Essay/Term paper: Dealing with conflict

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Technology

Dealing with Conflict

1.1
 Potential conflict can arise when two parties or people have a disagreement on a particular subject. For example, a person may have said he was going to complete a task which he failed to do which caused conflict with another person or party, or maybe two people who have different ideas on who to accomplish a task may become heated.
 Stages of conflict are hard to describe in detail but it usually starts with raised voices to get an opinion across which can escalate into a yelling match as one person tries to get the other person or party to agree with what he is saying. Basically conflict will stop when both parties or people agree on something, as conflict won"t usually end if there isn"t an agreement on the topic of interest.
 Attitudes, values and beliefs are what drive a person into conflict as for instance with a person who has a selfish attitude or who cannot work in a team. This is the type of person who will not be of agreement until the other people involved agree upon his opinion of the subject. Beliefs can also cause conflict as if a person or party is of the belief that a task can only be done one way to be efficient and they are told to do it another way, they will stress their beliefs on how the task should be accomplished and why.
 Factors in the workplace can cause conflict as well as someone may be offended by something in the workplace or may not be able to work with a certain person.

2.1 – Strategies in Dealing with Conflict.

The most effective way to deal with conflict would be to involve an outside person to act as a mediator between the two parties. This person is able to hear both sides of the argument and therefore able to outline options on how to handle the situation.

3.1 – Factors Effecting Timing & Environment For Communication

Care should be taken in communicating with other in the workplace. Factors such as anger and stress could be dangerous when communicating, as people are often very temperamental when affected by these factors. Another factor could be the environment, such as a meeting, could hinder communication as reputations and even jobs could be at stake if in appropriate communication is used. Basically, there is a time and a place for all various types of communication and care should be taken when talking to our peers and our bosses.

3.2 – Effective Non-Verbal and Verbal Communication

Body Language – This is important as people usually take note of how a person acts and moves. For example, if a person sometimes scratches their nose when speaking, it could mean to other people that he is trying to cover something up.

Questioning – Never be afraid to question a person for the sake of your own better understanding of a subject. It is different when questioning a person"s ability or understanding of a subject, which could result in conflict.

Language Style – People in work environments need to be able to understand everyone clearly, so correct language and vocabulary needs to be used in communicating with other people.

Active Listening – A conversation always involves both people to be actively listening to each other, as the conversation would be completely useless if they didn"t.

Reflecting – Issues in conversation or meeting should be reflected on so to give everyone a clear understanding of the topic. This also involves questioning to also help in understanding the topic.


3.3/4

Feedback, positive or negative, is crucial in discussions, as it is the pathway to better efficiency and management of any given topic. It is how people can express their own ideas, which could be used to help resolve a topic of interest. Feedback, whether it be positive or negative should always be taken in good manner as most feedback is meant to have a positive effect and not to cause conflict.