Role of HR to resolve Workplace conflict

WORKPLACE CONFLICT
MANAGEMENT
Dr.E.J.Sarma
4-October -2015
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AGENDA
• Conflict of Personal level
/groups/communities/nations
• Conflict with Boss/Harassment
• Conflict Processes
• Clash of values/principles
• Resolution strategies
• Few of the greatest corporate conflicts
• Role of mentor/religion
• Sum up
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Dr.Sarma-Conflictmanagement

AGENDA
• Introduction
• Understanding the concept
• Types of workplace
conflict-Personal/Interpersonal/Team
• Levels and Types of Conflict in
Organizations
• The Sources of Conflict in Organizations
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KEY LEARNING POINTS/GOALS FOR TODAY
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Understand the
Terminology ,
conflict types , styles
The strategy for resolution

CONFLICT-?
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Let us find as many
alternate words for Conflict
Please write

UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT
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Dispute, Quarrel ,
Squabble ,
Opposite stand
Disagreement,
Opposition, Discord,
collision,
War , Deviation ,
Clash, Encounter
Contradiction,
Irreconcilable, Deviation,
Rivalry,
Fracas, fight, Quarrel

your score
1-10
11-14
15-19
>20
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ENTRY BEHAVIOR
1-Write 3 of your belief about conflicts
2-Think of one incident in your personal life
where you were involved in conflict situation
What role you played
And how did you feel about the outcome
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CHECK THE MENTAL MODEL
Conflict is battle of nerves and
outcome is dependent on personalities
Someone has to lose and
win- win is never possible as outcome
There is no techniques that can be used
to work through a conflict successfully
so everybody wins
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CHECKING BELIEF
e.g
• You must hire people from same culture to
get common view
• Committees can not resolve conflicts
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MENTAL MODEL
The famous adage, “two
heads are better than
one” is precisely about
the advantages of
conflict, for it assumes
that two minds will have
separate perspectives,
experiences, and ideas.
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MENTAL MODEL
• Diversity and communication are hallmarks
of a great team, and the occasional root cause
of clashes in the office.
• Conflict is a good thing; it’s our response that
makes conflict either a creative or destructive
process.
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MENTAL MODEL ?
✕ Is Conflict every day
occurrence?
✕ With family or friends,
boss, coworkers or
customers.
✕ Conflict will occur and
Criticality is , how we
understand, resolve and
learn from it
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Perception and mental model
Our view of the world around us is all due to the way we
perceive things and our behavior is based on our belief
It is important to know why we behave the way we behave
Let us have some fun
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Male/Femalestyledifferences
Hypothesis - gender difference would exist in conflict resolution
style
female managers with 1-10 years experience will exhibit more
communicative behavior than male managers.
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Male/Femalestyledifferences
A gender difference would exist in conflict resolution style
within the group of male managers with 1-10 years
experience
and exhibit more competitive behavior than female managers.
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Gender differences
Research data did reveal significant differences between females
and males in compromising
Results indicated males scored slightly higher in obliging and
dominating than females.
Females scored slightly lower in obliging and dominating than
males.
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Gender differences
Results indicated females scored slightly higher in avoiding and
integrating than
males.
Males scored slightly lower in avoiding and integrating than
females.
Females scored higher in compromising than males and work
to develop common agreement.
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Perception impact
Perception is vitiated by all these and is
complex process. hence most of our
judgment can go wrong
Be very conscious of this while judging
and concluding
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CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES
• There are only five generally acknowledged styles
for dealing with conflict:
• Compromising, Avoiding,
• Integrating, Dominating
Obliging.
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Styles
• Compromising stylists tend to be "middle of the road" in
style
• They want both parties to gain some, but both will also
need to give a little as well.
• Avoidance style suggests, simply leave the conflict
altogether.
• Integrators tend to be open to others' differences and try
to come to an understanding that satisfies both parties.
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Styles
Dominating stylists tend to be aggressive
and push for win always
Obliging- tends to give up easily
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CONFLICT AND MENTAL MODEL
• Those who dominate are primarily
concerned with their own desires and do not
readily compromise,
• while those who oblige are willing to give up
what they want to make everyone happy.
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CONFLICT AND Causes
Does every conflict warrants a confrontation
The need is attitude to attempt to sort it out.
Conflicts arise not so much because of what
the other person said or did,
but because of our sensitive trigger
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In dealing with conflict always keep three
key elements in mind
Interdependency of parties
Perception of incompatible goals
Context of Conflict Situations
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● Remember conflict will involve anyone or all of
these
● Disagreements
● Debates
● Disputes
● Obstruction -Preventing someone from reaching
valued goals
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WHAT CONFLICT INVOLVES
• Conflict is not always bad for
organization(50 most famous corporate
conflicts)
• Do not need to reduce all conflict to
agreements
• Ebb and flow of during conflict resolution
process
• Healthy conflict Needed for growth and
survival
• Strategy may include increasing and
decreasing intensity of conflict
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FUNCTIONAL AND
DYSFUNCTIONAL CONFLICT
• Functional conflict: Involved parties
work
• toward the positive outcome /goals of an
organization or group
• Dysfunctional conflict: Parties block an
organization or group from reaching the
goals
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FUNCTIONAL AND
• Functional conflict
● Increases information quality and ideas
● Encourages innovative thinking
● Unshackles different points of view
● Reduces stagnation
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FUNCTIONAL AND
(CONT.)
• Dysfunctional high conflict leads to
● Tension, anxiety, stress
● Drives out low conflict tolerant people
● Reduced trust
● Poor decisions because of withheld or distorted
information
● Excessive management focus on the conflict 30
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BEHIND CONFLICTS
• Ideologies
• Ego/hubris
• Power/status
• Greed
• Attitude :Opposing just for the sake of
• Perceived Threats 31
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FUNCTIONAL AND DYSFUNCTIONAL
CONFLICT (CONT.)
• Dysfunctional low conflict-hidden/latent
● Fewer new ideas
● Poor decisions from lack of innovation and
information
● Stagnation
● Business as usual
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LEVELS AND TYPES OF CONFLICT
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Individual
Group
Organization
Type of
conflict
Level of
conflict
Within and between
organizations
Intra/inter group
Within and between
individuals

