by Organizational Conflict or otherwise known as workplace conflict, is described as the state of disagreement or misunderstanding, resulting from the actual or perceived dissent of needs, beliefs, resources and relationship between the members of the organization. At the workplace, whenever, two or more persons interact, conflict occurs when opinions with respect to any task or decision are in contradiction.
Causes of Organizational Conflict
- Misunderstanding: Misunderstanding of information, can also alleviate dispute in organization, in the sense that if one person misinterprets some information, it can lead to series of conflicts.
- Managerial Expectations: Every employee is expected to meet the targets, imposed by his/her superior and when these expectations are misunderstood or not fulfilled within the stipulated time, conflicts arise.
- Lack of accountability: If in a project, responsibilities are not clear and some mistake has arisen, of which no member of the team wants to take responsibility can also become a cause of conflict in the organization.
- Communication Disruption: One of the major causes of conflict at the workplace is disruption in the communication, i.e. if one employee requires certain information from another, who does not respond properly, conflict sparks in the organization.
- Competition for Scarce Resources: In an organization, anything of value (funds, personnel and valuable information) can be a competitively sought-after resource. When competition for scarce resources becomes destructive, conflict can be avoided by increasing the resource base. For example, more personnel can be hired when they are to avoid shortages in the future.
- Time Pressure: Time pressure, like deadlines, can increase the performance of an individual or reduce the performance by triggering destructive emotional reactions. Hence, while imposing deadlines, managers must understand and consider an individual’s capacity and ability to meet the set targets.
- Absence of Time Management: For smooth running of organisation and timely attainment of objectives, makes the organization profitable. If proper schedules are maintained for various activities the developmental executives may try to shift their responsibilities on one another and start blaming one another it gives rise to conflicts among departments.
Organizational conflicts Benefits
Getting Employees’ Attention
Another way that conflict can benefit your company is that it helps employees stay focused on the task at hand. In some cases, when you have meetings regularly, employees become immune to them and start to daydream. If a bit of conflict is expected in the meeting, it will keep the employees on the task at hand. When employees are encouraged to speak their minds and tell the truth, it can improve the quality of meetings overall.
Improves Ideas
Conflict can help improve the quality of ideas that are ultimately produced by the business. When you get a group of people together who are speaking freely and unafraid of conflict, their ideas can be adapted and honed to become more attractive. The company will be less likely to put out poor ideas for new products or services.
Improves Employee Morale
When employees are allowed to speak freely and not shy away from conflict, it can actually improve their morale. Workers who are allowed to speak freely tend to feel more valued overall. When an employee feels that his opinion is important, he will feel more comfortable in the company.
Improves Employee Relationships
Another way that conflict could potentially help your business is that it can help you improve your employee relationships. When you feel comfortable enough to disagree with someone, it can strengthen your relationship over the long term. After engaging in a conflict in a professional manner, you can move on and continue working together in the future. Businesses that allow conflict tend to develop stronger relationships between their employees.
Engages Employees
One of the potential ways that conflict can benefit your organization is that it creates engagement with the employees. For example, when an idea is presented at a meeting, you do not want everyone to simply agree with the presenter for fear of a conflict. Instead, you want employees to be able to speak freely. When employees disagree with an idea, they should be able to speak up and voice their opinion. If they are afraid of conflict, a bad idea could be implemented.
Organizational conflicts Limitations
Obstruct exploration of more alternatives: A conflict proceeds through the stages, resolution becomes more difficult. People become more licked into their positions and more convinced that the conflict must be a win or lose situation. That makes a situation of obstructing exploration or more alternatives.
Interfere with listening: The outward display of conflict occurs when the opposing parties plan and follow through with acts to frustrate one another. In this scenario the avoid listening to each other tries to focus on individual problems.
Derive Unaggressive committee members to the sidelines: During conflict very much active members participate in negotiation, which Drives unaggressive committee members to the sidelines making themselves non-participatory members of that group.
Create deadlocks: The parties begin to focus on differences of opinion and interests, sharpening perceived conflict, which creates deadlock while making decisions and conflict resolution.
Delay decisions: Conflict arises in groups because of the scarcity of freedom, position, and resources. People who value independence than to resist the need for interference and, to some extent, conformity within a group. It makes the group delayed during decision making.
Divert time and energy from the main issues: Conflict tends to divert the main issue of the objective of the organization. A struggle between groups of employees shifts the objective from the main focus.
