In The IndustryConflict Management

William Earley- CTAC 354 (10305)

THE ARTICLE

The Article• The article I chose to analyze for this assignment was

CBS News Money Watch’s article “Workplace conflict is a management problem”, written by Steve Tobak,• The article basically agrees with the different concepts

that we spoke about in class as for how workplace conflict starts.

What does the article say?• The Seven Examples of Leadership issues that create

conflict:• Shared, split, or unclear responsibility• Centralized organizational functions• Ineffective compensation and review systems• Up and coming stars thwarted by “the system”• Lack of accountability• Poor or nonexistent processes• The Peter Principle

THE CONCEPT OF CONFLICT

MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

The Concept• What is Conflict Management?• Based on our discussions in class, I’ve found out that conflict

management means different things for different people.• Some people listen to others, respect others, and attempt to

understand others, while others simply argue, ridicule, and criticize.

THE CONNECTION

Margaret Heffernan- Dare to Disagree• Margaret Heffernan’s Dare to Disagree TED Talk gives

a much more in depth explanation as for what my article exactly is talking about when it refers to The Seven Breeding Grounds for Employee Conflict• This presentation will give a better connection

between a few of the breeding grounds, and Margaret Heffernan’s talk, as well as other class discussions.

Shared, split or unclear responsibility• Essentially, more than anything, this concept goes to

show that people need to know what they are responsible for in order to be successful• The CBC news article states, “When responsibility is shared

or isn't clearly defined, that's a recipe for disaster.”• Margaret Heffernan indirectly backed up that statement in a

major way, when she said “She worked with a statistician named George Kneale, and George was pretty much everything that Alice wasn't. So, Alice was very outgoing and sociable, and George was a recluse. Alice was very warm, very empathetic with her patients. George frankly preferred numbers to people. But he said this fantastic thing about their working relationship. He said, "My job is to prove Dr. Stewart wrong."

Centralized Organizational Functions• Tobak’s article states “Whenever you have centralized

organizational functions like HR, IT, marketing or sales, for example, there's serious potential for conflict between people fighting over resources. “• This is to say that organizational conflict is

everywhere…. Question is: How do the organizations deal with it??

A quote• “I wonder how many of us have, or dare to have, such

collaborators. Alice and George were very good at conflict. They saw it as thinking.”- Margaret Heffernan

Ineffective Compensation and Review Systems

Tobak states:• Nothing breeds

employee-level conflict more than when compensation or review systems are dysfunctional

Connection:• In class, we talked in an activity

about a man that felt that he was being reviewed unfairly, as they were criticizing his lateness, yet he argued that he always stayed late and made up his work as well.• Burt, from our class activity, is

another great example.• This is just a real life example

and proof of Tobak’s statement.

Up and Coming Stars Thwarted by The System

Tobak defines this as:• when review and

compensation systems aren't flexible enough to allow for certain individuals with star potential to be identified and offered an accelerated path.

Compared to Margaret Heffernan’s talk• Margaret speaks about

Alice Stewart’s struggles to get funding for her science research. Alice wasn’t respected enough to get much funding towards her research.

Lack of AccountabilityTobak’s definition• I think Tobak’s definition

of accountability is a little complicated. But, it states “usually when objectives or metrics are fuzzy or poorly aligned between groups”

Something a little easier on the mind

• An easier to understand explanation which we discussed in one of my group projects in class, is “When someone is placed into a position, and expected to accomplish something…… Are they, and how are they held responsible for getting those things done?? Also, are all people and their tasks treated equally as important??

The Question Becomes…..• How do we resolve this conflict that is unavoidable,

yet still make it a helpful thing, as Heffernan has told us it can be?

Understanding the Conflict Management Model

The Conflict Management Model• In class, we spoke about the diagram on the previous

slide• The diagram basically helps us realize exactly what

our conflict management style is• http://academic.engr.arizona.edu/vjohnson/

ConflictManagementQuestionnaire/ConflictManagementQuestionnaire.asp

Wrapping it all up!• All of this becomes a big question of “What is the right

way to handle conflict?”• As Heffernan states in her TED Talk, we all need to develop

more conflict management skills… But, still, everyone’s conflict management style is going to be different.

My Idea for the Future• I think that the most important thing we can do to help

people better solve their organizational conflicts, is through education in courses like this, and perhaps a human relations course• Perhaps all people should be required to take classes

like this, where they can learn about, and realize the importance of conflict management skils?

Works Cited• "Dare to Disagree." Margaret Heffernan:. N.p., n.d.

Web. 03 Nov. 2015. • "Workplace Conflict Is a Management Problem."

CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.