(CONT.)
Intra organizational conflict
Conflict that occurs within an organization
at interfaces of organization functions ;
Can occur along the vertical and horizontal
dimensions
Vertical conflict: between managers and
subordinates
Horizontal conflict: between departments and work
groups
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(CONT.)
• Intragroup conflict
● Conflict among members of a group-jealousy-
rivalry
● Early stages of group development
● Ways of doing tasks or reaching group's goals
• Intergroup conflict: between two or more
groups-competition VS collaboration
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(CONT.)
Interpersonal conflict
Between two or more people
Differences in views about what should be
done
Efforts to get more
Differences in orientation to work and time in
different parts of an organization
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(CONT.)
Intrapersonal conflict
Occurs within an individual
Threat to a person’s values
Feeling of unfair treatment
Multiple and contradictory sources of socialization
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LEVELS AND TYPES
OF CONFLICT (CONT.)
Inter organizational conflict
● Between two or more organizations
● Competition to 0utwit
● Examples: suppliers and distributors,
especially with the close links now possible
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TEAM CONFLICT REASONS
Many reasons for conflict within a
team or between teams.
To Simplify the source of the conflict
Examine whether the conflict is task-
based or if it stems from a relational
issue.
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TEAM CONFLICT REASONS
• This separation is often helpful
because,
task-based conflict is productive
while
Relationship-based conflict is
destructive to the desired
outcome.
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CONFLICT STAGES
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Latent conflict
Conflict aftermath
Manifest conflict
Simple conflict episode

CONFLICT LEVELS
Latent conflict: antecedents of conflict
past behavior that can start conflict
Manifest conflict: observable conflict
behavior
Conflict aftermath
End of a conflict episode
Often the starting point of a related episode
Becomes the latent conflict for another
Conflict reduction: lower the conflict
level
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CONFLICT MANIFESTATIONS
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Latent conflict
Conflict aftermath
Manifest conflict
Conflict reduction

The antecedents
of conflict
Example: scarce
resources
Latent conflict
Manifest
conflict
Conflict
aftermath

Observable conflict
behavior
Example:
disagreement,
discussion
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Latent conflict
Manifest
conflict
Conflict
aftermath

Manifest conflict
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Latent conflict
Conflict
aftermath
Residue of a
conflict episode
Example:
compromise in
allocating scarce
resources leaves both
parties with less than
they wanted

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Latent conflict
Manifest conflict
Conflict
aftermath
Perceived
conflict
Felt conflict
Conflict
reduction

• Perceived conflict
● Become aware that one is in conflict with another
party
● Attempt to block out some conflict
● Can perceive conflict when no latent conditions
exist
● Example: misunderstanding another person’s
position on an issue
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CONFLICT EPISODES (CONT.)
• Felt conflict
● Emotional part of conflict
● Personalizing the conflict
● Oral and physical hostility
● Hard to manage episodes with high felt conflict
● What people likely recall about conflict
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RELATIONSHIPS AMONG
CONFLICT PROCESS
• Process links through the connection
latent origin of conflict to aftermath .
• Effective conflict management: break
the connection
• Discover the latency of conflicts and
remove them
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CONFLICT FRAMES AND
ORIENTATIONS
Conflict frames
Perceptual sets that people bring to conflict
episodes
Perceptual filters
• Remove some information from an episode
• Emphasize other information in an episode
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CONFLICT FRAMES AND
ORIENTATIONS (CONT.)
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Relationship-
Task
Emotional-Intellectual
Cooperate-Win
Conflict
frame

