We can divide most of what people fight over into three general categories: not enough stuff to go around, goals they want to reach, and different ways of seeing the world. Most often at work, conflicts seem to be about resources, turf boundaries, or conflicting goals. Although these issues may present themselves as the conflict, what we value often plays a big part in how conflicts play themselves out.
Consider the following case studies.
1. What is the potential conflict here?
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2. What is Mary’s work value regarding the project?
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3. What is Tom’s work value regarding the project?
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Who is right here, Mary or Tom? Can they both be right? Is this one of those times when there is more than one way to see and respond to what is going on?
1. What is the potential conflict here?
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2. How does John view success?
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3. How might Peggy view success?
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4. How do you think John should handle this situation?
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It is common for us to want other people to see things the same way that we do—especially about what we would consider to be core work values such as getting a project finished, balancing work and family, or advancing in our profession. However, we each have our own value system through which we determine our priorities. When different priorities collide, conflict is often the result. How we engage these differences becomes critically important.
The roots of your value system can be traced back to your early childhood, school years, adolescence, early adulthood, and significant events in your adult life. However, how are they developed? Why are yours different from others? How do you know which ones are right? Can your values be changed? These are important questions when examining your values in contrast to the values of other people.
Sometimes conflict over goals at work is the result of poor communication and planning. The goals and objectives of one department may clash with those of another department.
Limited resources can mean practically anything: not enough employees, lack of space, shortage of finances, outdated equipment, and so on.
The domino effect is the product of poor planning and communication breakdown. It occurs when the activities of one department have an impact on the activities of another department, the activities of which have an impact on yet another department, and on and on.
Example: The director of sales has promised his employees an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii if they increase widget sales by 15 percent over the next quarter. The sales staff is very excited, and sales begin increasing immediately. However, no one has told the production department, which immediately falls behind; or the shipping department, which won’t have enough widget boxes if production catches up; or customer service, which will surely become involved when the widgets don’t arrive as promised by the salespeople who wanted to go to Hawaii.
How would you address this problem?
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How would you keep this problem from happening in the first place?
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