TEAMS AND CONFLICTS

A work team is a collection of 3 or more individuals who interact intensively to provide an

organizational product, plan, decision or service.
Type of teams
There are different types of teams, including;
(i) Work teams
Work teams consists of groups of employees who manage themselves, assign jobs, plan and
schedule work, make work-related decision and solve work-related problems. They are
formed to produce goods, provide services or increase the quality and cost-effectiveness or a
product or system.
(ii) Parallel teams (cross-functional teams)
Consist of representatives from various department (functions) within an organization. It must
have clear purpose, receive support from each functional area and take steps to increase the trust
levels of the committee members.
(iii) Project teams
Project teams are formed to produce on time out puts such as creating a new product, installing a
new software system or hiring a new employee. It is temporary.
(iv) Management teams
Management team coordinate, manage, advice and direct employees and teams. They are
responsible for providing general direction and assistance to other teams.

Group conflicts
Conflict is the psychological and behavioural reaction to a perception that another person is
keeping you from reaching a goal, taking away your right to behave in a particular way or
violating the expectancies of a relationship.
It can also be defined as a clash or disagreement often violent between two opposing groups or
individuals.
Types of conflicts
(a) Interpersonal conflict
This is the conflict that occurs between two individuals e.g. between two co-workers, a
supervisor and a subordinate, an employee and a customer or an employee and a vendor.
(b) Individual-group conflict
This occurs between an individual and a group. It occurs when the individual’s needs are
different from the group’s needs, goals or norms.

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 (c) Group-Group conflict
This occurs between two or more groups eg two branches of a company or bank, departments
and another department or with the management.
Causes of conflicts
There are different causes of conflict, which include;
(a) Competition for resource
This is a cause of conflicts that occurs when the demand for resources is greater than the
resources available.
(b) Task interdependence
This is when conflict arise when the completion of a task by one person affects the completion of
a task by another person.
(c) Jurisdictional ambiguity
Conflict caused by a disagreement about geographical territory or lines of authority; unclear
boundaries.
(d) Communication Barriers
Physical, cultural and psychological obstacles that interfere with successful communication and
create a source of conflict.
(e) Beliefs
Conflict occurs when individuals or groups believe that they:
 Are superior to other people or groups
 Have been mistreated by others
 Are vulnerable to others or are in harm’s way
 Cannot trust others
 Are helpless or powerless

(f) Personality of the people involved

Conflict arise as a result of people with incompatible personalities who must work together e.g. a
person who is quality oriented working with one who is quantity oriented. Difficult personalities
include people with high needs for control, perfection, approval or attention.
Tank – get things done quickly by giving orders, being pushy, yelling and being aggressive.
Sniper – control other by using sarcasm, embarrassment and humiliation
Know-it-all – control others by dominating conversations, not listening to others’ ideas, rejecting
arguments counter to their positions.

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Conflict Styles
Conflict styles include avoidance, accommodation, forcing, collaborating, and compromising
1. Avoidance style
They react by pretending that the conflict does not exist e.g.
 Withdrawal – one of the partners removes him/herself from the situation to avoid the
conflict. E.g. divorce, quitting an organization, or letting another manager win; behaviour
include; avoiding the source of conflict, quitting , talking behind the other person’s back,
and forming alliances with others. It only postpones conflict rather than preventing it.
 Triangling – discussing a conflict with a third party e.g. a friend. A supervisor should
make the two people sit together and resolve the conflict.
2. Accommodating style
This involve giving in to the other person.
Risks hurting the self.
3. Forcing style
Always trying to win (win-lose fashion). Wins with little regard of the other person. It makes
resolving a conflict very difficult.
4. Collaborating style
This is when the concern is to satisfy both sides. It is highly assertive and highly cooperative; the
goal is to find a “win/win” solution. Appropriate uses for the collaborating style include
integrating solutions, learning, merging perspectives, gaining commitment, and improving
relationships.
5. Compromising style

A compromising style attempts to find a solution that will at least partially please all parties. You
would work to find a middle ground between all the needs, which would typically leave people
unsatisfied or satisfied to a certain extent.

This style could be appropriate to use when it's more important to reach a solution than for the
solution to be great, a deadline is rapidly approaching, you're at an impasse, or you need a
temporary solution for the moment

RESOLVING CONFLICTS
(a) When conflict first occurs:-
(i) The two parties should be encouraged to use the conflict resolution skills they learnt
in training to resolve conflict on their own. These skills include
 Expressing a desire for corporation
 Offering compliments
 Avoiding negative interaction
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  Emphasizing mutual similarities
 Pointing out common goals
NB: reducing tension and increase trust between the two parties. Practically it is
done through;
 Stating an intention to reduce tension
 Publicly announcing what steps to be taken to reduce tension
 Inviting the other side to take action
 Making sure that each initiative offered is unambiguous
Importance of this:-
 Minor conflicts are resolved quickly
 Serious conflicts can be resolved by negotiation
It is important the inviting party identifies the behaviour of the other and its effect on him/her.
The second party responds to what was said. If he/she agrees may apologize and agree to stop
the behaviour. If not, he/she would explain their perception of what happened. They must
exchange ideas till they reach agreement on how to resolve the issue.
If they don’t agree, the conflict is called a dispute and they should involve a third party.

Dispute – a situation when two parties do not agree

Third-party interventions
(i) Mediation – a method of solving conflict in which a neutral 3rd party is asked to help
the two parties reach an agreement. Mediators don’t make decisions. They facilitate
the communication: they provide safe and equitable venue, can be employees of the
organization or professional mediators. They come in when the two parties don’t
trust each other. The parties agree to talk.
(ii) Arbitration – a mothed of resolving conflicts in which a neutral third party is asked to
choose which side is correct. The arbitrator makes decision. Can be a manager or
HR or can be an outside arbitrator. Arbitration decision can be either binding or non-
binding.
Binding – the two sides have agreed to abide by the arbitrator’s decision
Non-binding – both or one side van reject an unfavourable decision.