This document provides an overview of conflict management in teams. It begins with learning objectives related to defining conflict, understanding where it comes from, and different categories and types of conflict. It then presents a case study about three typists, Fatima, Samina, and Razia, and asks the reader to rate their performance. Several tools for analyzing and managing conflict are introduced, including a conflict flow model consisting of 6 stages, a matrix for analyzing the impacts of different conflicts, a conflict tree for identifying causes and effects, and a PINs analysis table for understanding actors' positions, interests, and needs. The document concludes by describing five common conflict management strategies: avoiding, competing, compromising, accommodating, and collaborating

1. Conflict
Management in
Teams
Chapter 7

2. Learning Objectives
1. To define “conflict”.
2. To understand the conflicts
3. Conflict is a positive thing?
4. Conflict: Where does it come from?
5. Categories of conflict
6. Conflict flow
7. Conflict types
8. Conflict tools
9. Conflict table
10. Conclusion

3. Fatima, the Typist:
Samina, Razia and Fatima are
typists/secretaries in a organization.
Samina is from Karachi, Razia from
Rawalpindi and Fatima from a rural village in
Khairpur.
Their average typing speed during last three
months has been:
Samina (60), Razia (50) and Fatima (30)
What do you think of Fatima’s performance?
(Write your ranking using the scale from 1-5)

4. Fatima, the Typist: (Cont’d)
Samina and Razia had other jobs before joining
your organization.
This is fatima’s first job. She joined three
months ago
What do you think of Fatima’s performance?
While Samina and Razia have new imported
typewriters, Fatima has an old one which
“jumps” frequently.
What do you think of Fatima’s performance?

5. Fatima, the Typist: (Cont’d)
Most of Samina’s and Razia’s work is straight
typing of reports yet they have a considerable
number of errors. Fatima on the other hand is
usually given heavy statistical data and her work
is practically errorless.
What do you think of Fatima’s performance?

6. Conflict is a positive thing?
Conflict can teach you to make the most of each
situation and use it as a learning opportunity.
You can also use it as an opportunity to transform
the situation into something better.
There is no “Right” or “Wrong”
Only difference of opinions
We should respect the “differences”.

7. Conflict: Where does it come from?
• Goals: Conflict can happen as a result of conflicting goals or
priorities. It can also happen when there is a lack of shared goals.
• Personality conflicts: Personality conflicts are a common cause of
conflict. Sometimes there is no chemistry, or you haven’t figured out
an effective way to click with somebody.
• Scarce resources: Conflict can happen when you’re competing over
scarce resources.
• Styles. People have different styles. Your thinking style or
communication style might conflict with somebody else’s thinking
style or their communication style. The good news is that conflicts in
styles are easy to adapt to when you know how.
• Values. Sometimes you will find conflict in values. The challenge
here is that values are core. Adapting with styles is one thing, but
dealing with conflicting values is another. That’s why a particular
business, group, or culture may not be a good fit for you. It’s also why
“bird’s of a feather flock together” and why “opposites attract, but
similarities bind.”

8. Categories of Conflict
 Inter-personal: It refers to conflict that happens
between two or more people.
 Intra-personal: While intrapersonal refers to conflict
that occurs in your mind.
 Inter-group: It refers to conflict that happens between
two or more group or team.
 intra-group: this refers to the conflict between one or
more people in the same group or team.
 Competitive: The competing conflict style is high
on aggressiveness and low on cooperativeness.

9. What is Conflict?
“Conflict is a relationship
between two or more
parties (individuals or
groups) who have, or
think they have,
incompatible goals and
who act on the basis of
those perceived
incompatibilities”,
Schneider et al, 2016
Schneider et al 2016,
p144

10. What is conflict? (Cont’d)
 A battle, contest or opposing forces existing
between primitive desires and moral, religious
or ethical ideas (Dictionary).
 A state of incompatibility of ideas between two
or more parties or individuals.
 Difference of opinion between two or more
parties
 Conflict Management : is the practice of
identifying and handling conflict in a sensible,
fair and efficient manner.

