Acknowledge and Manage Conflict

There comes a time when we have to work in teams. There tend to be fights and arguments. This is called conflict, and every time you work in a project, there may just be a little of it. It is always important to Acknowledge and manage conflict before it gets out of hand and it ruins your task, project or assignment. This post will give you more insight and knowledge on how to avoid conflict or suppress it.

The tortoise and the hare, who reached the finished line first?

"Conflict is productive when it motivates a team to search for new ideas, increase participation, delay premature decisions, or discuss disagreements. Keep conflict centred on issues rather than people." (Business Communication, 2016, p.41) 

There are two types of conflict, the good and the bad. Good conflict is when each person in your team has an idea they can pitch in. This allows for your team to create one really good idea, by using everyone else's and collaborating them into one. Bad conflict, however is when fights arise in your group because someone thinks their idea is better then someone else. Or a team member isn't holding their weight, and you have to worry about that person's part in the task as well. 

When working in teams, you may avoid conflict by sulking, gossiping or bickering. And these are poor ways to answer conflict.

There are six ways for dealing with conflict:

Image source: Business Communication: Process and Product, 2016, p.40