BUMAN204A : Developing Management Skills : Hypothetical Situation Occu

Part A  

Introduction:

The report provides an insight into the development of management skills based on a hypothetical situation happening within the new team formed because of merging between two companies. The team remains in the forming stage of the team development and comprises of cross-generational members and employees who lost their colleagues due to the redundancies. . The report summarizes the hypothetic situation happening within the team. The report also provides an access to the conflict occurring between the team members. There is also discussion on the attitudes and roles of the team members in relation to the conflict roles and the individual responses to the conflict.   

Summary of the Hypothetical Situation Occurring within Team 

The new formed team goes through emotional conflicts that arise due to insecurity, jealousy, annoyance, personal conflicts or envy. The presence of cross-generational members resulted in opposing viewpoints with the team and had a hard time in hiding their animosity. Employees who lost their colleagues have mostly been annoyed and found it difficult to concentrate. The team also faced poor communication that led the employees in making incorrect assumptions and thereby resulting in the workplace gossip. This also acts as a means for decrease in the employee morale and productivity.  Moreover, since the team is formed through merging of two companies so there is a difference in personalities. Hence, the employees face difficulty in accepting or understanding each other’s personalities thereby resulting in conflict.  For instance, few members of the team possess straightforward personality that allows him to speak his mind even when the timing seems inappropriate. The employees having such personalities unknowingly offend the co-worker who does not have similar kind of personality. Some of the employers interpreted it as rude. Besides, the employees belonging to the different companies also possess different set of values. It is more evident due to the presence of the cross generational members. It is found that the young workers possess different set of values compared to the older members. It is not the difference in values that results in the conflict but a failure in accepting the differences. The lack of acceptance of these differences has ended up in coworkers insulting each other’s experiences and character.

Accessing the Type of Conflict Occurring Between Team Members

Differences are bound to exist in a workplace where a team is formed by merging two companies (Tekleab & Quigley 2014, pp.394-402). After the team goes through the initial stages of orientation with a particular task, the members realizes the difficulty in working together for accomplishing common goals (Crawford & LePine 2018). This takes place during the dissatisfaction stage of the team development when the team is able to recognize a discrepancy between expectations and reality. Thus, the type of team conflict occurring between the team members includes:

Conflict over the Strategies, Positions, or Opinions: It happens due to the creation of two or three strong and differing positions (Folger, Scott & Stutman 2018). The rest of the members simply listen. This results in conflict amongst the various team members, as they are not used to any kind of dictatorship.  The manager should intervene in such a scenario and play a job role in making everyone heard. Managers should also look for common concerns or goals shared by the newly formed team.

Uneven Communication: Some people within the team dominate the conversation leaving little chance for the others to speak. This results in a conflicting situation. The managers should intrude in resolving the conflict by stopping the process and asking about the requirement of each individual that would ensure their effectiveness within the group (Adnan et al. 2012, pp.772-781)  

Personality Clashes:  Each of the team members possesses a different personality type. This difference in the personal styles might be the reason for the conflict amongst the team members (Sonnentag, Unger & Nägel 2013, pp.166-183.). The manager should intrude in such a situation through implementation of the behavioral assessment tool that helps people in better understanding one another and thereby learn in working together. The tools also help in understanding the needs of the other people and hence provide common reference frame for considering individual differences.

Personal Agendas and Power Issues: The presence of stronger personal agendas and power issues might also result in conflict with the newly formed team due to the merging of two companies (Falkner 2018, pp. 3-16). This happens because some people do not fit to be a part of the team. The managers should therefore intrude and remove some people and offer them a different role. Once done, it helps the team in taking a leap forward.

Attitudes and Relationship amongst Team Members Relating to Conflict Roles and Individual Responses: 

Conflict arises when the individual’s puts forward strong opposition to one another’s views and opinion and remain unwilling for a compromise. It has to be understood that conflicts does not solve any problem rather it enhances anxiety and tension (Prause & Mujtaba 2015, pp. 13-22). Therefore, it should be controlled in the right manner at the right time for maintaining a peaceful and healthy environment. Attitude plays a key role in the management of the conflict. The team members of the newly formed team however believe that nothing is achievable unless the members develop a positive attitude. Each member also believes in avoiding finding faults with others. As individual response towards the conflict the members not only believes in adopting a positive attitude to not only work but also life as a whole along with becoming adjusting and a little more flexible.

Thus, the individual responses should include (Forsyth 2013, pp.476-494):

By getting over negative attitude: Adoption of positive attitude allows the happenings of good things. To deal with conflict the members also believe in taking up initiatives for resolving fight. This will help them in earning respect and considered as role model.

Entering the Workplace with a Positive and Calm Mind: To deal with conflict the mind of the members should be clear and be devoid of any negative thoughts. They also believe in becoming more forgiving as it acts as a healing effect on others responsible for conflict.

Looking At Bright Side of Life: To deal with conflicts the members of the newly formed team believes in avoiding negative thoughts as it leads to negative attitude thereby resulting in some form of conflict. They also believe in finding reasons for being happy.

References:

Adnan, H., Mazuana Shamsuddin, S., Supardi, A. & Ahmad, N. 2012. Conflict Prevention in Partnering Project. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences Volume 35, 2012, Pages 772-781 open access, 35, pp.772-781.

Crawford, E. & LePine, J., 2018. A Configural Theory of Team Processes: Accounting for the Structure of Taskwork and Teamwork. Academy of Management Review, 38(1).

Falkner, R. 2018. Business Power and Conflict in International Environmental Politics. Springer, pp.3-16.

Folger, J., Scott Poole, M. & Stutman, R., 2018. Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups, and Organizations. Routledge.

Forsyth, A., 2013. Workplace conflict resolution in Australia: the dominance of the public dispute resolution framework and the limited role of ADR. Journal The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(3), pp.476-494.

Prause, D. & Mujtaba, B. 2015. Conflict Management Practices for Diverse Workplaces. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 6(3), pp.13-22.

Sonnentag, S., Unger, D. &  Nägel, I. 2013. Workplace conflict and employee well?being: The moderating role of detachment from work during off?job time. International Journal of Conflict Management, 24(2), pp.166-183.

Tekleab, A. & Quigley, N. 2014. Team deep-level diversity, relationship conflict, and team members' affective reactions: A cross-level investigation. Journal of Business Research, 67(3), pp.394-402.