Structural methods of conflict management - Methods of conflict management

Introduction

Conflict management is a process of purposeful influence on the organization’s personnel in order to eliminate the causes of the conflict and bring the behavior of the parties to the conflict in accordance with established norms.

There are many methods of conflict management. They can be divided into several groups, each of which has its own area of ​​application:

intrapersonal;

structural;

interpersonal; conversations;

aggressive retaliation.

Intrapersonal methods influence an individual and consist in the correct organization of his own behavior, the ability to express his point of view without causing a defensive reaction on the part of his opponent. Often the method is used to convey to another person this or that attitude towards a particular subject, without accusations or demands, but so that the other person changes his attitude (the so-called “I say” method). This method allows a person to defend his position without turning the opponent into an opponent. “I-statement” is especially effective when a person is angry and dissatisfied. This allows you to express your opinion about the current situation and express fundamental points. This method is especially useful when a person wants to convey something to another, but does not want him to take it negatively and go on the attack.

The purpose of this work is to consider methods of conflict management.

Features of conflict management

Conflict management has specific impacts:

— eliminating the causes of conflicts;

— correction of the behavior of participants in the conflict. ;

— maintain the required level of conflict without going beyond controlled limits.

Experts have given many recommendations on various aspects of people's behavior in conflict situations, the selection of appropriate behavioral strategies and means of conflict resolution, as well as their management.

Let us first consider a person’s behavior in a conflict situation from the point of view of its compliance with psychological norms. It is believed that constructive conflict resolution depends on the following factors:

— adequacy of the perception of the conflict, that is, a fairly accurate assessment, not distorted by personal prejudices of actions and intentions, both of the enemy and one’s own;

— openness and effectiveness of communication, readiness for a thorough discussion of problems, when participants honestly express their understanding of what is happening and how to get out of a conflict situation,

- create an atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation.

It is also useful for a leader to know what character traits and behavioral characteristics of a person are characteristic of a conflicting personality. Summarizing the research of various scientists, we can say that these qualities include the following:

- inadequate self-esteem of one’s capabilities and abilities, which may be exaggerated or underestimated. In both cases, this may contradict the adequate assessment of others, and the ground is ready for a conflict to arise;

- the desire to master all means where possible and impossible;

- conservatism of thinking, views, beliefs, reluctance to overcome outdated traditions.;

- an excess of integrity and righteousness in statements and judgments, the desire to speak the truth to your face at all costs;

- a specific set of emotional personality traits: anxiety, aggressiveness, stubbornness, irritability.

How does a leader with a “conflict personality” behave? There is only one remedy - “pick up the key”. To do this, try to see in him a friend and the best characteristics (qualities) of his personality, since he will no longer be able to change either his system of views and values, or his psychological and nervous characteristics. If they were unable to “pick up the key,” then there is only one remedy left - to transfer such a person to the category of spontaneous actions.

Therefore, in a conflict situation or when dealing with a difficult person, you should take an approach that is more appropriate to the specific circumstances and in which you can feel more comfortable. The best advisers for choosing the optimal approach to resolving a conflict are life experience and the desire not to complicate the situation and not bring a person to stress. You can, for example, achieve commitment by adapting to the needs of another person (especially a partner or loved one); persistently demonstrate your true interests in another aspect; avoid discussing a conflict issue if it is not very important to you; Use a collaborative style to satisfy the most important interests of both parties. Therefore, the best way to resolve a conflict situation is to consciously choose the optimal strategy of behavior.

Conflict Prevention

Preventing (or forewarning) conflicts is an activity aimed at creating and strengthening special living conditions that help eliminate the possibility of conflicts themselves.

Conflict prevention measures can be taken by:

How effective conflict prevention efforts will be depends on a number of factors and obstacles encountered along the way. As a rule, in life it is not always possible to achieve the required result, which is due to reasons that are both subjective and objective.

Subjective reasons that prevent conflict prevention depend mainly on a person’s personal characteristics and his ability to predict the likely results of his actions.
EXAMPLE: There is a certain category of people who have the habit of diluting their leisure time (read: having fun) by consciously or unconsciously provoking conflicts with other people.
There are also people who experience a special kind of discomfort in everyday situations and gravitate toward stressful situations, thereby causing their occurrence. Qualities such as disrespect for others, boasting, rudeness, the desire to demonstrate superiority and others like them in any case serve as catalysts for problems for people and reduce the very possibility of preventing conflicts to a minimum. Objective reasons that impede the prevention of conflicts are characterized by the intervention of strangers in the situation and can be very diverse. Such obstacles include:

• Obstacles of a socio-psychological nature.

