MADE BY ANKIT PALAI

Organizational conflicts

What is organizational conflict?

Organizational conflict is an internal misunderstanding or disagreement that can occur between

colleagues or leaders. These kinds of disagreements can lead to a lack of cohesion and
collaboration in the workplace. When employees don't get along with each other or disagree, it
can make it challenging to get everyone aligned with the company's goals.
 Organizational conflict causes
Some of the situations that commonly cause organizational conflict include:

Lack of communication
Oftentimes, conflicts occur when there's a disruption in the flow of communication at work. When
someone lacks the information necessary to do their job, they may come to faulty conclusions.
Likewise, if an employee misinterprets something their colleague or manager says to them, this can
also lead to internal conflict in the workplace. This is why it's important to be mindful of how people
might interpret what you say or do at work.
 Different personality types
While having a mix of personality types can help a company gain new perspectives and ideas,
it can also lead to organizational conflict. When people with majorly different personalities
have to work together, there may be incompatible values, priorities and work styles. However,
encouraging people to understand each other and their work processes may help prevent
disagreements.
 Ambiguous expectations
When managers make their expectations for employees unclear, this can lead to conflict in the
workplace. Employees may grow frustrated or confused about what they are supposed to be
doing to succeed. This is especially apparent if they think they are doing something correctly
and their manager sends it back with unhelpful feedback.
 Unclear responsibilities

In order for a workplace to thrive, it's important for departments to have a level of
accountability. Conflict can occur when an issue happens and no one takes responsibility for it.
Likewise, employees can get into disagreements over who's responsible for which tasks. This is
why it's important for everyone to have clearly defined roles in the workplace.
 Unfair distribution of resources

When there aren't enough resources at work for everyone, this can lead to competition and
conflict. For instance, if the sales department is getting a significant portion of the budget, other
departments might feel like their employer favors the sales department. A sense of favoritism
can lead to lowered employee morale since people might feel like they aren't getting the
recognition and resources they deserve. Aiming to balance resources can help prevent concerns
about favoritism.
 How to manage organizational conflict
Follow these steps to help your team resolve organizational conflict and get along
with each other:
1. Be mindful of your actions
When interacting with your team, be mindful of how people might perceive what you do and say.
What might be a funny joke to someone could be potentially offensive to someone else. It's
important that you understand what kind of behaviors are appropriate in the workplace. Make an
effort to go through your employee handbook with your team to ensure you all have a mutual
understanding of how to act at work.
 2. Accept differences
When people learn to get along, diverse workplaces can see all kinds of benefits. Try to
be open to your colleague's ideas or opinions, and, if you disagree with what they say,
have a dialogue with them to understand their thought process. You may find that when
people get a chance to explain themselves, you actually have a lot in common. People
of different backgrounds can learn quite a bit from one another as long as they learn to
treat each other with respect.
 3. Implement team-building activities
Helping your team members get to know each other better can lead
to more collaboration and understanding in the workplace. Team-
building activities can help colleagues learn about each other's
personalities and work styles much better. Here are a few activities
you can use to help your team connect:

Truth and lies

Have your team members come up with two facts about themselves and one lie. Go around guessing
which facts are true and which are false. This can be a fun, low-stakes way of learning about each
other's backgrounds.
 Never have I ever
Everyone puts up all their fingers as people go around the group saying things they
have not done. If you personally have done the activity, you put your finger down.
The person with the most fingers up "wins." This is a fun way to learn more about
each other's experiences and could be a great way to get some conversations going
with your team.
 Would you rather?
In this game, coworkers go around asking each other what they would
rather do between two sets of possibilities. For instance, you could ask,
"Would you rather live in Antarctica or the Sahara desert?" This can be a
fun way to start a meeting and get everyone laughing with one another.
 Ice-breaker questions
At the start of each meeting, ask your team a lighthearted question. As
everyone goes around answering it, you can learn about each other's
preferences. For instance, "What is your favorite movie?" or "Where do you
hope to travel one day?" are great ice-breaker questions.
 4. Put expectations in writing
Make your team's expectations clear by writing them in job descriptions.
Having thorough job descriptions for each person can help everyone
understand their responsibilities and standing in the office. Managers can
also meet with their team members one-on-one to help them set goals
and understand their expectations moving forward. Make sure to take
notes during this meeting so that you can confirm an employee knows
what they're responsible for completing
 5. Facilitate open communication
As a lack of communication and misunderstandings often lead to
workplace conflict, finding a way to improve your communication
processes can be quite helpful. Consider making some guidelines on how
employees can communicate about certain topics with one another. For
instance, you could encourage employees to discuss project details using
email or direct message so that they can look back on what they said.
THANK
YOU