CONFRONTATION MEETING &

THIRD PARTY INTERVENTION

( Prepared : Gaurav Prakash, Manshi Dogra )
Organization Development or OD
A long-term effort, led and supported by top management, to improve an
organization's visioning, empowerment, learning, and problem-solving processes,
through an ongoing, collaborative management of organization’s culture – with
special emphasis on the culture of intact work teams and other team configurations –
utilizing the consultant – facilitator role and the theory and technology of applied
behavioral science, including action research.

Primary Distinguishing Characteristics Of OD

 Focuses on culture and processes
 Encourages collaboration between organizational leaders and members in
managing culture and processes
 Teams of all kinds are particularly important for task accomplishments
 Focuses primarily on the human and social side of the organization (systems
view)
 Participation and involvement in problem solving and decision making by
all levels of organization
 OD practitioners are facilitators, collaborators, and co-learners with the
client system - focus on imparting of problem-solving skills and knowledge
of continuous learning through self-analytical methods to client to enable
it to solve its problems on its own.
 Reliance on action research model with extensive participation by client
system members
 Development view seeking betterment of both individuals and
organization.
Assumptions And Values Underlying OD

Dealing with individuals

 Most individuals want to develop their potential and have drives towards
personal growth and development if provided with supportive and challenging
environment Most people desire to make, and are capable of making, a higher
level of contribution to achieving organizational goals than is normally
permitted.
Implication for managers
 Ask, listen, support, challenge, encourage risk-taking, permit failure,
remove obstacles and barriers, give autonomy and responsibility,
set high standards, reward success.

Dealing with groups

 One of the most relevant reference group for individuals is the work
group, including peers and boss.
 Most people desire to be accepted, and interact with one or more
small reference groups.
 Most people are capable of making greater contributions to the
groups’ effectiveness and development
Implication for managers
 Let teams flourish; leaders should invest in groups/teams; adopt a team-
leadership style rather than a one-on-one style; actively engage group
members to help leader in decision-making and problem-solving, by training
them up suitably; help group members to deal with both positive and
negative feelings; solve problems through mutual interactions.

Designing and running an organization

  Traditional bureaucratic organization structures to give way to newer
organizational designs.
 Needs and aspirations of employees to be addressed.
 Putting people first can result in organizations that are humane, developmental
and empowering, as well as high performing in terms of productivity,
profitability and quality of output.
Implication
People are an organization’s most important resource; they are the source of
productivity and profits and should be treated with care.

OD Interventions
Intervention
Refers to a set of planned change activities intended to help an organization to
increase its effectiveness. Intervention basically includes the following : -
• To enter into an ongoing system of relationship

• To come between or among persons, groups, or objects for the purpose of

helping them.
• The range of planned, programmatic activities clients and consultants
participate in during the course of an OD program
– Diagnostic and problem-solving activities

– Begin as consultant driven

– If successful (effective) absorbed into organizational processes,

culture.

The other major features and implications of OD Intervention are :-

 It is based on valid information (accurate organizational diagnosis)
 It raises individual or group awareness and provides opportunity for free and
Informed choices (employees active involvement)
 Describes to people the intended and unintended consequences of their
behaviour.
  OD Interventions help in gaining members internal commitment and hence
employees accept ownership of the intervention and its implementation.

Intervention Types :

1. Human Process Interventions.

2. Techno Structural Interventions
3. Human Resource Management Interventions.
4. Strategic Interventions.

Human Process interventions :

T-groups
 Provides members with experimental learning about group dynamics,
leadership, interpersonal relations.
Process consutation / THIRD PARTY INTERVENTIONS :
 Consultant helps group members to diagnose group functioning and to
devise solutions to process problems (conflicts, communications, norms).
Team building
 Goes beyond process consultation, examines group's task, member roles,
strategies for performing tasks.
Search conference
 Clarifying important important values, looking for new ways to address
problems, articulating a new vision for the organization.
CONFRONTATION MEETING
 Mobilizing employees in problem solving during periods of stress.

Normative approaches
 Specifies ‘best way’ to manage an organization, through use of
standardized instruments for measuring organizational practices.

Techno-Structural Interventions
These types of interventions have basically five sub-types, namely – structural design,
downsizing, reengineering, employee involvement and work design. All these can be
further cauterized between the following heads : -

Formal structures
 Concerns organization’s division of labour – how to specialize task
performances.
 Functional, self-contained units, matrix, and networked are linked
together.
Differentiation and Integration
 Specialization and coordination mechanisms redesigned as per
environmental demands
 Techno-structural interventions

Parallel learning structures

 Creating an informal, flexible collateral organization to supplement
existing organization, to solve problems that a regular organization cannot
solve.

Human Resource Management Interventions

Goal setting
 Setting clear and challenging goals, improving organizational
effectiveness by establishing better fit between personal and
organizational objectives.
Performance appraisal
 Joint assessment of work-related achievements, strengths and
weaknesses; providing performance feedback to individuals and work
groups
Reward systems
 Designing incentive and reward system for improving employee
satisfaction and performance
Career planning and development
  Guiding employees to choose career paths and to attain
career objectives; means of improving employees’ quality of work life.
Managing workforce diversity
 Change in gender ratio, ethnic ratio, physically challenged employees;
flexibility in policies to accommodate these changes
Employee wellness
 Employee assistance programs, stress management, etc.

