Workplace conflict between teams can quickly get out of hand especially when it has to do with conflict of interests. Intra organizational competition is something that encourages innovation, productivity and boosts profit for that business. Yet managing conflicts that may arise from this competition could be a delicate affair. Each team has goals they must meet. The teams might be in the same department (like marketing) and it is usually this type of scenarios that creates fierce competition that can easily escalate to open conflict. They are given targets but they have to use the same channels to secure resources, which comes from one source, i.e. the company.
This is a mixture that can create tension to say the least especially when the resources are scarce. When this happens, workplace conflict of team interest would most likely ensue. While competition may be good for the bottom-line, no real workplace conflict benefits the company or the teams involved in the short run. It may benefit them in the long run but that would be hinged on how well and quickly the conflict was resolved.
Dangers of Team Conflict of Interests in the Workplace
- They begin to work at cross purposes
- The scarce resources they are fighting over may end up lying fallow as the conflict takes center stage
- They lead to implementation delays that could have a telling effect even after the conflict may have been resolved
- They cost the company money
- They cost the teams time that would have been used to achieve set goals
The best form of conflict resolution is the resolution that takes place before the conflict begins. Managers and team coordinators should be able to anticipate conflict and devise means to resolve them before the start. This is important when it comes to workplace relationships but it is more important when it has to do with conflict resolution concerning teams.
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www.sackedinthecity.co.uk[/caption]Conflict Anticipation
Teams are setup to handle strategic issues relating to the company. Delays in implementation could cost the company a whole lot. Anticipating areas of conflict as it concerns sharing of scarce resources is something that will save the coordinators a lot of time by laying the framework that will prevent future conflict from erupting.
When teams or units within are organizational structure are competing and at the same time relying on the same channels of resource to further their operational goals, it is important a plan is set out from the onset that will outline how these resources will be shared.
It may have been divided from the beginning so that each team works with what they have to achieve set goals. This is what generally applies in most cases because the leadership would have seen to it that everybody has what they are able to offer them to achieve their given target.
Favoritism In Sharing Limited Resources
The leadership can also unwittingly play a part in setting up a system that may encourage conflict by showing degree of favoritism while sharing resources. Supplying one team with more resources than another team can be done from the perspective of reputation and previous results. That is, a team that has been surpassing set targets previously will most likely be allocated more resources to keep on surpassing new targets. This is actually proper in the workplace environment because those that are more productive should enjoy the perks and rewards of their productivity. This is what makes the bonus of one person to be different from that of another.
This notwithstanding, allocating more resources to one unit can cause conflict. This has to be anticipated and prevented from disrupting the overall objective of having these units within this organization compete. This could be forestalled if everyone understands why one team should be given preference over the other and that any team that can aspire to that position of preferential treatment when it comes to allocation of resources if they surpass set targets.
Proper Coordination
A lot of refereeing has to take place to make sure every team is focused on the actual overall objective so that their unit objective can be placed in a proper perspective. Constantly meeting to reappraise, discuss, report and plan with senior members of the organization will keep members of the team focused with their eyes on the right ball. This is a way of refereeing without appearing to do so as the sole objective of the constant meeting is to make sure each unit is progressing and dealing with issues as they come in the right manner.
Organizations prefer to have competition between units of the business that would propel the company forward. The macro management of this competition will make sure all the units stays in line and keep to achieving their given targets for the overall benefit of the organization.
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