CONFLICT FRAMES
AND ORIENTATIONS (CONT.)
• Conflict frame dimensions
Relationship-Task
• Relationship: focuses on interpersonal relationships
• Task: focuses on material aspects of a result
Emotional-Intellectual
• Emotional: focuses on feelings in the conflict episode
(felt conflict)
• Intellectual: focuses on observed behavior (manifest
conflict)
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CONFLICT FRAMES
• Conflict frame dimensions (cont.)
Cooperate-Win
• Cooperate: emphasizes the role of all parties to the
conflict
• Win: wants to maximize personal gain
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Choose your animal
• Which one animal below you identify most?
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CONFLICT FRAMES AND
ORIENTATIONS (CONT.)
Conflict orientations
● Dominance: wants to win; conflict is a battle
● Collaborative: wants to find a solution that
satisfies everyone
● Compromise: splits the differences
● Avoidance: backs away
● Accommodative: focuses on desires of other
party
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CONFLICT FRAMES
• Strategy can change during conflict
progress based on how firmly the person
holds position
● Importance of the issues to the person
● Perception of opponent's power
• Collaborative orientation: more
positive long-term benefits than the
others
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CONFLICT FRAMES AND ORIENTATIONS
(CONT.)
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Avoidance
Accommodative
Dominance
CompromiseCollaborative
Conflict aftermath
High residueNo residue
Conflict orientation and the conflict aftermath

CONFLICT AND ORIENTATIONS -
Commonly observed
• Combinations of conflict orientations in a
group
● Dominance, avoidance
● Dominance, dominance
● Avoidance, avoidance
● Dominance, collaborative, compromise
● Collaborative, compromise, avoidance
● Collaborative, compromise, avoidance,
dominance, accommodative
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LATENT CONFLICT: THE SOURCES
OF CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATIONS
• There is antecedents
• Many natural conditions of organizations act
as latent conflicts
• Lurk in the background; trigger conflict when
right conditions occur
• Does not always lead to manifest conflict
• Give us clues about how to reduce
dysfunctional high conflict
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LATENT CONFLICT: THE SOURCES
OF CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATIONS
(CONT.)
• Some representative latent conflict (cont.)
● Interdependence: forces interaction
● Communication barriers: shift work and jargon
● Ambiguous jurisdictions: areas of authority not
clearly defined
● Reward systems: reward different behavior in
different parts of the organization
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CONFLICT OF INTEREST
A term used to describe the situation in which a
public official or fiduciary who, contrary to the
obligation and absolute duty to act for the
benefit of the public or a designated individual,
exploits the relationship for personal benefit,
typically pecuniary.
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CONFLICT MANAGEMENT MODEL
Maintain conflict at functional levels
● Not complete elimination
● Reducing to functional levels
● Increasing dysfunction ally low conflict
● Choose desired level of conflict based on
perceived conflict requirements
● Varies in different parts of an organization
● Manager’s tolerance for conflict plays a role
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ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT
MANAGEMENT MODEL
(CONT.)
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Perceived conflict requirements
Desired conflict level
Organizational
culture
Fast-changing
environment
Product or
service

(CONT.)
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Norma
l
Increas
e
conflict
Decrea
se
conflict
Dysfunctional
low conflict
Dysfunction ally
high conflict

(CONT.)
• Symptoms of dysfunction ally high conflict
● Low trust or high mistrust
● Information distortion/withholding
● Tension/antagonism/confrontation
● Stress/anger
● Sabotage of other party’s interest
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(CONT.)
• Symptoms of dysfunction ally low conflict
● Deny differences
● Repress controversial information
● Prohibit disagreements
● Avoid interactions
● Walk away from conflict episode
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REDUCING /RESOLVING CONFLICT
● Lose-lose methods: parties to the conflict do
not get what they want
● Win-lose methods: one party a clear winner;
other party clear loser
Win-win methods: each party to the conflict
gets what he or she wants
Win-No deal- one party alone gets their goal otherwise break all
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REDUCING CONFLICT (CONT.)
• Lose-lose methods
● Avoidance
• Withdraw, stay away
• Does not permanently reduce conflict
● Compromise
• Bargain, negotiate
• Each loses something valued
● Smoothing: find similarities
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• Win-lose methods
● Dominance
• Overwhelm other party
• Overwhelms an avoidance
orientation
● Authoritative command:
decision by person in
authority
● Majority rule: voting
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• Win-win methods
● Problem solving: find root causes
● Integration: meet interests and desires of all
parties
● Superordinate goal: desired by all but not
reachable alone
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• Summary
● Lose-lose methods: compromise
● Win-lose methods: dominance
● Win-win methods: problem solving
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WIN/WIN
LOSE/LOSE
WIN/LOSE
LOSE/WIN
WIN-NO DEAL
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Negotiation outcome possibilities

