relationships
• Time off – ''sickies” • Vitality
• Ill health • Good health
• Anxiety
• Resentment • Empowerment
• A sense of achievement.
Levels of Conflict
Perhaps nothing is said yet. Things don't feel right. It may be difficult to identify what
the problem is. Do you feel uncomfortable about a situation, but not quite sure why?

Discomfort
Here a short, sharp exchange occurs without any lasting internal reaction. Has
something occurred between you and someone else that has left you upset,
irritated or with a result you didn't want?
Incident  

Here motives and facts are often confused or misperceived. Do your thoughts keep
returning frequently to the problem?
Misunderstanding

Here relationships are weighed down by negative attitudes and fixed opinions.
Has the way you feel about and regard the other person significantly changed Tension
for the worse? Is the relationship a source of constant worry and concern?

Behaviour is affected, normal functioning becomes difficult, extreme gestures are contemplated or executed. Are
Crisis
you dealing with a major event like a possible rupture in a relationship, leaving a job, violence?
 

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Types of Conflict
Individual level
5
 Interpersonal conflict
 Occurs between two or more individuals that work together in groups or
teams.
 Many individual differences lead to interpersonal conflict, including
personalities, culture, attitudes, values, perceptions.
 Conflict arises due to a variety of factors. Individual differences in goals,
expectations, values, proposed courses of action, and suggestions about how
to best handle a situation are unavoidable Conflict
 Intrapersonal conflict
 These conflicts involve the individual alone
 The experience takes place in the person’s mind. Hence, it is a type of conflict
that is psychological involving the individual’s thoughts, values, principles and
emotions. Interpersona
Interpersona Intrapersona
Intrapersona
ll ll
 It may come in different scales, from the simpler monotonous ones like
deciding whether or not to go organic for lunch to ones that can affect major
decisions such as choosing a career path.
 find it hard to work out your inner struggles. It leads to restlessness and
uneasiness, or can even cause depression.
 Best way to let go of the anxiety is through communicating with other people.
Eventually, when you find yourself out of the situation, you can become more
empowered as a person.

Types of Conflict 6

Group Level
 Intragroup Conflict
 Conflict between two or more members of the same group or team. Conflict
 An example of intragroup conflict would be members of a marketing
group debating about the best way to launch a new product.
 Intragroup conflict is marked by verbal disagreements between
group members that could result ultimately in the fracturing of the
Interpersona
Interpersona Intrapersona
Intrapersona
group into distinct and opposing parts. ll ll
 Intergroup conflict 
 Disagreements that exist between two or more groups and their
respective members.
 example, a person in a focus group might hijack another team's idea
and shamelessly present it as his own to upper management or the
boss. Stress from upper management or a team lead can also
cause intergroup conflict that could produce positive or negative
results, depending on the stressor.
 7

If Conflict is managed constructively, we

harness its energy for creativity and
development
Identify the Type of Conflict 8

https://youtu.be/KY5TWVz5ZDU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck5uA1RSFpc
Conflict Resolution Success Stories: 9
A Surprising Tale from Congress
When we think of conflict resolution success stories, we don’t automatically
think of the U.S. Congress. But in early 2018, the Senate managed to avoid a
standoff over a spending bill, thanks to an unexpected tool.
With the government heading into a shutdown on January
19, 2018 due to the U.S. Senate’s inability to agree on a
spending bill, about 17 centrist Democratic and Republican
senators crowded into the Capitol Hill office of Republican
senator Susan Collins of Maine. But their common goal —
Negotiating a deal to end the shutdown—was
reportedly thwarted by a cacophony of voices.

So Collins grabbed a Maasai tribal talking stick that

Democratic senator Heidi Heitkamp had gifted her a few
years back and laid down a simple ground rule: Only the
person holding the colorful, beaded stick was allowed to
speak. In traditional tribal councils, the talking-stick method
is used to ensure that all members of a group, including
those who are reserved, have a chance to express their
Workplace Conflict Statistics:  10
Workplace Conflict & Employment Lawsuit Statistics

•38% of employees in the U.K. experience interpersonal conflict at work in an average year (
CIPD, 2015).
•Companies with a healthy corporate culture report, on average, a turnover rate of just 13.9
percent compared to 48.4 percent at companies with a poor culture (Columbia University, 2012
).
•In 2018, there were 76,418 workplace discrimination charges in the US, which resulted in
 more than $50 million in damages for victims in federal court. This does not include hundreds
of millions in damages granted by state and district courts (EEOC, 2018).
•Companies in the United States face nearly a 12% chance of being hit with an employment
lawsuit (Hiscox, 2015).
•The average cost to a company for defense and settlement was $125,000. On average, those
matters took 275 days to resolve (Hiscox, 2015).
•Most employment matters don’t end up in court, but for those that do, the damages can be
substantial. About 25% of cases result in a judgment of $500,000 or more (Hiscox, 2015).
“Workplace Conflict and How Businesses Can 11
Harness It to Thrive”
•85 percent of employees deal with conflict on some level
•29 percent of employees deal with it almost constantly
•34 percent of conflict occurs among front-line employees
•12 percent of employees say they frequently witness conflict among the senior team
•49 percent of conflict is a result of personality clashes and “warring egos”
•34 percent of conflict is caused by stress in the workplace
•33 percent of conflict is caused by heavy workloads
•27 percent of employees have witnessed conflicts lead to personal attacks
•25 percent of employees have seen conflict result in sickness or absence
•9 percent have seen workplace conflict cause a project to fail
 12

Nine Dot Maze

Each conflict situation is different and thus has a different approach 13
 Story Video of Emily and Anna 14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRg-HbqqBxI
 15

Case
Scenarios
Case Scenario No. 01 16

Communication had severely broken down between a male Caucasian administrator and a
female African-American administrator who reported to him. Both were extremely hard workers
and valuable employees but could not cooperate well. There was a danger of losing one or both
of them if the situation persisted.
Case Scenario No. 02 17

Ahmed has been working at a fast food restaurant for six months. At Ahmed’s six-month
performance review, your boss gives you an unsatisfactory rating. Ahmed was hoping to
ask for a raise but instead you start exhibiting a negative attitude at work.
 Case Scenario No. 03 18

Ralph and George, who head two different departments in the same organization. Ralph’s problem
with George is that the latter is taking staff from his department without his approval. On the other
hand, George feels that he is doing the right thing by taking staff from Ralph’s over staffed
department.
 
The situation is compounded by the fact that most of the people who work under Ralph are asking
to be transferred while Ralph feels that his department is not overstaffed. He feels that George is
interfering with his duties while George is sure that Ralph would do well with a leaner workforce.
John, the director, has to help resolve the conflict between he two managers after they bitterly
confront each other in his presence. Apart form George’s and Ralph’s viewpoints the director also
has to consider Henry’s opinion about the conflict. Henry is the immediate Lab manager who was
recently replaced by Ralph. He had the same problems that Ralph is having with George, but he
was able to take care of them without directly confronting George.
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One Orange Two Teams Activity