EXAMPLE: Usually, the interaction of people is built by them independently, and the intervention of outsiders is perceived as an intrusive influence and is considered undesirable.

• Obstacles of a moral nature.

EXAMPLE: Situations often arise when people view conflict as an exclusively private phenomenon. Here, forcing the parties to agree may simply be unethical.

• Legal obstacles.

EXAMPLE: Such phenomena as forcing a person to do something, infringement of individual rights can often arise from the best intentions. However, they may well be illegal and at odds with the law.

Any outside intervention in a conflict can occur and is possible only when the situation worsens, goes beyond the scope of personal or group interaction and transforms into a socially dangerous or socially significant phenomenon. In those cases where a conflict can be prevented, conflict prevention technology should be used.

Conflict Prevention Technology

Conflict prevention technology is a set of special techniques, as well as means and methods that influence both the pre-conflict situation and the subjects participating in it.

It is possible to influence a situation that may result in a conflict in the following areas:

The most effective method aimed at transforming reality according to the expectations of subjects and preventing a conflict situation can be called maintaining collaborative relationships, because in many cases, pre-conflict interaction between subjects is neutral and sometimes their cooperation is possible. For this reason, special attention should be paid not to destroy existing relationships, but also to support and strengthen their constructiveness.

Ways to develop and maintain cooperation

Among the ways to develop and maintain cooperation, there are several main ones:

• Psychological "stroking" . Its meaning is that it is necessary to constantly and consistently maintain a good mood, a friendly atmosphere, and positive emotions. This method allows for emotional relief, arousing a feeling of sympathy, and relieving tension, which will seriously complicate the emergence of a conflict.

EXAMPLE: Anniversaries, presentations, corporate events, trainings, etc.

• Psychological mood. This method implies a diverse and positive impact on the opponent.

EXAMPLE: Informing the opponent about possible changes in the situation, predicting the consequences and tuning in to them, jointly discussing possible results, etc.

• Sharing of merit. Most effective in a team environment. This method helps to neutralize envy, resentment, as well as other negative emotions and phenomena that can provoke conflict.

EXAMPLE: All results and merits are divided among all team members (work participants). This happens even if the majority of the credit belongs to one person.

• Elimination of social discrimination. In other words, support for equal social status of subjects.

EXAMPLE: The inadmissibility of any kind of superiority of any of the subjects over another/others, the inadmissibility of differentiation and emphasizing differences between people.

• Mutual complement. The essence of the method is to create conditions and situations in which it is necessary to use the opponent’s traits, characteristics, abilities, etc. in joint interaction. - everything that one of the subjects does not possess. In this way, you can easily avoid conflict situations, make relationships stronger and at the same time benefit for yourself.

EXAMPLE: Joint completion of tasks and implementation of projects, sports competitions, team games, etc.

• Preserving the partner's reputation. The main idea here is the postulate: “A competitor is not necessarily an enemy.” Any opponent can be worthy of respectful treatment.

EXAMPLE: Emphasizing the authority and status of the opponent as one’s own; focusing on the positive qualities of the opponent, etc.

• Practical empathy . This method is a psychological adjustment to the opponent, and is also expressed in non-aggression, the absence of groundless hostility.

EXAMPLE: Putting yourself in the position of a partner, understanding his problems and difficulties, projecting his situation onto himself, expressing sympathy, and being ready to help.

• Agreement. The presented method can be characterized as involving a potential rival in your business, introducing him to the course of events, which helps eliminate conflicting interests and creates common ones.

EXAMPLE: Negotiations, official and informal meetings aimed at finding compromises and mutually beneficial conditions, refusal to fight.

The above methods are ideal for use in practice and are actively used by both ordinary people and specialists in the field of communication and conflict management. They can be used in absolutely any area of ​​life and activity, from family life and relationships with friends, to professional activities and relationships with business partners.

In addition to the first part, it is also worth mentioning the regulatory procedures for resolving conflict situations.

Regulatory procedures for resolving conflict situations

Regulatory procedures for resolving conflict situations imply special mechanisms aimed at regulating conflicts and pre-conflict situations with the assistance of political, religious, moral, legal and other types of norms.

The effectiveness of such conflict prevention procedures depends on the attitude of society and various government agencies to existing norms and the consistency of their implementation.

The difference between the normative regulation of conflicts and similar institutions operating temporarily is that they make the system more stable and determine the procedure for the development and resolution of conflict situations in its long-term aspect.

EXAMPLE: In order to prevent conflict situations in many countries today, the practice of including in official documents (treaties, agreements, etc.) concluded between organizations and/or people and other organizations, special clauses, which stipulate in detail the behavior of subjects in the event of any kind of controversial situations. In addition, this not only makes it possible to regulate the behavior of subjects, but also prevents the occurrence of spontaneous conflicts and keeps subjects from rash actions.