11. Conflict Flow
1. Antecedent Conditions
2. Perceived Conflict 3. Felt Conflict
4. Manifest Behavior
5. Conflict Suppression or Resolution
6. Resolution Aftermath

12. 1. Antecedent Conditions
Scarce Resources
Conflicting attitude
Ambiguous jurisdiction
Communication barriers
Need for consensus
Unresolved prior conflicts
Knowledge of self and others

13. 2. Perceived Conflict
Take credit, no recognition
Be judgmental “problem child”
Send written messages
Subordinate should come to see me
Make yourself inaccessible to your team “open door
access”
Individual (I) Vs team approach (We)
Telling them? Consulting them? Or deciding with them?
Come tomorrow
Introduce change without consultation or discussion

14. 3. Felt Conflict
Poorly defined goals
Divergent personal values
Lack of cooperation/trust
Competition of scarce resources
Unclear roles/lack of job description
4. Manifest Behavior
Stress
Absenteeism
Staff turnover
De-motivation
Non-productivity

15. 5. Conflict Suppression or Resolution
Conflict suppression is a superficial and often temporary state
that leaves the situation open to future conflicts over similar
issues.
Conflict resolution is the process that two or more parties
use to find a cordial solution to a problem.
6. Conflict Resolution Aftermath
 It refers to its outcome, which can be positive or negative.

16. Types of conflict
Compatible goals Incompatible goals
Incompatible
behaviour
Compatible
behaviour
No conflict Latent conflict
Surface
conflict
Open
conflict

17. Types of conflict
17
Compatible goals Incompatible goals
Incompatible
behaviour
Compatible
behaviour
No conflict Latent conflict
Surface
conflict
Open
conflict
When goals and behavior are compatible,
there is no conflict

18. Types of conflict
Compatible goals Incompatible goals
Incompatible
behaviour
Compatible
behaviour
No conflict Latent conflict
Surface
conflict
Open
conflict
Latent conflict is when behavior is apparently
compatible, but goals are not. The latent conflict
may need to be brought to the surface to be
resolved

19. Types of conflict
Compatible goals Incompatible goals
Incompatible
behaviour
Compatible
behaviour
No conflict Latent conflict
Surface
conflict
Open
conflict
When goals are compatible but behavior is
not, this results in surface conflict. This kind of
shallow conflict can often be resolved with
good communication

20. Types of conflict
Compatible goals Incompatible goals
Incompatible
behaviour
Compatible
behaviour
No conflict Latent conflict
Surface
conflict
Open
conflict
Open conflict is both visible and deep-rooted,
emerging from incompatible goals and behavior

21. Conflict Analysis Tools
These are some of the tools that could be used in a conflict analysis
Tool Usage (use for)
Impacts Matrix Select priority conflict
Conflict Tree Identify causes and effects of conflict
Conflict Mapping Identify key conflict actors and the relationships
between them
PINs Analysis Table “Expose Actors” interest and needs driving
conflict

22. Identifying priority of conflicts: Impacts Matrix
Good tool for
identifying which
instances of
conflict should
be prioritized,
based on
highest impact
on both Cost
and Time
Impacts Matrix: High-, medium- and low-priority conflicts
Cost
Impacts
Time Impacts
High
High Medium Low
Medium
Low
High priority
conflict: need
immediate
resolution
Medium priority
priority conflict:
can be delayed
resolution after
further analysis
Low priority
conflict:
Consider for
further analysis
in future

23. Cause and effect: Conflict Tree
• Good tool for to get
perspectives from all
stakeholders
• Simple and effective way to
separate out and visualize
the causes and effects of the
conflict

24. Actors relations: Conflict map
 Use a conflict map to visualize
actor relations after you have
identified your priority conflict and
key stakeholders
 Include all key stakeholders as
identified at the beginning
 Different lines show different
kinds of relationships and
directions of influence

