INLS 180: COMMUNICATIONS PROCESSES

Spring 1998

(These notes are taken from a variety of sources. One background reading I found especially helpful was James Ware and Louis Barnes' article on "Managing Interpersonal Conflict," reprinted as pp. 53-62 in Mainiero and Tromley's Developing Managerial Skills of Organizational Behavior. lst ed., Prentice-Hall, 1989)

When dealing with a conflict situation, it is helpful to look at the background conditions, the perceptions of the involved parties, their feelings as well as their behavior, and the consequences of the behavior. Conflict is not necessarily bad. Sometimes it is destructive but sometimes it can be productive and can have positive effects on creativity, motivation, and performance.

There is no recipe to managing every conflict situation but there are some ways of thinking about it and some suggestions. One thing to remember is that conflict to an involved participant is emotionally very different from looking at it from the vantage point of a neutral observer. The use of a third party who can be more objective can be a useful strategy.

Five conflict management approaches, the objective of each approach with a typical response, the rationale for the approach and a probable outcome is provided in the table below.

Approach	Objective and Typical Response	Supporting Rationale	Likely Outcome
Forcing	Get your way. "I know what's right. Don't question my judgment or authority."	Better to risk causing a few hard feelings than to abandon a position you're committed to.	You will feel vindicated, and the other party will feel defeated and possibly humiliated.
Avoiding	Avoid having to deal with conflict. "I'm neutral on that issue. Let me think about it."	Disagreements are inherently bad because they create tension.	Interpersonal problems don't get resolved. They can cause long-term frustration which will be manifested in a variety of ways.
Compromising	Reach an agreement quickly. "Let's search for a mutually agreeable solution."	Prolonged conflicts distract people from their work, take time, and engender bitter feelings.	Participants become conditioned to seek expedient, rather than effective long-term solutions.
Accommodating.	Don't upset the other person. "How can I help you feel good about this? My position isn't important enough to risk bad feelings between us."	Maintaining harmonious relationships should be our top priority.	Other person is likely to take advantage of you.
Collaborating	Solve the problem together. "This is my position. What's yours? I'm committed to finding the best possible solution."	Postions of both parties are equally important. Equal emphasis should be placed on quality of outcome and fairness of decision-making process.	The problem will most likely be resolved. Both parties will be committed to solution and satisfied that they have been treated fairly.

Bargaining (negotiating) can be used when both parties are interdependent and hold approximately equal power. The advantage of a bargaining approach is that the goal of compromise is beyond the goal of conflict. Of course, many bargaining situations involve bluffing, behind-the-scenes negotiations, attempts to marshal outside power sources, a tendency to overstate initial demands, and heavy use of legalistic procedures.

Controlling is often used when there is a power imbalance and one party exerts pressure to make it happen as he/she wishes. The four controlling behaviors are:

1. Prevention of interaction or reduction of its frequency. The reduces the possibility of triggering events by keeping folks physically separated.
2. Structuring the forms and patterns of the interaction. Limitations on behavior can be imposed. These might include specification of time and place of meetings, allowable discussion topics, specific information to be provided, type of questions or comm ents allowed.
3. Reduction or alteration of the external situational pressures. Changing the conditions that fuel the conflict is often effective. Situational factors that might be changed include extension of deadlines, addition of new project personnel, modification of organization policies or allowing temporary exceptions, arrangement of periodic informational meetings, increase in budget allocations and protection of parties from harassment by others.
4. Personal counseling to help the two parties accept and deal with the conflict. This strategy doesn't address the conflict itself but focuses on the way folks react to it. The underlying assumption is that providing counseling, reassurance, and emotion al support can help to make the conflict more tolerable.

Control is usually a short term stretegy because neither the situation or the parties is involved.

Confrontation is a third approach to managing conflict. If the intent is to confront the differences in a constructive, getting-beyond-the conflict manner it can be a good approach. A constructive confrontation begins with an attempt to understand and convey the possibility of a win/win solution. It seeks information exchange of perceptions and feelings in order to provide new definitions of the problem and new motives for a common solution.