Parallel Learning Structures

 Creating an informal, flexible collateral organization to supplement
existing organization, to solve problems that a regular organization
cannot solve.
Person-Focused OD Interventions
 Partnerships between individuals (participants) and
behavioral science experts (facilitators)

THIRD PARTY INTERVENTIONS

Any inter group conflicts have certain characteristics in common. Due to these
characteristics at times, it is difficult for either party to reach to mutually acceptable
solution so external people need to interfere between them. The basic
CHARACTERISTICS OF INTER-GROOUP CONFLICT are :

1. Perception of the other as the “enemy”

2. Stereotyping.
3. Decreased communication: Feedback and data input is typically cut off.
4. Communication is distorted and inaccurate.
5. Each group prises itself and its products more positively.
6. Each group believes that it can do no wrong and the other can do no right.
7. There may even be acts of sabotage against the other group.
A number of general strategies have been used to deal with intergroup conflicts such
as :

 Using the idea of a common enemy outside the group that both groups dislike
to bring them closer.
 Increasing interaction and communication under favourable conditions.
 Finding a super - ordinate goal that both groups desire.
 Rotating members of the group.
 Training.
 THIRD PARTY INTERVENTIONS – wherein external persons help in
solving the conflict.

Definition :

Such interventions involve Intermediaries (or "third parties") like people,

organizations, or nations who enter a conflict to try to help the parties de-escalate or
resolve it. They try to mediate between a conflict so as to find a acceptable solution in
a non-biased way.

WALTON’S APPROACH TO THIRD PARTY INTERVENTIONS :

PEACE MAKING INTERVENTIONS

In WALTON’S METHOD, Walton has presented a statement of theory and practice for
third-party peace making interventions that is important in its own right and important
for its role in organization development.
Third party interventions involve confrontation and Walton outlines confrontation
mechanisms. A major feature of these mechanisms is the ability to diagnose the
problem accurately.

The diagonistic model :

The model is based on four elements:

 The conflict issues.

 Precipitating circumstances.
 Conflict relevant acts.
 The consequences of the conflict.

It is also important to know the source of the conflict.

Sources:

Substantive issues, which is conflict related to practices, scarce resources, and

differing conceptions of roles and responsibilities.

Emotional issues, involve feelings between the parties, such as anger, hurt, fear,
resentment, etc.

The former requires bargaining and problem solving and the latter requires
restructuring perceptions and working through negative feelings.

Further, Walton has outlined the ingredients of a productive confrontation (the process
of addressing conflict), they are:

1. Mutual positive motivation, which refers to the willingness on both parties t

resolve the conflict.
2. Balance of power. There ought not be any power differentials between the
parties involved in a confrontation.
3. Synchronization of confrontation efforts. The two parties must address the
conflict simultaneously.
4. Differentiation and integration of different phases of the intervention
must be well paced. The intervention involves working through negative
 feelings and ambivalent positive feeling. The intervention must allow
sufficient time for this process to take place.
5. Conditions that promote openness should be created. This could be done
through setting appropriate norms and creating a structure that encourages
openness.
6. Reliable communicative signals. This statement refers to using language that
is understood by the parties involved in the confrontation.
7. Optimum tension in the situation. This means that the stress experienced by
both parties ought to be sufficient to motivate them but not too excessive.

Some GENERAL PRINCIPLES outlined by Fischer, Ury and Patton ON

NEGOTIATION which apply to all interventions including third party interventions
are :

They involve approaches to people, interests, options and criteria.

People have different feelings and perceptions therefore it is important to separate

people from feelings.
Interest. Looking at party interests provide a vehicle for resolving conflict rather
sticking to inflexible positions that entrench the conflict.
Options ought to be generated in order to come up with best option for resolving
conflict.
Criteria for evaluating the success of the intervention ought to be clear and objective.

CONFRONTATION MEETING
The confrontation meeting is an intervention designed to mobilize the
resources of the entire organization to identify problems, set priorities and action
targets and begin working on identified problems.
 Confrontation Meeting Process
Meeting Scheduling
Create a master list
Create groups representing
multiple perspectives Form problem-solving
groups
Set ground rules Rank the issues and
opportunities, develop an
Groups identify problems Action plan, specify
and opportunities timetable

Report out to the Provide periodic reports

large group to large group

What’s confrontation meeting ?????

► One day meeting of entire management of an organization in which they take a

reading of their own organizational health.

► Organizational confrontation meeting: brings together all of the managers of

an organization to meet to confront the issue of whether the organization is
effectively meeting its goals.

When is it appropriate to conduct confrontation meeting ???

► When there is a need for the total management group to examine its own
workings.

► When there is very limited time available for any activity.

► When the top management wishes to improve conditions quickly.

► Enough cohesion in the top team to ensure follow-up also is correct time.
 ► Real commitment by top management to resolve the issue.

► Organization is experiencing , or has recently experienced, some major change

also is an ideal time to have a confrontation meeting.

CONCLUSION

Third Party interventions and Confrontation Meeting and both necessary

and an essential tool to solve many confrontations and for preventing any big
conflicts to happen.

A non-biased external/third party helps in solving problems even of those

parties whose problem seems apparently non-solvable. Moreover there are more
chances that the outcome is mutually acceptable in even heart of hearts without
any grudges or unhappiness. So this as effective tool to the management of any
organization to solve conflicts between individuals/groups.

Confrontation Meeting also provides effective tool to the management of

organization to prevent conflicts or to appease and satisfy people who are
actively or can enter into conflicts. It provides a very open and fair way to solve
conflicts.