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When Organizations Conspire To Create Ugly Conflict
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Written by Robert Bacal
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Learn the various ways that a organization - by formal or informal company policy - can create ugly conflict. If we look at organizations that foster ugly conflict, we find they seem to share one or all four of the following strategies.
- Nonaction - Most of the time, peopole "do nothing" about conflict situations for reasons such as fear of bringing conflict into view, or a discomfort with anger. Unfortunately doing nothing genrally results in conflict escalation, and sets a tone of denial for the organization. So long as the organization (and management) believes "we don't have conflict here" the issues underlying conflict cannot be addressed.
- Administrative Orbiting - This means keeping appeals for change or redress always "under consideration". While nonaction suggests obliviousness since it doesn't even acknowledge the problem, orbiting acknowledges the problem, but avoids dealing with it. The manager who uses orbiting will say things like "We are dealing with the problem", but the problem never gets addressed. Common stalls include: collecting more data, documenting performance, cancelling meetings, etc.
- Secrecy - A common means of avoiding conflict (or repressing it) is to be secretive. This can be done by employees and managers. After all, if nobody knows what you are doing, there can be little conflict. Being secretive may delay conflict and confrontation, but when it does surface it will have far more negative emotions attached to it than would have been the case if things were more open.
- Law and Order - Normally this strategy is used by managers who mistakenly think that they can order people not to be in conflict. Using regulations and power, the person using the approach "leans on" people to repress the outward manifestations of conflict. It's like ordering someone not to breathe! Of course, this doesn't make conflict go away, it just sends it scuttling to the underground, where it will grow and increase its destructive power.
This is a excerpt from Conflict Prevention In The Worplace. For more detailed help on workplace conflict, click here. |
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Conflict Management 