But no matter what the prospects are, no matter what methods of preventing conflicts are used by the people involved in the interaction, the likelihood of a conflict situation arising is very high, as can be judged at least by news reports, strained relations between states, and simply by pictures from our real life . And in cases where it is no longer possible to prevent a conflict, conflict management methods come to the rescue.

On this note, we, in fact, move on to the second part of our lesson.

2.1. Intrapersonal methods

Intrapersonal methods of conflict management consist in the ability to correctly organize one’s own behavior, express one’s point of view so that it does not cause a negative reaction or a psychological need to defend oneself from others. For example, when you come to work in the morning, you find that someone has moved everything on your desk. You want this to not happen again, but you also don’t want to ruin your relationship with your employees. You state, “When papers move around on my desk, it really bothers me. I would like to find everything in the future as I leave it before I go." By being clear about why those around you are irritated by these actions, you help them understand you, and when you speak up without attacking them, this reaction can encourage others to change their behavior.

2.3. Interpersonal methods (management styles)

Interpersonal methods of conflict management are methods in which at least two parties participate and each party chooses a form of behavior to preserve its interests, taking into account possible interaction with the opponent. K. W. Thomas and R. H. Kilmain developed basic strategies of behavior that are most appropriate in a conflict situation. They point out that there are five main styles of conflict behavior: adaptation, commitment, cooperation, avoidance, rivalry, or competition. The style of behavior in a particular conflict, they note, is determined by how much you want to satisfy your own interests, acting passively or actively, and the interests of the other party, acting jointly or individually.

Recommendations are given on the most appropriate use of a particular style, depending on the specific situation and the nature of the person’s personality.

The style of rivalry and rivalry can be used by a person who has a strong will, sufficient authority, power, who is not very interested in cooperation with the other side and seeks to satisfy first of all his own interests. It can be used if:

- the outcome of the conflict is very important to you, and you place a big bet on your solution to the problem that has arisen;

- you have enough power and authority, and it seems obvious to you that the solution you propose is the best;

- you feel that you have no choice and have nothing to lose;

- you must make an unpopular decision, and you have enough authority to choose this step;

— interact with subordinates who prefer an authoritarian style.

How does personality conflict manifest itself?

Psychological science identifies four main types of indicators of intrapersonal conflict. They relate to the emotional sphere, cognitive sphere, behavioral sphere, and the fourth type is integral indicators:

• Emotional sphere. In the emotional sphere, intrapersonal conflict manifests itself through serious negative experiences and psycho-emotional stress.

EXAMPLE: Depression, stress, apathy, loss of interest in life, etc.

• Cognitive sphere. In the cognitive sphere, intrapersonal conflict manifests itself through disturbances in a person’s perception of himself.

EXAMPLE: Decreased self-esteem, difficulties in choosing and making decisions, doubts about one’s motives, aspirations and principles, inconsistency of one’s own image, etc.

• Behavioral area. In the behavioral sphere, intrapersonal conflict manifests itself through negative changes in human behavior.

EXAMPLE: Negative background of communication, decreased productivity and quality of activity, dissatisfaction with one’s own activities, etc.

• Integral indicators. Complex disorders in the human psyche.

EXAMPLE: Increased emotional and psychological stress, disturbances in the adaptation mechanism, long-term disturbances in a person’s ability to adapt to circumstances, etc.

But, in addition to the fact that intrapersonal conflict can manifest itself in different areas (and even in several at once), it itself is also divided into several types, which significantly complicate both its definition and the development of ways to resolve it. Let's look at them in more detail.

2.4. Personal receptions

This group focuses on the leader's ability to actively confront conflict, which means the following:

- the use of force, rewards and punishment directly against the parties to the conflict;

— changing the conflict motivation of employees by influencing their needs and interests using administrative methods;

— persuasion of the parties to the conflict;

— changing the composition of the participants in the conflict and the system of their interaction by moving people within the organization, dismissal or introduction into voluntary guardianship;

— the supervisor’s entry into the conflict as an expert or arbiter and the search for an agreement through joint negotiations;

Stages of social conflict management: briefly

As a rule, the main stages of conflict management include:

1. The emergence and development of conflict.
2. Awareness of the presence of a conflict by at least one of the participants in the interaction.
3. Open confrontation.
4. Development of a conflict situation.
5. Conflict resolution.

One of the parties to the conflict will sooner or later take active action and express discontent. After this, the parties declare their positions and put forward demands on each other. The conflict is resolved by pedagogical (conversation, clarification, etc.) or administrative methods (dismissal, transfer to another position, etc.).

