1. City of Topeka

2.  Causes of workplace conflict.
 Why is it important to resolve conflict in the
workplace?
 Steps in the conflict resolution process.
 Methods for resolving conflict.
 The Do’s of workplace conflict.
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3. C
on
flict
R
esolu
tion
B
eh
a
vior
C
on
seq
u
en
ces
Trigger
Event
Communication
Styles
Emotions
IssuesIssuesIssuesIssues
Issues
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4.  The condition in which people’s concerns—the
things they care about—appear to be
incompatible.
 Conflict does not always equate to fighting,
arguing, blaming, and name-calling.
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5.  Conflict is the emotional, verbal, written or physical
expression of differences regarding wants, needs or
expectations between two or more individuals.
 Conflict directly impacts behavior, decision-making
and the ability to complete assigned tasks.
 Conflict is inevitable in the workplace; it cannot be
eliminated.
 The key to a functional workplace is the ability to
minimize the escalation of conflict and ultimately
resolve the differences.
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6. 1. Competition over needs or perceived needs.
2. Difference in methods or process understandings.
3. Personality and behavioral style.
4. Communication style, tone and body language.
5. Competition over resources.
6. Differences of opinions.
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8.  The total value of lost work time due to stress is
estimated to be $1.7 billion. (WarrenShepel online], Health &Wellness
Research Database, 2005)
 The rate of presentee-ism is estimated to be up to
three times higher than absentee-ism.
 Conflict accounts for up to 90% of involuntary
departures. (Dana, Dan, [online] The Dana Measure of Financial Cost of Organizational Conflict,
2001)
 42% of a Manager's Time is spent addressing
conflict in the workplace. (Watson, C & Hoffman, R, Managers as Negotiators,
Leadership Quarterly 7(1), 1996)
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9.  "Bullied employees take, on average, seven days
per year more sick leave than others." (Knight, Julian, Bullied
workers suffer 'battle stress". BBC News Online, Tuesday Aug. 04)
 In 2009, over 93,000 EEOC claims were filed; the
second highest number of claims in a year.
 In 2009, over 21,000 disability claims were filed;
an increase of 10% over the previous year.
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12.  Understanding the dimensions
Assertive
Non-Assertive
Cooperative
Uncooperative
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13.  Accommodating
 Avoiding
 Competing
 Collaborating
 Compromising
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14.  Unassertive
 Cooperative
 Yielding to another’s point-of-view
 Self-sacrificing
 Obeying without agreeing
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15.  Unassertive
 Uncooperative
 Sidestepping the issue
 Not addressing the conflict
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16. 16
 Assertive
 Uncooperative
 When one has a very strong desire to state
his/her own wishes or need.
 Takes on a “win-lose” approach where one
person wins and one person loses.

17.  Assertive
 Cooperative
 Finding an agreeable solution for both parties
 Fully satisfy both concerns
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18.  All parties are partially satisfied
 Intermediate assertiveness
 Intermediate cooperativeness
 Middle of the Road solution
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19. Different Styles have Different Goals
• Accommodating: the goal is to yield.
• Avoiding: the goal is to delay.
• Competing: the goal is to win.
• Collaborating: the goal is multiple participation.
• Compromising: the goal is
to find a middle ground.

20. Perspective Taking
Creating Solutions
Expressing Emotions
Reaching Out
Winning at All Costs
Displaying Anger
Demeaning Others
Retaliating
Reflective Thinking
Delay Responding
Adapting
Avoiding
Yielding
Hiding Emotions
Self Criticizing
Constructive Destructive
PassiveActive
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21. People or situations which may irritate you
enough to provoke conflict by producing
destructive responses.
The “hotter” the hot button, the more likely it is to
produce:
Strong negative emotionsStrong negative emotions
Feelings of personal provocationFeelings of personal provocation
Automatic and impulsive respondingAutomatic and impulsive responding
Increased tensionIncreased tension
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22. 22
 Identify and define the problem.
 Identify the goals.
 Generate alternative solutions ~ search for a
win-win solution.
 Evaluate alternatives and develop an action
plan.
 Reach an agreement and implement the
plan.
 Make an “appointment’ to review.

23. Aids to
Communication
Listen Actively
Relax
Observe body
language
Develop interest
in others interests
Ask for
clarification
Plan what you are
going to say
Tailor words to
person
Determine the
best timing
Determine the
best place
Why is the
conversation
necessary

24. 1. Consider what might have caused the
disagreement/conflict.
2. Be respectful of differences.
3. Approach disagreements and/or conflict with an open
mind.
4. Try to cut the conflict off in its early stages.
5. Listen Carefully.
6. Be mindful of how you say things.
7. Ask for help.
8. Be sure the problem is resolved.
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25.  Addressing conflict is a mission-critical component of
increasing organizational effectiveness and productivity.
 Chronic patterns of unresolved conflict are costly and
lead to a dysfunctional organization.
 Be encouraged to resolve conflict at an early stage, at
the lowest possible level.
 Keys to conflict resolution are training and practice
of improved communication skills.
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26. 26

27. What’s Your Style?

28. Conflict Case 1:
Andrew works for a respected engineering firm as an engineer
and loves his job. He’s on time to work and puts in his time to
make sure he’s seen as a hard-worker. His co-worker Tim is
rarely on time, and tries to find loopholes whenever possible in
order to do the least amount of work possible. Their company
has a policy that if an employee is over 15 minutes late, they
must call their supervisor as soon as they sit down at their
desk to make sure they know the employee has arrived. One
day, Tim comes in 30 minutes late. Out of concern for Tim’s
job, Andrew says “Hey Tim, I just wanted to remind you to call
our supervisor so you don’t get in trouble.” Tim gets angry and
tells Andrew that their supervisor will never know he was late
and that it doesn’t matter.
What suggestions do you have to resolve this conflict?