NEXT TIME I SUGGEST YOU TRY “WIN-
WIN” NEGOTIATING”
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INCREASING CONFLICT
• Increase conflict when it is dysfunctionally low
● Heterogeneous groups: members have different
backgrounds
● Devil’s advocate: offers alternative views
● Organizational culture: values and norms that
embrace conflict and debate
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Some Negotiating steps are tough to
take...
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HANDLING EMOTIONS
Emotional Challenges
Anger/exasperation
Insulted
Guilt
False flattery
Recommended
Response
Allow venting. Probe
for why
What wouldn’t be
insulting?
Focus on issues
Re-focus
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CONFLICT GENERATING CAUSES
• Taking credit for other people’s work or
stealing ideas
• Talking over people in meetings
• Not inviting team members to team /social
events
• Not rendering help by covering for people
when they are off sick
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CONFLICT REASONS
• Excessive personal use of the Internet or
official email
• Poor attendance / time-keeping
• Any form of bullying behavior or harassment
• Any form of discriminatory behavior
• Unacceptable language
• Theft
• Alcohol/ drug problems.
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CONFLICT REASONS
• Not taking messages for people
• using someone else’s contacts or information
without permission
• not including people in important emails
• ignoring or being discourteous
• Poor personal hygiene
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ASPECTS OF CONFLICT IN
ORGANIZATIONS
• Cultures that emphasize individualism and
competition
● Positively value conflict
● English-speaking countries, the Netherlands,
Italy, Belgium
• Cultures that emphasize collaboration,
cooperation, conformity
● Negatively value conflict
● Many Asian –Japanese and Latin American
countries; Portugal, Greece, Turkey
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ORGANIZATIONS (CONT.)
Cultural differences imply different functional
conflict levels
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ORGANIZATIONS (CONT.)
• Cross-cultural research has dealt with
intergroup processes
• Collaborative and cooperative cultures expect
little conflict during intergroup interactions
• Favor suppression of conflict with little
discussion about people's feelings
• Felt conflict likely part of some conflict
episodes but hidden from public view
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INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF
CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATIONS
(CONT.)
• Managers from an individualistic country
operating in a less individualistic country
● Acceptable to express feelings during a conflict
episode
● Suppression of feelings could baffle them
● Increasing conflict can confuse local people
● Almost immediate dysfunctional results
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ETHICAL ISSUES IN CONFLICT IN
ORGANIZATIONS'
Tolerance for conflict
● Manager with a high tolerance for conflict; keeps
conflict levels too high for subordinates
● Should such managers reveal their intentions
about desired conflict levels?
● Full disclosure: subordinates could leave the
group if conflict levels became dysfunction ally
stressful
● Ethical question applies equally to newly hired
employees
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ETHICAL ISSUES IN
(CONT.)
Deliberately increasing conflict is an effort to
guide behavior in a desired direction
● Subtle methods of increasing conflict (forming
heterogeneous groups) connote manipulation
● Full disclosure: manager states his intention to
use conflict to generate ideas and innovation
● If people are free to join a group or not, the
ethical issue likely subsides
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ETHICAL ISSUES IN
(CONT.)
• Experiencing intrapersonal conflict
● Requests to act against one's moral values
● Observing behavior that one considers unethical
• Reduce intrapersonal conflict
● Report unethical acts
● Transfer to another part of the organization
● Quit
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ETHICAL ISSUES IN
(CONT.)
Different cultures place different values
on conflict
● Optimal conflict levels vary among
countries
● Lower levels conflict in collectivistic
countries than individualistic countries
● Corruption and bribe is way of life in our
country while other nations deal with it at
very high level
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CULTURE INFLUENCE AND
CONFLICT HANDLING
• Uchi-Soto ("Us and Them")-one will notice
about the Japanese. They have been raised to
think of themselves as part of a group, and
their group is always dealing with other
groups.
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CONFLICT HANDLING
• Dealing with Japanese on a one-to-one basis
usually is very easy to non-Japanese, but
dealing with Japanese as a group can be a
different matter altogether. And no matter
how nice you are, or how good your Japanese
becomes, you will always be treated as an
outsider. In fact the literal meaning of "gaijin"
is outsider.
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CONFLICT HANDLING
• Japanese are extremely sensitive to what
others might think of them .
• Being ostracized is one of the worst things
that can happen to a Japanese
• Therefore, when making requests, it often
takes more time since the person asked
usually consults others in the group to reach a
consensus
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CONFLICT HANDLING
• In short, however, while the westerner starts
so many sentences with "I", the Japanese "I"
usually means "with the approval of the
group".
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CONFLICT HANDLING
• Uchi-soto has one other important trait --
• there are next to no strikes in Japan ever
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CONFLICT HANDLING
Because Japanese labor-management relations
are better? Partly, yes.
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CONFLICT HANDLING
But in Japan there are almost no industrial
unions like the CITU AIBEA
Each large corporation has its own union, and
they feel no bond with other company unions
even if they are doing the same work. In one
sense, the company union is almost a puppet,
led by a management executive.
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POWER OF CONFLICT LESS
TEAMWORK
HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS
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HOW TO APPROACH CONFLICT
Self role in handling conflict
role of mediator
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MIRROR MIRROR…ON THE WALL…
• How do we
approach the issue ?
• Do we respect other
people’s opinions?
• What makes people
angry?
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MIRROR MIRROR…ON THE WALL…
• What are the
warning signs
of anger?
• What to do :
walk away ?
• Take a
moment to
think?
• Agree with the
other person
and “give in”?
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CLUES – AGITATION AND
AGGRESSION
Do you recognise when
someone is becoming
irritated or not is your first
clue
someone shouting at you or
storming off?
Some other clues for you:
Voice
changes pitch
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CLUES – AGITATION AND
AGGRESSION
• flushes or goes pale
• Breathing rate changes
• Tense body posture
• Eye contact changes – either
more direct and challenging or
avoiding eye contact
completely
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WHAT DO PEOPLE DO?
Five basic ways of addressing conflict were
identified by Thomas and Kilmann in 1976:
• Avoidance
• Collaboration
• Compromise
• Competition
• Accommodation
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Strategies for conflict management
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1
2
5
4
3
high
high
low
Avoidance-
tortoise Accommodation-
chameleon
Competition lion Collaboration-
Dolphin
Compromise-
Zebra
confrontation
cooperation

