Question

10. Take a look at the variables of group communication: conflict, conformity, and consensus. Is there such a thing as healthy conflict? When is conflict in a team good, and how should a team avoid personal conflict?

17. As the sales manager, you have eight sales associates and one administrative assistant working for you. You have asked your assistant to make the arrangements for you and your sales group to attend a trade show. The day before the event, one of your sales associates becomes ill and will not be able to attend.  
Your assistant asks if he may go with you. Instead of giving an immediate answer, you ask for time to consider his request. Having everyone out of the office at once is not an option. Who will take any sales calls that may come in? Your department's phones must be covered while you are all away. You have decided not to approve his request.

How do you reject a request? What should you say? What type of buffer can you use to soften the blow of the rejection?

16. Your company has sold 80 ready-to-assemble bookcases to customers. You have noticed some disgruntled customers discussing this bookcase on Facebook and Twitter, but they did not mention a specific problem. For two weeks you have been closely monitoring these complaints and finally a customer gives the details you need. This customer says that the instructions for putting the bookcase together were not in the box.

After a trip to the warehouse, you confirm that this is a problem and stop all boxes from going out. You have instruction sheets printed and have them placed in a sealed, marked plastic envelope on the outside of the boxes, before resuming shipments.
Customer service pulls the contact information for all the orders shipped without instructions. How would you handle your response to customers? What would you say?

Answer 1

Ans 10) Conflict : When there are different opinion on the same subject then confict arises. Mainly in case of some judgemental and brain storming kind of situation is arises during initial discussion. It happens because there are different people in the part of group communication and they have different ideas and opinion on the matter of subject.

Conformity: Once this discussion goes forward people are start making understanding on topic and try to form a similar understanding on the subject of matter this is know as conformity. This change happens because either people are agree with others point of view or may be due to peer pressure.

Consensus: When everyone in group communication is agree witht the provided solution this is known as consensus. Here group reach to the one solution after having discussion with each other.

Yes there is a healthy conflict when there is no ego involved among the group member and try to find the solution for the particular problem. There might me many way to solve some issue, its good to guage every ideas one by one without having any personal ego and try to contribute for finding the best solution for the problem. Healthy conflict brings good atmosphere in the group and also make group member feel important.

When team is discussing on the options on its merit and demerit and reaching to the best possible solution by analying all aspects of the options then we can say that conflict occurs during this process of group communication is healthy conflict.

Personal conflict can be avioded by not critising any idea during discussion. It can be possible by team building, leadership development and talent management. Moderator should keep checking if there is any confict happened due to personal reason or not, if it is personal then he should try to make peace between them and better to train them on good communication practices. People should respect each other views and even if they are not agree with them one should raise the conflict respectfully.