More details about social conflicts can be found in this article.

2.5. Negotiation

Of all the ways to overcome confrontation between the parties, negotiations between them are the most effective. They are characterized by the fact that the parties try to achieve at least part of what they want and take on certain obligations. In order for negotiations to be possible, certain conditions must be met:

— interdependence of the parties to the conflict;

— lack of significant differences in power among the subjects of the conflict;

— correspondence of the stage of development of the conflict to the possibilities of negotiations;

— participation in negotiations of those parties who can actually make decisions in the current situation.

Properly organized negotiations go through several stages:

1) preparation for the start of negotiations. Before starting negotiations, it is necessary to diagnose the state of affairs, determine the strengths and weaknesses of the parties to the conflict, predict the balance of power, clearly formulate your goal and possible results of participation in the negotiations, resolve procedural issues: Where is the best place to negotiate, what kind of situation is expected, is good relations with the enemy important? in future. According to many researchers, the success of all activities depends 50% on this correctly organized stage, and the lack of information leads to suspicion and mistrust of the participants, that is, to a deepening of the conflict;

2) initial choice of position (official statements of the negotiators). This stage allows you to show your opponents that you know their interests and take them into account, determine the field of maneuver and try to leave as much space for them as possible. There are several possible tactics for starting negotiations:

- you can be aggressive in order to put pressure on your opponent, to suppress him;

— successful negotiations contribute to the establishment of relaxed personal relationships, the creation of a friendly atmosphere, and the demonstration of interdependence;

- small concessions can be used to achieve a mutually beneficial compromise;

- obtaining a small advantage contributes to the provision of new facts and the use of manipulations;

— simplicity of the procedure is achieved by joint search for information;

3) search for a mutually acceptable solution, psychological struggle. At this stage, the parties test each other’s capabilities, trying in every possible way to seize the initiative. Opponents come up with facts that are beneficial only to them, and claim that they have all sorts of options. The goal of each participant is to maintain balance or a slight advantage. The mediator's task at this stage is to direct the negotiations towards finding specific proposals. In the event that negotiations begin to dramatically affect one of the parties, the mediator of the new party must find a way out of the situation;

4) completion of negotiations or exit from stagnation. There are already a significant number of different proposals and options for this stage, but agreement on them has not yet been reached. Time begins to run out, tension increases, and some decision needs to be made. A few last-ditch concessions by both sides could have saved the whole thing. But here it is important that the parties to the conflict clearly remember which concessions do not affect the achievement of their main goal, and which ones nullify all previous work. The mediator, using the power given to him, resolves final disagreements and leads the parties to a compromise.

Humanity has accumulated vast experience in negotiations. In recent decades, a number of rules and procedures for their implementation have been defined. The parties to the negotiations, the direct participants, the topic, channels of mutual communication, and information are determined. It was noted that there are difficulties in establishing criteria for assessing both the progress and the results of the negotiations. In general, the behavior of the participants largely depends on the situation, as well as on their educational and cultural level, will and other personal characteristics.

2.6. Personality methods of behavior management

Behavioral management is a system of measures for the formation of principles and norms of behavior of people in an organization, which allows you to achieve your goals within a certain time frame at reasonable costs. The organization, in accordance with its goals, strategy, organizational structure, specific features of its activities, selects specialists for specific roles, to perform specific functions and obtain the required results, for which it receives a certain reward. A person who has an idea of ​​himself and his capabilities, taking into account his goals, enters into a relationship with an organization, striving to take a certain place in it, perform a certain job and receive a reward. The individual expects from the organization: a place in the social structure, specific interesting work, the desired reward.

Destructive intrapersonal conflict

Destructive intrapersonal conflict, i.e. destroying personal structures is a conflict that aggravates the duality of personality. It can develop into a severe life crisis and develop neurotic reactions.

A long-term destructive conflict can negatively affect a person’s activity, contribute to the inhibition of personal development, create uncertainty and psychological instability, and inability to achieve goals. In a deeper sense, such a conflict can cause a person to not develop the qualities that a mature personality should possess. If destructive intrapersonal conflict arises frequently, this can lead to the formation of an inferiority complex, loss of self-confidence and strength, or even loss of meaning in life.

EXAMPLE: Long-term dissatisfaction with the quality of one’s life; the child’s conviction that he is inferior, not like everyone else; a requirement from a person to behave differently in the same situation, etc.

But, despite the fact that intrapersonal conflicts can be constructive, destructive ones are much more common in real life. And if the former can be safely called even desirable, then the latter should be learned to recognize and prevent.