Methods Of Conflict Resolution
Methods of Conflict Resolution
I. Positive Aspects of Conflict
In order for teams to be effective, communication is extremely important. Without communication the team cannot work together to accomplish its goals, and will probably eventually fail or disintegrate altogether. When people think of conflict, usually it is in negative terms. Conflict is generally thought of as yelling and screaming, finger pointing, fist pounding, and even in terms of physical confrontations. This could be based on personal experience, or based on a person's prior observations of people in conflict. But conflict is also a necessary part of the team dynamic, and there are many positive aspects of conflict that can be used to further the team's goals and to further the development of the members of the team.
If the members of a team can manage to realize that conflict can be a positive force, and work to accept conflict and resolve conflicts in a positive, constructive manner, this will pave the way for the team to reap the benefits of conflict and a collective vision can be achieved. One of the positive benefits of conflict is that it can improve the decision making process of the group or team. Group decisions should only be arrived at after careful consideration of all possible ideas and solutions from all team members. One or two aggressive members of the team should not guide the decision making process without input of the other members of the team. The danger of this approach is that any flaws in the decisions will not be exposed, and other creative ideas or solutions will not even be explored.
Each member of the team should feel confident that he is a valuable part of the team, and that his or her ideas will not be dismissed or diminished by the others. With the input of all members of the team, important issues can be addressed, inadequacies and discrepancies in relationships, behaviors, systems and other areas can...
View Full Essay