AVOIDANCE
What does it look like?
Avoid or postpone conflict by;
Ignoring it.
✕ Respecting that everyone has
different
opinions
✕ Asking to talk about it later,
when it’s less busy (for
example)
When to use it?
✕ For minor – non-recurring
conflicts
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COLLABORATION
• Working together to
find a mutually
beneficial solution
When to use it?
• As part of problem
solving
• In meetings or 1:1
Potential outcomes
• Win-win solutions to
conflict or disagreement
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• How much time you have available and how
well you know those you are speaking
with
• How to use your questioning skills to capture
everyone’s requirements
• How to gain agreement before continuing
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COMPROMISE
• Finding a middle ground in
which each party is partially
satisfied
When to use it?
• As part of problem solving
• When the time to
collaborate effectively is not
available
• When the situation is less
complex 112
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Potential outcomes
• The key requirements or expectations of
those involved may be resolved
Consider
• Will those involved be satisfied with a
partial solution
• How to use your questioning skills to
capture requirements
• How to gain agreement before continuing
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ACCOMMODATION
• Surrender your own
needs and wishes to
accommodate the other
party
When to use it?
• If this will achieve the
best outcome
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ACCOMMODATION
Potential outcomes
• A short term solution that you can live
with
• If you are the one accommodating, then
over time, you might resent working in
this way
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Consider
• Why would your viewpoint be any
less correct or relevant than anyone
else’s?
• What the circumstance is
• Do you need to build a working
relationship?
• Are you choosing to do this because
of hierarchy?
• What you could ask those involved in
order to understand the situation
better?
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TOOL BOX TOOLS AND
TECHNIQUES
Empathy
• Walk a mile in the other person’s shoes
(figuratively speaking)
Active listening
• Use good eye contact, body posture, nodding
and acknowledgement when someone is talking
to you
• Summarize and paraphrase what you hear and
repeat it back without changing language styles
to make sure you are on the same page and
understand what has been said
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TECHNIQUES
Take your time
● Give the other person time to respond and
pace to do so
● No matter how thin you slice it – there are
always 2 sides
● Remember respect cuts both ways
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Open Questions
● What, Where, How,
● Who (be careful of Why questions
can start to feel like an interrogation
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DO…. EMPATHISE WITH THEM
• The focus of your listening is to understand the
other party – for you to “get it”
• Work to let them know what it is you “got”
• Use communication skills such as – paraphrasing
and summarising
120
120

TECHNIQUES
Use the same sorts of words they
✕are using (not the expletives)
✕Check your understanding
✕Acknowledge what has been said
121
121

LISTEN
• This is not the easiest thing
to do,
• show that you are focused
on understanding the other
person’s point of view.
• Focus on the words you
choose, your tone of voice,
your hand movements and
body language
122
122

FORMULA FOR EFFECTIVE LISTENING
• L-Look Interested
• I- Inquire
• S-Stay on target
• T-Test your understanding
• E-Evaluate body language
• N-Neutralize feelings
123
123

TAKE YOUR TIME
• The only person you
can control is you
• If you start to get
angry take a break
think about how to
handle the situation
• Ask questions and
keep an open mind
124
124

Consider
Always show respect No matter how
much you disagree with someone –
your challenge is with the subject,
context, circumstance or argument
NOT with the person
How does it affect you, when you
do not feel you are being listened
to…someone stands over you…raises
their voice….speaks over you….wags
their finger at you….tells you off?
125
125

