Team Building 1

Team Building David A. Horvath BUS 610 Organizational Behavior Sherrie Lewis November 7, 2011

Team Building 2 Team Building Conflict Resolution will always be part of successful teamwork within organizations. In order for Conflict Resolution to be successful, it is required to have efficient and well-organized team building techniques conducted within the organizations. A team can resolve conflicts when the desired outcomes have been reached: (1) Agreement, (2) Stronger relationships, and (3) Learning. Conducting the appropriate exercises in an organizational atmosphere can ensure that Conflict Resolution will be a success. The Five Conflict-Handling Styles would serve as excellent methods for reaching Conflict Resolution. When teams are formed, they deliver the assurance that the company will have progression and there will be a strong future in sight. This is essential in any organization. However, there will always be conflict and it must be resolved. If a team is actually a team, and not just a group, they hold the strong capability of overcoming any potential conflict that may be involved. Three worthwhile and desirable outcomes can be reached from conflict: (1) Agreement, (2) Stronger Relationships, and (3) Learning. At the end of any conflict, an agreement must be reached in order for there to actually be an end and to be able to resolve the conflict. It is important that the agreement be reasonable and fair. It does not do any good if one of the parties feels loss or cheated. If the agreement is not balanced, this can just lead to further conflict in the future. Equitable and fair agreements are best. An agreement that leaves one party feeling exploited or defeated will tend to breed resentment and subsequent conflict. (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p. 279) When the desired agreements have been reached at the end of conflicts, this also results in stronger relationships as well. Good agreements enable conflicting parties to build bridges of

Team Building 3 goodwill and trust for future use. Moreover, conflicting parties who trust each other are more likely to keep their end of the bargain. (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p. 279) Worthy agreements empower the parties who are having the conflict to develop a stronger sense of trust and favor for each other. This tends to result in greater chances that each party will do their parts in the arrangements as planned. Learning is the final outcome to be sought after agreements and stronger relationships have been established. As with any lesson, there is always something to be learned. Functional conflict can promote greater self-awareness and creative problem solving. Like the practice of management itself, successful conflict handling is learned primarily by doing. Knowledge of the concepts and techniques in this chapter is a necessary first step, but there is no substitute for hands-on practice. In a contentious world, there are plenty of opportunities to practice conflict management. (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p. 279) Just because the conflict has been resolved, it does not mean that there is nothing else to gain from it. The Learning outcome gives both parties the advantage of now knowing something new by learning from previous mistakes. As it is desired for conflicts to be resolved and to gain advantages from doing so, there must first be successful Conflict Resolution exercises in order for that to take place. The Five Conflict-Handling Styles are essential methods to be conducted in organizational atmospheres to reach Conflict Resolution. These 5 styles include: (1) Integrating (Problem Solving), (2) Obliging (Smoothing), (3) Dominating (Forcing), (4) Avoiding, and (5) Compromising. Integrating (Problem Solving) is a useful tool for conflicts that involves some sort of misunderstanding. In this style, interested parties confront the issue and cooperatively identify the problem, generate and weigh alternative solutions, and select a solution. Integrating is

Team Building 4 appropriate for complex issues plagued by misunderstanding. (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p. 288) Integratings principal asset is that it contains a long-lasting impact due to the fact that it deals with the underlying problem instead of just the minor factors of the conflict. It can be a time-consuming method but is still very effective for a team to use. Obliging, a.k.a. Smoothing, is another style for handling conflict. This refers to when one party ignores their own interests in order to fulfill the other partys interests. This style commonly referred to as smoothing, involves playing down differences while emphasizing commonalities. Obliging may be an appropriate conflict-handling strategy when it is possible to eventually get something in return. (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p. 289) Its strongpoint comes from the way that it encourages cooperation among the parties involved. However, it really is only a temporary fix at best, due to the fact that does not actually confront the problem that is occurring. After smoothing comes Dominating (Forcing). This style calls for selfishness in the sense that one party has a much higher concern for themselves with little regard to the opposing party. Though not a popular style to use, it is used to force agreements in times when unfavorable solutions need to be executed. Its strength lies in its speed due to the fact that it can save a lot of time but, it can lead to the strong bitterness of one party in the end. This style is often called forcing because it relies on formal authority to force compliance. Dominating is appropriate when an unpopular solution must be implemented, the issue is minor, or a deadline is near. (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p. 289) The next conflict-handling style is Avoiding. This tactic may involve either passive withdrawal from the problem or active suppression of the issue. Avoidance is appropriate for

Team Building 5 trivial issues or when the costs of confrontation outweigh the benefits of resolving the conflict. (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p. 289) This style is practiced mostly when petty issues are at hand and one or more of the parties takes all focus from them in order to place more focus on the issues that actually matter. An advantage of this style is that it can buy a party time during problematic and uncertain situations. Once again this is also only a temporary fix to the issue so that is where it is weak. The last style that could be implemented by a team for fruitful Conflict Resolution is Compromising. Compromising is a style that both parties must exercise in order for it to actually work. This is a give-and-take approach involving moderate concern for both self and others. Compromise is appropriate when parties have opposite goals or possess equal power. But compromise is inappropriate when overuse would lead to inconclusive action. (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, p. 289) An example of such an inconclusive event could be failing to meet the production deadlines that are in place. With this style, all parties are able to get something out of it and that is why it is an effective method to exercise. All 5 of the Conflict-Handling Styles have their appropriate times of when they should be applied by a team to resolve issues. Every situation is different and that is why it is important to know which style, or styles, to practice in this exercise. Integrating and Compromising seem to be the most worthwhile methods to place focus on because they both deliver the most productive outcomes. In an organizational atmosphere, exercising these techniques could have promising results in Conflict Resolution.

Team Building 6 References Kinicki, A. and Kreitner, R. (2009). Organizational Behavior; Key Concepts, Skills & Best Practices. (4th Ed.). McGraw-Hill Publishing.