TEAM BUILDING

According to Wikipedia, “conflict is actual or perceived opposition of needs, values, and interests. The escalating costs of conflict have increased the use of third parties who may serve as conflict specialists to resolve conflicts”.

Workplaces are naturally stressful environments and there are many reasons for employee conflict. Internal conflict reduces the effectiveness of a team.

Causes of Conflict in the Workplace

Personal Conflict

There are many different personality types within the workplace. Personality clashes can lead to tremendous difficulties. With the increase in diversity, differing prejudices may lead to difficulty in employees’ ability to work together.

Communication

With added workloads, it is not unusual for communication to break down. A lack of or inadequate communication between managers and their staff or between staff members can lead to conflict or misunderstandings. A simple misunderstanding or misperception of what someone said can easily be blown out of proportion unless immediately clarified.

If an employee feels their opinions are ignored or not heard, chances are resentment will arise.

If one person’s style of communication is passive while another’s is direct, misunderstandings may occur.

Roles and Job Descriptions

Sometimes two different associates may be asked to perform the same task. A power struggle may ensue which may result in aggressive or passive-aggressive behavior.

Often, several employees vie for the same promotion. This can also lead to aggressive behavior, back stabbing or distraction from normal daily tasks.

An employee may be asked to complete a task that is not in his/her job description or is beyond his/her expertise. This may result in resentment, a task that is not completed, or undue stress and anxiety in that employee. All of this directly effects other members on the team.

Work Styles

One employee on a team may prefer to get his/her work done as soon as a task is assigned while another might be more likely to wait for the last minute to complete the task.

One worker may prefer to work alone in an unstructured manner while another may prefer to work with the team in a more structured environment.

Budget

Budgets, especially in this difficult economic time may be limited. This can lead to different teams competing for the same money.

Statistics Related to Workplace Conflicts

Ernst & Young reports that the cost of losing and replacing an employee may be as high as 150% of the departing employee’s annual salary.

According to Penn Behavioral Health Corporate Services, it is estimated that 44% of managers spend more than 20% of their time in conflict-related issues. That’s one to two days every week. They further reported that more than 65% of performance problems result from strained relationships between employees.

It is estimated that more than 65% of performance problems result from strained relationships between employees -- not from deficits in individual employees' skill or motivation.

A number of surveys indicate that people in all occupations report the most uncomfortable, stress-producing parts of their jobs are the interpersonal conflicts that they experience on a daily basis between themselves and co-workers or supervisors. 76% said that they have avoided other co-workers, 14% have pretended to be sick or missed meetings, and up to 12% said they have left the company altogether. That's time that is spent AWAY from direct productivity such as strategic planning and business development. Harvard Business School/Harvard Management Update

Team conflict in the workplace reduces productivity which in turn decreases profits. Linda Walter can teach team building skills and help teams learn to resolve conflicts effectively and expediently.