Conflict is: "the process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about" (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2007).
The first semester of our Persuasive Communications unit focused on persuasion theories put forward by Freud et al, but this semester we are studying persuasion and its association with conflict resolution and negotiation in the workplace. Over time, we will learn to understand the principles and processes that affect the way we deal with situations where participants are seeking different outcomes in a common situation - a really interesting topic of study.
Everybody negotiates something everyday, at work and in our personal lives. For instance, at the moment I am trying to organise my 21st birthday party - i know, how exciting right! Obviously, I want to get the best deal which is value for money. I understand that the party venue want to make a decent profit and arrange a deal that suits them, therefore we have to negoitate and compromise on a solution that suits both parties.
In the lecture we learned about factors to negotiate when we go for job interviews. Pay (not surprisingly), was the first factor that the group felt was the most important to negotiate. Other factors included:
- Roles and responsibilities
- Progression /promotional opportunities
- Travel expenses
- Mentor (to support professional development), and
- Lunch breaks (even these can cause conflict if they are not negotiated properly).
The traditional view of conflict is that it is bad for an organisation; it's disruptive and unnatural and represents behaviour that should be controlled and changed. New approaches however say that for organisational success, conflict should be welcomed and encouraged. As Mullins (2005) argues "conflict is an agent for evolution and change".
It seems that I adopted the traditional view of conflict. But without even realising, conflict has produced positive outcomes in some of the group projects I have been involved with. By reflecting back on some of my own personal experience I now realise that a healthy level of conflict can allow for clarification of individual views and is used to produce better ideas. Unhealthy conflict however, can have some negative outcomes which often leaves people feeling demeaned and defeated resulting in; a decrease in employee morale, distance between employees and resistance rather than teamwork.
To get your ideas across persuasively and to reduce the risk of unhealthy organisational conflict:
1. Listen actively to the person you are trying to persuade (What do they believe in, try to understand what's important to them).
2. Win yourself a hearing (para-phrase their points and get them to listen to you. They can't disagree with your feelings).
3. Work to a joint solution.
So, next time I am working in a group I will use these techniques and see where they get me. I will acknowledge conflict as a positive element but I will remain precautious as I now understand that there is a fine line between conflict which produces positive results and conflict which produces negative results.
What are your experiences of conflict in the workplace? Can you provide any further advice on how to get your ideas and thoughts across persuasively without causing unhealthy conflict?
I think you've hit the nail on the head in pointing out that conflict can be both positive and negative depending on how it is handled. The most important point to remember is that conflicts will never be resolved unless all parties are willing to have their views changed.
ReplyDeleteThe listener plays a significant role in the process of persuasion. Successful persuasion depends on the argument put forward by the listener. The reactions of the listeners will decide the actions need to push forward.
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