Introduction
Conflicts always arise in the workplace and may relate to the differences in the staff members’ degrees of world outlook, values, and diversity. The Innovative Solutions marketing team has a critical conflict which can disrupt their productivity and work efficiency. This paper aims to investigate the causes of the conflict and propose suitable solutions based on organizational behaviour concepts and theories.
Analysis of the situation
Individual differences
The assignment of tasks is a big issue to be solved in the organization. On the basis of the equity theory, people evaluate their contribution-reward or input-output ratios to others to decide whether they are fairly treated. When some colleagues think that certain people are not doing their jobs adequately, it may generate perceptions of unfairness and enmity. According to Equity Theory, this discrepancy in the workload distribution can affect the perception of fairness, as fairness is based on personal contribution relative to others (Kollmann et al., 2020). Here, the team members who believe they are providing more resources (effort, skills, etc.) than others but receive similar outcomes (like workload distribution) might sense inequality. On the other hand, participants who think their contribution is less than others may develop an impression of unfair advantage, which adds to the already deepening tensions.
Everybody’s communication style and preferences differ, which can result in misunderstandings and conflicts. Some team members prefer to communicate directly rather than diplomatically, mirroring their cultural attributions of independent/collective orientation and power distance. This can foster resentment and disagreement in the team. The Social Learning Theory stresses the significance of watching and imitating the behaviour of those around us. Similarly, these variations in communication styles are learned socially, where one copies the communication behaviour from the modelled communication within their social group. Diversity in communication styles within the marketing team may cause irritation and misunderstanding.
Organizational factors
Sarah Thompson’s participative and collaborative leadership style falls under the path-goal theory, where leaders must adjust their style to meet the needs or desires of their followers. Conversely, the group’s partiality towards a sophisticated method indicates the importance of adaptiveness in leadership. People’s discrepancies in leadership preferences, where a section of the marketing team seems to prefer an authoritative leadership style, may arise from the varied expectations and understandings of what constitutes effective leadership within the organizational context, as indicated by the Path-Goal theory.
There is an obvious pressure of deadlines within the team. Exposure to high stress levels can result in negative consequences like conflict, decreased productivity, and burnout (Palancı et al., 2020). Tight deadlines have made the problem worse and made the job quite stressful. Besides, the awareness of the approaching deadlines can affect the individual team members’ stress levels, which may be reflected in their cognitive and emotional responses towards interpersonal conflicts within the team.
Impact of Conflict on Individual and Team Dynamics
Individual Consequences
The conflicts stretched over time have caused stress and emotional tension in individuals and teams, which may hurt work productivity. Constant stress and burnout can be expressed in both physical and psychological issues, including headaches, fatigue, anxiety, and depression, and can consequently lead to a deterioration of performance. Furthermore, unresolved conflicts can cause a negative work atmosphere, undermining the workers’ motivation and satisfaction (Adeyemi, 2022). Consequently, following a decline in intrinsic motivation, staff may seek better jobs, causing high turnover rates and talent loss for the organization. High employee turnover may cost organizations in terms of recruitment and training expenses, plus the loss of institutional knowledge and team dynamics interruption.
Organizational consequences
Conflicts can jeopardize team unity, lower collaboration efficiency, and adversely affect decision-making processes, thus causing low productivity and unsatisfactory performance. When team members are engaged in conflicts, their focus shifts to conflict resolutions, and they ignore the task completion; thus, errors and poor-quality outputs are created. In addition, conflicts may lead to misunderstandings, hamper the flow of information, and prevent the use of different perspectives, weakening the team’s ability to make intelligent decisions. Unresolved conflicts may create a bitter team environment, resulting in team members distrusting, hating and feeling unsafe to express their ideas, inhibiting creativity, innovation and good teamwork. In these circumstances, team members may become reluctant to share their ideas or concerns, creating an environment where groupthink takes over, and the diversity of opinions is suppressed, which is essential for the organization’s success and innovation.