25. Actor Reveals: Positions, Interests, Needs
(PINs)
Thinking in terms of Positions, Interests and Needs can help us to
separate what people say about a conflict situation, and why they say
it:
 Positions are the vocalisation of a desire – the thing(s)
stakeholders say they want. Underlying the position is the interest
 Interests are the underlying motivations that inform the position.
Positions are vocalised, but interests might not be. So it is important
to determine what someone’s interests are – you might find that
they have some common ground with those that they are apparently
in conflict with, and can then find flexibility in their position
 Needs are the things that are essential for survival or satisfaction

26. What we state
What we must have
What we want
Areas of mutual
interests and needs
Stakeholder
2
Stakeholder
1
Positions, Interests, Needs (PINs)
Positions
Needs
Interests

27. Conflict Table
Win-Win Lose-Win
Win-Lose Lose-Lose
I win I lose
You win
You lose

28. Conflict Management Strategies Matrix
1) Avoiding,
2) Competing,
3) Compromising,
4) Accommodating, and
5) Collaborating
Find out, which of these strategies are suitable and not suitable
for certain situation?

29. Thomas, K. W., & Kilmann, R. H. (2011).
Five conflict management strategies matrix:
 Competing: is high on assertive and low on cooperative
 Collaborating: is high on both assertive and cooperative
 Accommodating: is low on assertive and high on cooperative
 Compromising: is in the middle of assertive and cooperative.
 Avoiding: is low on assertive and low on cooperative

30. Accommodating
People who accommodate are unassertive and very cooperative.
 Give in during a conflict
 Acknowledge they made a mistake/decide it was no big deal
 Put relationships first, ignore issues, and try to keep peace at any price
 Effective when the other person or party has a better plan or solution
Implications:
1. People who use accommodating often neglect their own concerns to satisfy
the concerns of others. Accommodating is the opposite style of competing.
2. People who accommodate may be selflessly generous or charitable, and
they may also obey another person when they would prefer not to, or yield
to another’s point of view.
3. They may work against their own goals or objectives to reach a desired
outcome.
4. They may have to give in to reach the desired outcome.
5. Accommodating may preserve future relationships with the conflicting
person or party.

31. Avoiding
People who avoid conflict are generally unassertive and uncooperative.
 Avoid the conflict entirely or delay their response instead of voicing concerns
 Can create some space in an emotional environment
 Not a good long-term strategy
Implications:
1. When someone uses avoidance, they are not helping the other party reach
their goals, and they are not assertively pursuing their own.
2. To do so, they may diplomatically sidestep or postpone discussion until a
better time, withdraw from the threatening situation or divert attention. They
perceive conflict as hopeless and therefore something to be avoided.
Differences are overlooked and they accept disagreement.
3. This works when the issue is trivial or when you have no chance of winning.
It’s also very effective when the atmosphere is emotionally charged and you
4. need to create some “space”. Sometimes issues will resolve themselves, but in
general, avoiding is not a good long term strategy. “Hope is not a strategy.”

32. Collaborating
Collaborators are both assertive and cooperative.
 Assert own views while also listening to other views and welcoming differences
 Seek a “win-win” outcome
 Identify underlying concerns of a conflict
 Create room for multiple ideas
 Requires time and effort from both parties
Implications:
1. People who collaborate work together make plan to improve a situation or
achieve goals of both parties. They attempt to work with others to find
solutions that fully satisfy the concerns of both parties.
2. This can be effective for complex scenarios where a novel solution is needed.
This can also mean re-framing a challenge to create a more room for
everybody’s ideas. The downside is that it requires a high-degree of trust,
and reaching a consensus can require a lot of time and effort. It takes work to
get everybody on board and to synthesize a variety of potentially conflicting
ideas.
3. People using this style often recognize there are tensions in relationships and
contrasting viewpoints, but want to work through conflicts.

