Conflict Management Plan
1. Identify the available conflict management strategies and their strengths and weaknesses.
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Strategy
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Strengths
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Weaknesses
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Competing
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This may help to bring up the teams moral and to create some fun within the environment.
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But this can cause conflicts and fighting throughout the team if not monitored well.
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Avoidance
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Will allow the team to work out their problems and conflicts.
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May require a manager to step in to resolve some issues as well.
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Super-ordinate Goals
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The entire team will need to complete the task creating the team to use teamwork building skills.
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If someone fails or falls behind, the whole team will become divided causing conflicts and rifts within the team building exercise.
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Compromise
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Team members each will have a part within the work so this will create all to have a say within the projects.
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Some members may not like the solutions or views which may cause the team to not agree within the final task.
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Problem-solving
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Each member can advise within their views and the team can work to solve the final task together.
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When doing this exercise, one or both of the employees may show signs of stress and the other can take it wrong.
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2. Which of the available conflict management strategies is most appropriate for the current situation with David and James? Provide your rationale, including what factors you considered in making your selection.
We need to take into consideration the possibility that David and James are showing jealousy towards each other. They may be trying to show that one is better than the other in ways that it is causing a conflict between the two employees. This conflict can be solved with a compromising approach within the work place. This can help David and James to make an effort to settle the dispute between themselves and compromise on setting some goals to work together and resolve the issues that they have between them. David and James can discuss what the issues are and get all details needed to reach a solution before a manager will need to set in to solve the issue themselves.
3. If the selected strategy is not successful, what is your alternate strategy? Provide your rationale for this selection.
I would use the problem-solving method. I would ask David and James to write down on paper what their issues are when they are working together, what they do not agree on, and what solution they think would be best for the situation so they can move forward. I would have both of them sit down with me and read each other's parts out load to me. Then I would ask them individually if they would agree or disagree and why? If they can see the others reasoning, they would be able to resolve the conflict with one common resolution and work together to solve the issues.
4. What potential road blocks might be encountered in resolving the conflict? How would you address these?
This is common within the problem solving solutions. Hearsay is one of the most common road blocks. If each party can discuss what these may be at the time they can resolve them just by talking to each other to squash what someone else may have said to others about the other party. Communication must be expressed very clear to both in the sense that without honest and good communication the problem will not be solved. The other road block that I would see is that they may not be able to understand the others reasoning. I would be the mediator between them and explain to the other and ask questions to make sure that we are all on the same page. This will help to illuminate the confusion that the other may have and then they may see the others point of view. Lastly, David and James will have a little more respect for each other if they knew where they were coming from.