Question

Are conflicts always dysfunctional? What are the various types of conflicts that can occur in the workplace? What are the different individual level factors that can cause conflicts at workplace?

Answer 1

answer-

Conflict is a situation in which person strongly argue or disagree on something. So, Conflicts are always Dysfunctional? i would say No Conflicts are not always Dysfunctional because sometimes conflicts can create positive outcoe out of disagreement or argument. the outcome could lead to positive growth and development. Having Conflicts can create positive outcomes like involvement or engagement of employees in task or job, Improvement of quality of decision, support creativity and imagination, foster new ideas, alternatives and solutions.

for example- there are two groups of 5 students assigned to a work project.in the group A , all members agree with one another while in group B all member discuss and arrgue in project work. when presentation day came then no member of Group A is able to present topic perfectly as all members thought that another member know everything so they noded head to each other. while members in group B gave perfect presentation because conflicts and arguements help them to understand the project and each member knew what they are presenting.

various types of conflicts at workplace are-

Intergroup conflict refers to disagreements that exist between two or more groups and their respective members .for example- A sales team having disagreement over setting targets and choosing the location to cover to make sales.

task conflict occurs when two parties are unable to move forward on a task due to differing needs, behaviors or attitudes. It can be conflict over organizational policies and procedures, distribution of resources or the method or means of completing a task.

for example- disagreement on distribution of resources among employees to complete the task.

Relationship conflict is a conflict resulting from either personality clashes or negative emotional interactions between two or more people. For example, you may have a conflict with your co worker because you keep a very tidy worksplace and his is always messy.

Interpersonal conflicts are those Conflicts between two people, which often occurs becasue people are different from one another or have different opinons

Personality clashes-Personality clashes at a workplace are generally fueled by perceptions about someone’s actions, character or motives. For instance, if a team leader verbally insults another member of your staff, they will easily view him or her as inappropriate and disrespectful. When left unchecked, that employee (and others) may harbor resentment.

Individual factors that can cause conflicts at workplace are-

Perception of person is one of the main factor which can cause conflict at workplace. This is because everyone see or percieve things differently. for example- a person may see use of Robots at workplace positive while other employee may percieve it negative.

Attitude means liking or disliking something so person's attitude is also responsible for conflict. for example- A person have attitude that he like to eat at fine dine restaurant so person who likes to eat at low budget restaurant may be in conflict with that peron. or we can say healthy eater may not like person who likes to eat fast food.

Personality and Culture are also causes to conflict. for example- US cultured person likes to wear modern clothing while Muslim culture person oppose that and wear hijab at workplace.