Reducing The Cost Of Conflicts In Workplaces
As a result of the above effects of conflicts organizations may incur huge costs and therefore it is necessary to develop ways of reducing the cost. Managers need to take the following measures to reduce this cost: There is need to increase the knowledge of the workers through training and increased awareness. Managers can organize workshops to train the workers on issues of conflicts in the workplace or encourage the workers to read books that offer more information on this issue. Managers of organizations also need to develop some sensitivity to the most serious conflicts in the organization.
This can be done by identifying major changes in the behavior of the employees and always be alert to misbehaviors that may cause conflicts like withholding very crucial information, chronic delays to work and behaviors that resist the policies of the organization. Managers should also carefully note the body language of the employees when they interact particularly in tense environments. Managers need to come up with a standard procedure for dealing with conflicts when efforts to negotiate have failed.
Managers need to undergo some training that will enable them act as mediators during conflict resolution processes. Attempts to manage the behavior of the employees may be perceived by some employees as a way of trying to change their behaviors. Managers need to create a working environment that allows extensive exploration of the conflict issues so as to encourage the employees to resolve conflicts by themselves. Managers need to accept the fact that conflicts exist in their organizations for them to deal with the conflicts in the right way.
The issue of conflicts should be discussed in meetings and also encourage the employees to learn ways of dealing with strategies in the workplace. 3. 6 CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES Managers that use some type of conflict management strategies are able to reduce the conflicts and eventually they achieve their goals and reduce disruptions in the workplace. Some of the major strategies applied by mangers to solve the problem of conflicts include: Collaboration strategy is one of the most successful strategies with the right environment.
It employs the idea that both parties in the conflict work together to sustain their relationships and build the morale of teamwork. This strategy works very well where there is a long term work relationship and the company can uses common goals to achieve its overall goal. Compromise strategy is a method employed by managers to solve conflicts and it needs that the conflicting parties give up one thing so as to gain another that they feel is more important. This strategy best works in situations where the conflicting parties are almost equal and there is no party that puts very strict demands on the other.
This method although it involves compromise it must be noted that the solutions arrived at should nit be against the goals of the organization. In situations where time and the ability in decision making are considered to be very important the most appropriate type of strategy is the force strategy. This strategy performs very well in situations where there are formal laws that can be put in place to solve the conflict and in case the conflict is destructive to the organization as a whole.
This strategy may have some disadvantages as it does not consider both parties although it is commonly used by managers to resolve very hostile conflicts and put an end to unproductive behaviors in the organization. 3. 7 STEPS IN RESOLVING CONFLICTS Managers in organizations need to undertake the following steps to help them manage conflicts in the workplace: First the managers need to identify the problem keeping in mind that their perception may be different from that of the workers. Communication is very important in this step. The managers then need to take the concerns of all the parties into account.
Communication also plays a very important role here and the manager needs to listen carefully. The managers need not to interrupt when the parties are speaking and they need to give both parties enough time to express their concerns. The other step is to brainstorm so as to have possible solutions and evaluate all the possible options available. The other step is involves the mangers taking some time out to analyze the issue. Look at the issue internally and recommend the best remedy (Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler, 2002). 4. 0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conflicts at the workplace can be harmful to the organization and therefore managers should be recommended to make sure that conflicts do not arise at the workplace. Managers need to encourage open forms of communication. Due to the different styles of carrying out duties and perceptions workers should therefore be trained to accept what others do or perceive. Managers also need to be aware of any acts that contribute to conflicts like formation of cliques or arguments and if noted they should be stopped before they yield to uncontrollable conflicts in the workplace.
Workers need to know that friendship is not the major goal of the organization but getting the work done. This means that it is not always that co-workers should be best friends but they should work together to achieve the goal of the organization. Employees need to be empowered and made aware of the policies that govern conflicts in the organization so as to make sure that some conflicts are resolved by employees without the involvement of the management. The working environment should not be in a way that it encourages conflicts to occur.