EXPLAIN WITH CARE
• How can you do this when your point of
view is very different from theirs?
• Use “I” statements rather than “you”
statements
• Instead of “you don’t know what you’re
talking about” try “I’d like to explain my
perspective to you”
• Blaming and judging people is not helpful
and will not effectively find a solution
• Avoid discussing attitudes and
personalities
126
126

THINK CREATIVELY
• Use the different
methods explored
here
• Work to identify
different solutions
from those so far
rejected by one of
the parties
127
127

AT TIMES
• Accept the
situation
• Conflict
cannot
always be
avoided
• Not every
conflict is
negative
128
128

CONFLICT RESOLUTION
129
Learning to negotiate

WHY AND HOW OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
TRAINING?
• Understand the effect conflict has on you
• Recognize when it is appropriate to
communicate with an angry person
• Understand how to diffuse negative encounters
• Learn how to speak with others on
uncomfortable or potentially “hot topics” and
maintain a professional approach
• Understand the motivators for anger
• Recognise when it is no longer safe to
communicate and the only safe response is to
walk away`
130
130

WORKPLACECONFLICT
WITH BOSS –HOW TO HANDLE
• Learn to deal more effectively with difficult
bosses and supervisors.
• How To Deal With A Difficult Boss ?
• Bosses and supervisors aren't from another
planet, but sometimes they seem to be
131
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131

WORKPLACECONFLICT WITH BOSS-
Conflict with a difficult boss can be
daunting and intimidating.
Here are some tips to help you deal with
difficult bosses and supervisors.
132
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132

WORKPLACE CONFLICT- CONFLICT AND
BOSS
• Most people at some point in their lives have
to deal with a difficult boss.
• Difficult supervisors vary in personality from
being pushy or rude, all the way to being
downright abusive.
• Task vs relationship styles
133
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133

CONFLICT AND BOSS
✕ Many people feel abusive boss has control of
personal life outside of work and lower the
self-esteem and live in constant fear.
✕ The role of a supervisor is controlling ;
attracts personalities who like the power
✕ A supervisor has complete control over most
basic human needs— ability to put food on
the table and a roof over your head.
135
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135

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
CONFLICT AND BOSS
• These are powerful motivating factors that
allow a difficult boss /supervisor to control
people out of fear of losing these basic needs.
• We may not be able to always correct their
behavior, but we should never have to live in
fear and let our difficult boss control our
lives.
136
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136

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
CONFLICT AND BOSS
• Here are some strategies on handling a
difficult boss situation.
137
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137

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
CONFLICT AND BOSS
• Always have a plan B. Most people are
scared about having a discussion with their
boss concerning their abusive behavior
because they fear reprimand or losing their
job as a result of it.
138
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138

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
CONFLICT AND BOSS
• Their fear is usually justified if the
supervisor is a control-freak and feels that
their subordinate is threatening their
control.
139
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139

BOSS
• Before you deal with any type of conflict,
you always need to have a plan B in case
things don’t work out.
• A plan B is the best alternative that you can
come up without having to negotiate
anything with your boss.
140
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140

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
✕ Your best plan B would probably take the form
of having an actual job offer in hand with
another employer before you have your talk.
✕ By not having a backup plan, you have given your
abusive boss even more leverage over you
because they know you have nowhere else to go.
141
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141

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
• Having a plan B, however, empowers you
with the ability to walk-away at any time
should the negotiation not go right. Increase
your power and have a plan B before you
deal with the conflict.
142
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142

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
• Never react to verbal abuse or harsh
criticism with emotion.
• This will gets you into more trouble than you
started with because it will become a war
between egos and chances are good that your
boss has a bigger ego than you have—
143
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143

BOSS AND CONFLICT
• When a personal attack is made , it is bait to
reacting emotionally and become easy target
for additional attacks.
• The key then is not to react, but to
acknowledge and move on.
144
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144

CONFLICT WITH BOSS
✕ By doing this, you effectively strip all of
the power behind their verbal attacks
away from your abusive boss, without
creating conflict.
✕ If your boss happens to be an
intimidator or a control freak, then the
best way of dealing with their behavior
is to remain calm and acknowledge
their power by saying,
145
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145

Angry boss?
• "You're right, I'm sorry." By saying this,
you
• take away any chance of boss lashing
back at
• you because you have sidestepped the
verbal attack rather than meeting it
head on.
146
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146

CONFLICT WITH BOSS
• Feel neglected when not recognized for
performance.
• Not giving credit when due
• Or steals credit
147
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147

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
• Discuss rather than confront.
• When your boss criticizes you than
appreciating, don’t react out of emotion and
become confrontational
because that just breeds more conflict.
• Instead, indulge in discussion on with data.
148
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148

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
• Ask them for the advice on how your work
can be improved.
149
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149

CONFLICT AND THE BOSS
• Manage the manager.
• Always source of conflict is a new manager
• who demands that things run differently.
150
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150

BOSS
• A discussion about what is the expected level
and result
• by when
• and what help can you expect
• At the very beginning will help
• Get to know the boss’s preference .
151
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151

