Conflicts exist everywhere in day-to-day activities and are inevitable. Whether in families, social relationships, or workplaces, they are bound to arise at any time. Conflicts may occur when one wants to push for better quality or differences in personalities, values, and backgrounds. They can also be due to unfulfilled expectations and unhealthy assumptions. Knowing how to solve conflict is vital since they are part of life in society. Therefore, learning how to conflict management styles and the theories to be followed is essential for everyone. This ensures better ways to manage conflicts before they can turn into violence and disrupt peaceful engagements. This paper will reflect on a past conflict experienced and the styles employed to solve the conflict.
The conflict occurred between a senior management employee and a junior staff who accused the management workmate of harassing and discriminating against them based on their skin color. Discrimination and harassment are conflicts in the workplace that require an immediate action before spreading to the other teams (Richards, 2016). Distinctive styles and theories were employed by the parties to solve the existing conflict between them. There was the use of mediation where the human resource manager engaged in helping solve the conflict. The HR used the collaborating technique where both parties were given a chance to express themselves.
The styles used by the two parties were mediation and collaboration. HR acted as the mediator who helped the two colleagues achieve a resolution to the conflict. They had honest discussions where they had their say and gained cooperation. There was a need to make a solution supported by the two groups and create a peaceful work environment for everyone (Ray, 2018). After listening to both, HR addressed the proper communication and respecting other people’s ideas and cultures while upholding diverse backgrounds. There was a win-win solution to conflict management as the two parties agreed to follow company procedures and respect one another with their cultures and origins (Kuriakose et al., 2019). The senior staff apologized and promised to keep the conversation and interactions professional to ensure no team felt discriminated against at the workplace.
The conflict resolution process exposed in the assigned article would have been beneficial to this office conflict. As explained in the article, there was a need to prioritize a good relationship between the two parties. Listening to both opinions and stances made the two employees feel appreciated, and their inputs matter (Lau, 2017). The HR helped define the proper channels of communication that led to this conflict and selected a neutral ground for the two groups, which resulted in the optimum solution. Without jumping to a conclusion and intimidating both groups, the HR in the position of authority acted decisively after going through the complete process of solving conflicts. This aided in achieving a solution that both groups were happy to take and agreeable in solving the conflict.
In conclusion, conflict management theories and styles are essential skills everyone should possess. As portrayed in the work environment in this paper, conflicts may arise from various occasions even when least expected. It is impossible to have an environment free from conflicts because human beings are different, and everyone holds different values and ideologies that can result in conflict. In addition, conflict may happen when things do not go as planned, which is typical in daily life due to failed expectations. Therefore, the ideal option is to learn conflict management skills rather than pursuing a conflict-free life which is impossible.
References
Kuriakose, V. S. S., Wilson, P. R., & Ansuree, M.R. (2019). The differential association of workplace conflicts on employee well-being. International Journal of Conflict Management, 30(5), 680–705. Web.
Lau, J. (2017). The secret to effective conflict resolution: The IBR approach. Lifehack. Web.
Ray, S. (2018). 10 Conflict resolution strategies that work – projectmanager.com. ProjectManager.com. Web.
Richards, L. (2016). Conflict Resolution Techniques [Video]. YouTube. Web.