29. Conflict Case 2:
Blake and Aaron work together at a retail store. Blake has
been working at the store for two years and Aaron just started.
From the first day, Blake did not like Aaron and has treated
him poorly. Aaron is confused because he has not done
anything to Blake to cause contention. Blake constantly makes
inappropriate remarks to Aaron and talks about him to other
co-workers. Because Aaron is new to the position, he is
unsure how to handle this particular workplace conflict.
What suggestions do you have to resolve this conflict?

30. Conflict Case 3:
Recently, you and three or four other members of your group
have been increasingly aware of personal disagreements and
unspoken resentments among the people with whom you
work. There is no official procedure to handle such problems,
and you realize that, not only is productivity (personal and
collective) suffering, but that everyone appears to be unhappy
in general with the declining working conditions these
problems have created.
You feel the same way and would like to do something to
improve the situation.
Considering the fact that these three or four other individuals
are also aware of the problem, what can you do?

31. Conflict Case: Ambiguous Power
You are an assistant professor sitting in your office in a clinical department,
pouring over some data from a recent study. You hope the data is sound
enough to produce a paper for an upcoming conference and perhaps a
manuscript for publication as well. There is a knock at the door, and you
turn to see Von Kraft, the department’s most distinguished, somewhat
imperious, professor. He also chairs the department’s promotion and
tenure committee. He announces that he has an idea for a new research
project, and he wants you to work with him. The project sounds
interesting, but it is not in an area in which you have been working. He has
minimal funding from a foundation, but assures you it will allow for
completion of a pilot. Your mind is racing. Taking this on would throw off
your research agenda and publishing schedule. You also know Von Kraft’s
reputation – you’ll do the work, and he’ll get the credit for the project.
When you tentatively suggest that you just don’t think you have the time,
he gives you a stern look and says, “That would be a big mistake; this is a
major opportunity.” You know that he needs to present a pilot project, but
you’re hoping to complete your own project. What do you do?

32. Conflict Case: Role of Research
You are an assistant professor of pediatric medicine and were hired with the
expectation that your primary focus would be on research. Moreover, the
University’s new promotion and tenure policy reflects even greater emphasis
on research than in the past. Nonetheless, you understand that you must
also demonstrate proficiency in teaching and service. You have been doing
your share of clinical teaching, and you are on the curriculum committee,
which is especially time-consuming this year, since re-accreditation is only a
year away. Yesterday, your department chairman, Dr. Mort, called to say he
wants you to represent the department on the School Admissions Committee.
He explained that it is an unusual role for a junior faculty member, but he
thinks your work on the curriculum committee demonstrates your talent for
this sort of demanding assignment. You know that this will involve many
hours pouring over applications and interviewing potential students. It would
be interesting, but you see no way to leverage scholarly efforts from this
effort, and you are feeling a great deal of pressure to demonstrate your ability
to develop a funded research program. When you explain, Dr. Mort assures
you that committee work also is valued. “Don’t let me down. I need your
support on this,” he says in concluding the call. How do you move forward?

33. Conflict Case: Profiting from Research
You are an assistant professor and have been working with Dr. Arrow for
several years. A senior scientist, he has been successful not only in
obtaining grant funding for his work, but also in obtaining patents; he runs a
company which produces and sells the medical devices developed with
those patents. Although you have heard rumors that he developed some
devices at the University and that graduate students were involved in the
work, you have never seriously questioned his behavior. This is the first
time that you have been asked to oversee the budget on one of his grants,
and you are disturbed by one of the items on your desk. Dr. Arrow has
asked you to order one of his instruments for measurement of blood oxygen
capacity in study participants and to certify that his company is a “sole
source” provider. You wrote much of the grant, and you know that a simpler
(and less expensive) instrument would do the job. When you asked
whether he really thought the extra features were needed, he just said
breezily, “We should get the best; I assure you it will be worth it.” Now
you’re worried. You think this constitutes self-dealing and is against
University policy, but you don’t want to offend someone who clearly could
make or break your scientific career. You wish he would reconsider. How do
you handle the situation?

34. Conflict Case: Research Collaboration
You are an assistant professor at Best University School of Medicine and
are working on a project with a colleague, for which you have a small
grant to study a new way of screening for otitis that uses health educators
who will teach parents basic identification and early management skills.
You worked well together in planning, but now find that you are clashing
during the implementation phase of the project. Your colleague, Dr. No,
has a tendency to micro-manage the three health educators who, in turn,
complain to you. Now, one of them has quit three months into the project,
and your colleague insists that the trial cannot continue, since the original
design called for 3 health educators. He wants to hire another health
educator, re-standardize, and start over. You want to calibrate a third
educator -- or just continue with two. When you suggested this, your
colleague insisted that your approach would violate the scientific integrity
of the study. You are willing to report all issues and changes in your
write-up of the data, but since this is a pilot, you believe it is important to
move ahead. Your colleague is adamant, however, and says that he will
instruct the remaining health educators not to report again to their
assigned practice locations. You know the funding will not support his
approach, and you are somewhat offended as well by his attitude. What
would you do?