KNOW THAT YOU CAN DO LITTLE TO
CHANGE THEM.
• Being a difficult person is part of the
personality and therefore do not try to
change a supervisor, . Instead, change the
way that you approach the behavior.
• Avoiding derogatory labeling, it is easy on
yourself to be even angry with your boss.
152
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152

KEEP YOUR PROFESSIONAL FACE
ON
Know the difference between not liking your boss
and not being professional.
You don’t have to make your boss your friend or
even like your boss as a person, but you do have to
remain professional and get the job done and carry
out their instructions dutifully as a subordinate, just
as you would expect them to be professional as do
their duties as a supervisor.
153
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153

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
• Evaluate your own performance.
Before you go attacking your boss,
examine your own performance and
ask yourself if you are doing
everything right.
154
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154

HANDLING CONFLICT WITH
SUBORDINATES
• Conflict arise for the same reasons that you
may feel with your boss
• Performance appraisal is generally the
conflict area
• Insubordination is second major reason
155
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155

WORKPLACE CONFLICT- CONFLICT WITH
SUBORDINATES
• To handle performance issues be proactive
• Define goals /and consequences of not
delivering
• On insubordination- gather all facts/
document
• Discuss and agree on corrective action
156
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156

GATHER ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.
✕ If others share in your concern, then you have the
power of numbers behind you to give you additional
persuasion power over your boss.
✕ It is often easy for a supervisor to ignore or attack one
employee, but it becomes more difficult to attack all of
his employees.
✕ He might be able to fire one of you, but he will look
like an idiot (and probably get fired himself) if he tries
to fire all of you. An interdepartmental union is a good
way of mustering power against an abusive employer.
157
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157

WHEN TO GO UP THE CHAIN OF
COMMAND - LAST RESORT.
✕Going up the chain of command is not
an effective way of dealing with a difficult
supervisor
✕Try to discuss issues first and only go up
the chain of command as a last resort.
158
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158

WORKPLACE CONFLICT-PAT ON THE
BACK
• Encourage good behavior with praise
• boss and that of your subordinates-
• If shy of verbal use thank you cards
• It is easy to criticize but criticisms often lead
towards resentment and hostile feelings.
159
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159

WORKPLACECONFLICT-
✕ Be very careful when you criticize in
others presence.
✕ Everyone likes a pat on the back for
good behavior, so you should strive to
watch for good behaviors from your
boss and subordinates and
compliment them .
✕ Have you ever thanked your boss for
sound advice?
✕ Proactive praising is much more
effective than reactive criticisms.
160
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160

LEAVE WORK AT WORK.
• Leave work at work.
• If you choose to stay with a toxic BOSS , then
document everything.
• This will be the main ammunition should a
complaint ever be filed .
• Maintain performance review record.
161
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161

WORKPLACE CONFLICT- LEAVE WORK AT
WORK.
✕ Get into the habit of leaving work at home
and not bringing it into personal life;
It will only add to your level of stress.
✕ Keep your professional life separate from
personal life as best as you can.
✕ This also includes having friends who you
don’t work with so that you can detach
yourself from your work life rather than
bringing it home with you.
162
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162

WORKPLACECONFLICT IN
VALUES -
Downsizing or winding up of a business
Layoff / Termination of employees due to cost
cutting
163
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163

ETHICAL ISSUES-
• Harassment
• Bribe
• Tax evasions
164
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164

CONFLICT RESOLUTION-BIBLICAL
REF
• Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for
they shall be called the children of
God”(Matthew 5.9).
• Peacemakers enter into conflict with a
commitment to bring God’s goodness out of
that situation, however terrible it might be.
165
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165

CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION
• Today the phrase “conflict transformation”
has been used to describe the various
processes whereby people and nations seek to
establish constructive and positive dynamics
and institutions in their communities in place
of the destruction and sorrow of war and civil
strife.
166
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166

BIBLICAL
✕ confronting evil nonviolently,
establishing justice,
✕ negotiating agreements,
✕ peace-building
✕ forging reconciliation.
167
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167

• In Matthew 18 Jesus says, "If another member of the church
sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of
you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained
that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others
along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the
evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to
listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses
to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a
Gentile and a tax collector" (Matt. 18:15-17).*
•
168

BIBLICAL REF
•
• Jesus charged his followers “to be
engaged in positively transforming
conflicts, for such people show
themselves to be God’s children
demonstrating the same care and
compassion for people suffering in
conflict as God has demonstrated
through Christ.”
169
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REF
✕ POINTS OF IMPORTANCE:
✕ Conciliation - 7 steps of the Social
Transformation of Conflict:
✕ 1. Problem-solving, where the parties disagree
but share a problem.
✕ 2. Shift from disagreement to personal
antagonism; the person is seen as the
problem.
✕ 3. Issue proliferation–moving from the
specific to the general, from one issue to
many. 170
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170

