Blog 5- Power and Conflict at work

Conflict can be defined as behaviour that is intended to obstruct another individual from achieving their goal. Brooks (2006) stated that ‘conflict is apparent when at least one party perceives that it exists and where an interest or concern of that party is about to be compromised or frustrated.’

I experienced conflict at school when I was put into a group for geography to create a presentation relating to the formation of volcanoes. I was put with people that I wouldn’t normally work with as our teacher would usually let us work with our friends. This meant I found myself having to motivate others that weren’t interested in doing the work whereas I on the other hand wanted to get a good grade. Subsequently are group was not able to achieve its purpose to the best of our ability as only 50% of the group were pulling their weight. I didn’t think it was fair that only a few people were doing the work and the rest were being carried and would get the same grade. We decided to delegate everyone in our group aspects of the presentation that they would need to research individually and then present in front of the class. This worked effectively as they didn’t want to look bad in front of their classmates when we presented. From this conflict I learnt that it is best to deal with it straight away rather than waiting for it to progress. Also some people like to follow and be given tasks to do rather than using their initiative and just getting on with it.

French and Raven suggested the sources of power theory in 1959. There are five different sources of power, these are coercive, reward, expert, legitimate and referent. Coercive power is when people are afraid of their managers so their power is based on fear. Reward power is achieved when individuals have the perception that they will be rewarded in the future. The saying all knowledge is power can be related to expert power, this is when an individual has the expertise to carry out the job so is therefore rewarded with the power. Legitimate power is when somebody has achieved the right to be power, for example they have worked their way up the company’s hierarchy structure rather than coming through the back door at managerial level. Finally referent power is when somebody wants to be like somebody else and idolises them.

In order to overcome conflict at work there are many different strategies that organisations can use. The first strategy is the use of human resource management and procedures. As Mullins (2010) suggests areas of conflict can be reduced by paying careful attention to HRM policies and procedures such as equal pay and opportunities for example. By adhering by these policies and procedures it makes it a lot harder for somebody to complain and say that they are being treated unfairly. Another strategy is to clarify goals and objectives, this helps to avoid misunderstandings and conflict. By having clear goals this ensures that staff are aware what is expected of them. The third strategy is to ensure there are good communication, consultation and involvement in decision making between staff and management. It is important that if there is going to be a change that staff are prepared for this change to occur. To overcome conflict it is also important that employees have the chance to air grievances and have a grievance policy and procedure. The final strategy is to ensure there is a disciplinary procedure that all employees are aware of. All disciplinary procedures have three stages and it is important that employees understand what these are in order for conflict to be avoided in the workplace.

In conclusion conflict can occur in the workplace for a number of reasons for example limited resources, role conflict, differences in perception and inequitable treatment. This can have a very negative impact on the workplace so it is important that strategies like the five mentioned previously are followed in order for conflict to be avoided. From my own experience I have learnt that conflict will always arise within a workplace but its how you overcome this conflict that will affect the outcome

Resources

Books

Mullins, L. (2010) Management and organisational behaviour.9^th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Websites

Mind tools (2011) French and Ravens five forms of power [online], Available from: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_56.htm [ accessed 22 January 2011].