CONFLICTS AT WORK

A conflict is a matter that can occur with a single individual or a whole organisation. A conflict has to consist of two groups or within an organisation than they may be two employees. There can be many different types of conflicts between people at home or at work. Married couples always have conflicts between them and so do partners. Every single person in the whole world has to have a conflict. It is natural to have a conflict in life, research shows that conflict is made by stress and lack of communication, If a person does not agree with something and they agree to something else that this is the main cause of a conflict.

Below is a Diagram of a conflict:

There was a group that I was apart of that involved a conflict. I was apart of a coursework based conflict back in sixth form where we had to wok in groups of 4 people and do a presentation about communication and how communication is used in a organisation. The conflict started when I said that no matter how big or small the organisation is it has to use communication to become successful. My group mate disagreed and said that’s wrong and said a small business does not communicate but just goes ahead and does the task without taking a decision. The conflict started from her and we went on and on and became of angry at him that I left the group and started to do a presentation alone at communication. When i calmed down I went back to my original group and said look at this and explained to them in more detail about organisation and found resources on the website that explains how effective communication is in a business. Then my fellow group mates looked it up and found out that I was right and they where wrong and therefore apologised to me and asked me to re join the group which I did and for that reason I was more trusted in the group and made some good decisions and got us a grade B for that presentation. We over came the conflict because I decide to show the finding and research about the topic which they would agree to.

There are 5 different sources of power:
•Coercive Power- is the power that punishes a person. Coercive power is used in organisations to punish employees for the lack of effort they have put into their work. A great example of this is when an organisation is not happy with an employee and is looking to sack them.
•Reward Power- is given to employees through an organisation to reward them of the efforts that they have put into the organisation. A great example of reward power is when an employer gives an employee a pay rise or recognition for their hard work.
•Expert Power- is a power that is given to bright, skilled individuals that work for an organisation. This power is given to them if they have great knowledge, experience and understanding of their role. A great example for this would be if a normal employee becomes recognised for his or her hard work and be referred to and get’s a promotion to a supervisor job where they would be making decisions for people who are working under them.


•Legitimate Power- is the power that is given by the manager. This type of power is used in organisations on a daily bases, when this power is given to a set individual than he or she must concentrate on their new responsibilities that they have. Legitimate power is one of the hardest powers to attain. A example of a Legitimate power is a manager of a organisation, they will tell each and every employee on what to do and when it needs to be done by. They also need to check and see if everyone is following procedures correctly.

•Referent Power- is a power that has an image, a reputation and most of all identification. When a person has referent power than they have what it takes to control the whole organisation. They are the leaders and all the employees must obey his or her command. This individual would be the most respected one from the whole organisation. A great example of referent power these days is celebrities; the public respect the celebrities which give them the referent power.

There are 5 different stregies that an organisation can use to overcome conflict at work which are:

1.They can introduce a new management procedure which pays everyone equally and gets individuals recognised equally for there hard work.
2.Ensure that their is consequences involved if there is a conflict and what the outcomes would be of the consequences.
3.Outline goals and objectives clearly so that it is clear on what they have to do so therefore they will be no argument which causes a conflict.
4.They can make sure that everyone need to know what they have to do and they should double check what they need to do as well as communicate well with each other.
5.Make sure that the employees are aware of the grievance policy and procedure and are aware what is expected from them.

Overall I believe that there is ways on avoiding a conflict and I have also learned why conflicts are started and how they are started because I have also conflicts in my personal life as well as in an organisation. In this topic I have also learned about the 5 power that are used in an organisation to help it organise correctly. I have also learned about the advantages and disadvantages of conflicts at work. I have really learnt a lot from this topic and I am happy to have done this topic because It has given me a great understanding of conflicts.