Conflict Resolution Strategies
There is a need to establish a visible task allocation procedure during which responsibilities are assigned based on the competencies and strengths of the team members.Simplifying and making explicit the roles, responsibilities, and expectations will prevent such conflicts stemming from the distribution of tasks and workload. This approach parallels the role theory, which holds that the clearer the role, the weaker the vagueness and the deeper the team collaboration (Kilpatrick et al., 2020). Then, team meetings can be a platform where workload distribution is discussed, and problems are solved. Empowering open communication guarantees equality and fairness in work distribution.
The organization can organize communication workshops or training sessions to educate employees about different communication styles among team members. It develops active listening skills and communication procedures among team members. The team should establish reliable communication routes and create a platform for feedback to address any misunderstandings immediately. These workshops can cover non-verbal communication, cultural differences in communication styles, and clear and concise messaging and techniques. Furthermore, having periodic team meetings or check-ins can be a platform for open communication and understanding, building a trustworthy and transparent environment in the team.
While the proposed conflict resolution methods are significant, the leadership’s role in mitigating and preventing conflicts is vital. Leaders should create an environment free of negativity, encourage dialogue and be the first to resolve arguments peacefully. The team’s ability to manage conflicts and maintain a harmonious environment will be enhanced through appropriate training and development initiatives involving conflict resolution skills.
Leadership Style
According to the Situational Leadership Theory, the effectiveness of leadership results from the readiness or maturity level of the followers (Rodić & Marić, 2021). Various situations could demand different leadership styles. Sarah Thompson’s participative leadership style might not be suitable for tight deadlines and conflict resolution. Sarah Thompson should be able to adjust her leadership style depending on the particular needs of the situation. When under great pressure with tight deadlines, she can switch to a more directive or authoritative style to guarantee the completion of tasks and keep the team cohesion up.
Nevertheless, she should include the team members in the decision-making process as much as possible to build teamwork and ownership of the initiative. By applying situational awareness and remaining flexible, Sarah can utilize the benefits of both directive and participative leadership styles. She can take control and offer specific reports to the team during time-sensitive tasks or crises. On the other hand, she needs to actively seek involvement and feedback from team members in all major decision-making, particularly episodes of conflict resolution and team dynamics. This approach is the best combination of dealing with immediate challenges and keeping staff members engaged and committed long-term.
Training and Development Initiatives
By holding strategy workshops centred on conflict resolution techniques, negotiation tactics, and effective communication, team members are provided with tools for constructively managing conflicts. These workshops cover different skills, for example, techniques such as active listening, reframing, and interest-based negotiation, which team members could use to lessen the impact of the conflicts and find mutually beneficial solutions. By allocating resources for such training, participants see the conflicts as paths towards development and progress rather than the ways to destabilize and divide.
Diversity and inclusion training can play a critical role in educating about people’s uniqueness and ways to avoid misunderstandings, as well as creating a friendly environment on the team (Oloo, 2023). Through a growing awareness and support of these diverse attributes, team members will become more capable of identifying and resolving potential sources of conflicts at early stages.
Emotional intelligence training programs will help team members cultivate their self-awareness and augment their empathy and emotion control, which are prerequisites for positive conflict resolution and team development. Self-awareness helps people recognize the features of their emotional triggers and reactions, effectively allowing them to manage their feelings in conflict situations. Emotional Intelligence is one of the skills which help team members deal with conflicts maturely and have more resilience, resulting in a more cooperative and harmonious work environment.
Conclusion
Finally, by applying organizational behaviour concepts and theories, Innovate Solutions can promptly resolve the conflict in the marketing department. By appraising individual differences, organizational factors, conflict resolution strategies, and providing leadership and training, the company can develop an atmosphere where productivity and innovation are the order of this harmony.
References
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Kollmann, T., Stöckmann, C., Kensbock, J. M., & Peschl, A. (2020). What satisfies younger versus older employees, and why? An aging perspective on equity theory to explain interactive effects of employee age, monetary rewards, and task contributions on job satisfaction. Human Resource Management, 59(1), 101-115.
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Smollan, R. K. (2017). Supporting staff through stressful organizational change. Human Resource Development International, 20(4), 282-304.
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