33. Competing
People who approach conflict in a competitive way assert themselves and do not
cooperate while pursuing their own concerns at another’s expense.
 Takes on a “win-lose” approach where one person wins and one person loses
 Does not rely on cooperation with the other party to reach outcome
 May be appropriate for emergencies when time is important
Implications:
1. To compete, people take a power orientation and use whatever power seems
appropriate to win even at the expense of the other party. This may include
arguing, pulling rank or instigating sanctions. Competing may mean standing up
and defending a position believed to be correct, or simply trying to win. Forcing is
another way of viewing competition. People using a forcing style perceive that
some people are right and others are wrong.
2. This approach may be appropriate for emergencies when time is of the essence,
or when you need quick, decisive action. People should be aware of and support
the approach.
3. This is not a good conflict management style for handling normal conflict
situations due to the fact that it demands only one person to be completely right
and the other completely wrong. This is rarely actually the case. Most of the
time both parties need to be open to changing part of their behavior.

34. Compromising
Compromisers are moderately assertive and moderately cooperative.
 Try to find fast, mutually acceptable solutions to conflicts that partially satisfy both
parties
 Results in a “lose-lose” approach
 Appropriate temporary solution
 Considered an easy way out when you need more time to collaborate to find a better
solution
Implications:
1. The concept of this being a “lose-lose” situation could be confusing. Basically it
means that no one is going to get exactly what they want, but everyone benefits
in some way. The trap is to fall into compromising as an easy way out, when
collaborating would produce a better solution even though it requires more
work.
2. Compromisers give up less than accommodators, but more than competitors.
They explore issues more than avoiders, but less than collaborators. Their
solutions often involve “splitting the difference” or exchanging concessions.
Conflict is mutual difference best resolved by cooperation and compromise.
3. It may be appropriate for scenarios where you need a temporary solution, or
where both sides have equally important goals.

35. Which one is best?
There is no BEST way to handle conflict. Each conflict is different and requires
a different response.
As a society, we teach:
“Two heads are better than one.” (Collaborating)
“Kill your enemies with kindness.” (Accommodating)
“Split the difference.” (Compromising)
“Leave well enough alone.” (Avoiding)
“Might makes right.” (Competing)
 Usually, after getting the results of any test or assessment, the first question
people ask is: "What are the right answers?" In the case of conflict-handling
behavior, there are no universal right answers. All five modes are useful in
some situations: each represents a set of useful social skills. The
effectiveness of a given conflict-handling mode depends upon the
requirements of the specific conflict situation and the skill with which the
mode is used.
 Each of us is capable of using all five conflict-handling modes: few could be
characterized as having a single, rigid style of dealing with conflict. However,
most people use some modes better than others and therefore, tends to
rely upon those modes more heavily than others.

36. Resoling Conflict Strategies

37. Being HR Expert:
Steps to resolve conflicts in teams
Assure privacy
Empathize than sympathize
Listen actively
Maintain equity
Focus on issue, not on personality
Avoid blame
Identify key theme
Re-state key theme frequently
Encourage feedback
Identify alternate solutions
Give your positive feedback
Agree on an action plan

38. How to prevent conflicts: “not possible”
•Frequent meeting of your team
•Allow your team to express openly
•Sharing objectives
•Having a clear and detailed job description
•Distributing task fairly
•Never criticize team members publicly
•Always be fair and just with your team
•Being a role model

39. Conclusion
“Conflict is unavoidable”
Complexity of organizational relationship
Interaction among workers
Dependence of workers on one another
Conflict is a healthy sign not a negative
It reflects dynamic state
As stagnation means death
(if you don’t change, you die)

40. Conclusion (Cont’d)
 Poorly managed conflicts
Unfavorable with counter productive results
Problems and negative attitude
 Well managed conflicts
Stimulate competition
Identify legitimate differences
Powerful source of motivation