Power and Conflict at work!

Conflict arises in an organisation when the objectives of different parties do not match and this is caused from opposing behaviours at the individual, group or organisational level. This conflict is certain behaviour which is intended to stall the achievement of another’s objectives.

Conflict can be the cause of failure, it is however good in certain organisations, but on the whole, it does cause problems, time-wastes, and can be an essential feature in the failure of a project or a whole organisation.

As a 15 year old I was part of a football club, Aylesbury Town FC and the team were in a position of relegation from division 1. With one match left in the season we had to win to stay in division however came short to a 2-0 defeat. It was evident however that conflict between the team was a key reason to this defeat. There was a clear and defined goal, however minutes into the match, one of our players gave away a penalty, which made it 1-0, and received a red card for a dangerous tackle. Automatically, conflict appeared with the other members of the team. Roles in the team were affected and no one really knew what to do with only 10 men on the pitch. This in turn caused many of the team members to become angry, which knocked on to a massive clash of personalities. The goal and red card caused an environmental change, as the match had totally changed, with the opposition at an advantage. To make these conflicts even worse, the opposing side then scored a second minutes before half time, and ‘blame’ was cast upon certain players causing a conflict in the different departments of the team. As we came in for half time, our manager had noticed the conflicts and contributed suggestions and strategies in solving this conflict. Clarifying the individual goals and objectives of each player in the situation of 10 men was key for the manager. He also clearly identified an on the pitch leader to get the team organised as this was essential with one man down. Losing 2-0 was a bad result, however the second half clearly showed that conflict was eliminated as the team were organised and did not concede any more goals.

Power is the ‘level of control or influence a person holds over the behaviour of others with or without their consent’ according to Mullins (2010).

 French and Raven (1959) suggest 5 sources of power among leaders, and their influence over an individual. (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_56.htm)

Ø  

Legitimate – This comes from the belief that a person has the right to make demands, and expect compliance and obedience from others. An example of legitimate power would be a CEO or a minister.

Ø     Reward – This results from one person's ability to compensate another for compliance. This is where people ‘in power’ can issue rewards, and if someone expects a reward for what you want them to do, there is a high chance they will do it.

Ø     Expert – This is based on a person's superior skill and knowledge. A specialist is an example of this as people will follow whoever is the leader of the project for example due to the idea that they have the ‘know how’.

Ø     Referent – This is the result of a person's perceived attractiveness, worthiness, and right to respect from others. Celebrities have this power and in the workplace it is the big personality workers that gain this power.

Ø     Coercive – This comes from the belief that a person can punish others for noncompliance. Coercive power revolves around the idea of threats and punishments as an enforcer for an employee to listen and follow their boss.

There are many strategies that organisations can use to overcome conflict in the workplace. Mullins (2010) says although a certain amount of organisational conflict may be seen as inevitable, there are a number of ways in which management can attempt to avoid the harmful effects of conflict.

5 strategies that organisations can use:

Clarification of goals and objectives helps to avoid misunderstandings and conflict among employees. Continually refreshing an employee’s mind on the objectives that are present can avoid conflict between individuals so that they can all coordinate in achieving the goal.

Non-monetary rewards can help avoid conflict in situations where financial resources are limited. This is because the employees have an incentive in working productively as they can maybe win a prize, or get time off etc.

Group activities can help gain cohesiveness among the workforce. If people in the workforce know each other better then they can work together better, this will reduce the chances of conflict happening.

Leadership style of the bosses can prevent conflict, an aggressive authoritive approach to leadership can sometimes cause friction in the workforce, so to prevent any conflict, bosses should use a much more friendly and relaxed approach to leading.

Socio-technical approach to eliminating conflict involves the idea of psychological and social factors being developed in keeping with structural and technical requirements, thus finishing any dysfunctional conflict.

To conclude this blog, it is evident that conflict affects any organisation but it can be helped and prevented. The various sources of power show how people run organisations, and how that can affect an employee’s morale at work. Finally, exploring the strategies to stopping conflict in the workplace shows that there are many different ways in stopping conflict; however each situation may need a different solution.