REF
✕ 4. Triangulation–talking to other people about the
person in conflict not directly to that person.
(“Triangulation” means making a triangle, in this case
with two people who bring in a third person to the
conflict, not as a mediator to assist in resolving the
conflict, but in an effort to get the third person on one
side or the other.)
✕ 5. Reaction and escalation–an eye for an eye.
✕ 6. Antagonism increasing to hostility.
✕ 7. Polarization–a change in the social organization
(breaking of friendship, divorce, church split, civil war,
etc.)
171
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171

✕ The further along the conflict goes through
these steps there is more violence, less trust,
less accurate communication and less direct
contact.
In the Genesis stories we see Adam-and Eve
at step 2 where Adam is blaming both Eve and
God for the problem. Cain is
also at step 2 seeing Abel as the problem, but
he jumps quickly to step 7 in committing
murder. 172
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172

DOMINATION
✕ Domination is where one person or group
gains power that is used in a threatening or
abusive way over others. Throughout the
Bible violent political domination is a
problem, whether looking at the oppressions
of Pharaoh in Egypt or Samuel’s concerns
about establishing a king in Israel (see 1
Samuel 8). The climax of this violent
domination is
173
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173

DEMON OR DIVINE?
• seen in Revelation 13 , 13.1.7 depicts
• Both demonic and divine governments -
mixture of both the divinely-established and
the demonic.
• Some governments may exhibit more of the
demonic nature in their destructive behavior,
while other governments may not
174
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174

THE 50 GREATEST BUSINESS
CONFLICTS OF ALL TIME
✕ Thomas Edison electrocuted an elephant to
demonstrate the danger of a competitor's
technology.
✕ Nike , desperate for an advantage over a
surging Reebok, signed a college hoops player
named Michael Jordan.
✕ Central Pacific Railroad laid an astounding 10
miles of track in 24 hours to grab government
payments that the hated Union Pacific would
otherwise claim
175
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175

• What comes through most strongly in these
stories is sheer human intensity.
• Only a brave novelist would have imagined
the brother vs. brother saga of Adidas vs.
Puma
• Venice vs. Genoa They may look like a dusty
tale of feuding city-states, but it set the tone
for hundreds of years of European
competition. 176
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176

• Rivalries make great stories, and the greatest
rivalries make the greatest tales -- reason
enough to read the following portraits of
brilliance, skullduggery, nobility, mendacity,
victory, and failure.
177
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177

• After all, monumental business battles have
changed the world.
178
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178

• If tiny MCI hadn't challenged the
titanic AT&T the communications
revolution would have played out
much differently.
• Steve Jobs and Bill Gates ended up
selling few competing products yet
contended for 35 years to impose
radically different visions of
computing.
179
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179

• And a global economy that couldn't function
without air travel is far faster and better
because Airbus and Boeing ( BA 0.82% ) (No.
9) have had to fight each other every day for
40 years.
• Functional
180
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180

• Coke ( KO -0.08% ) and Pepsi ( PEP
0.65% ) were so busy pounding the
daylights out of each other that they
missed an entirely new notion, and
today, inconceivably, the bestselling
energy drink in U.S. convenience stores
isn't made by either company. (It's Red
Bull.)
• Dysfunctional
181
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181

• General Motors and Ford clashed with each
other until one day Toyota ( TM 1.89% ) had
stolen the bulk of their profits.
182
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182

• The rivalry between the American railroads
was economic, ethnic, and spectacular,
involving sabotage, deception, and death.
Who needs such lessons?
183
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183

• Oh, right, we do. So think of these dramas as
guilt-free pleasures. Then, well prepared for
the task, go forth and pulverize your rivals. --
Geoff Colvin
184
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184

ACCEPT THE SITUATION
• Conflict is not mathematics
• There is not always a solution
waiting to be found
• If there is a solution – it is very
unlikely to be the only one
185
185

AND FINALLY…. CONFLICT CANNOT
ALWAYS BE SOLVED OR AVOIDED
The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung once wrote that
“the greatest and most important problems of life
are all
fundamentally insoluble. They can never be
solved but only outgrown”
186
186

AND FINALLY…. NOT EVERY CONFLICT IS
NEGATIVE
• Not every conflict is negative
(sometimes it “clears the air”)
• The important thing is to keep
wasteful and damaging conflict
to a minimum and when
conflict occurs, use the
techniques to resolve or at least
minimize it
187
187

WHAT DID WE LEARN?
In workplace or personal conflicts
it is all about difference in
perspective
• Approaches to Conflict
Resolution include;
• Avoidance
• Collaboration
• Compromise
• Competition
• Accommodation
188
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188

WHAT DID WE LEARN?
• Win Win solutions build
relationships and aid solutions
• Conflict is not mathematics but
deals with personalities and
emotions
• There is not always a solution
waiting to be found
• If there is a solution – it is very
unlikely to be the only one
189
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189

190
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190

Role of HR to resolve Workplace conflict

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