Understanding the Importance of Conflict Management Skills

Understanding the Importance of Conflict Management Skills
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Why You Need Great Conflict Management Skills

Conflict is a natural element of any organization, and more so if it is a democratic organization where independent thinking is encouraged. The acknowledgment of the existence of conflict underscores the importance of conflict management. All conflict is not necessarily unhealthy, but the energy consumed by all kinds of conflict ought to be channeled positively for furthering the organizational objectives.

Need for Conflict Management Skills in the 21st Century

The economies of most countries have increasingly opened up in recent decades, allowing for a much greater flow of goods and services as well as manpower exchange around the world. The economic borders have become increasingly blurred particularly after the rise of capitalism in Europe and Asia. This has given birth to a new global organization that transcends geographies, economies and cultures. This has also meant that the importance of conflict management and the need to develop conflict management skills has never been greater. Organizational structures have become increasingly multi-cultural with people from different nationalities and different cultures working together to achieve common group goals. With an efficient conflict management approach, it is possible for a business organization to do well in the new global economic order of today.

Managing Conflicts of Values and Opinions

The business organization can successfully manage conflict only when it has a clear set of policies, principles and values in place that every individual must follow. Personal values and opinions may differ from one individual to another, but to work as a cohesive organization with a pursuit of the company’s corporate vision and mission, it is important that every individual must respect and follow the corporate values instead of getting personal or emotional about a professional role or responsibility at hand. The importance of conflict management arises from the fact that whenever there are deviations from corporate policies due to personal differences of opinion or principles, and personal competitiveness at the workplace, there must be a clearly laid out conflict resolution mechanism in place to resolve the conflict with efficiency in the larger interests of the organization.

Need to Develop Sensitivity and Emotional Engagement

One of the critical attributes that is necessary for able conflict management in a business organization is the ability to be sensitive to the emotions of people. It has often been observed that emotional engagement in the event of a conflict achieves much better and long lasting results than trying to resolve an issue with a complete detachment from human sensitivities. Business organizations with a higher emotional quotient tend to achieve far superior employee loyalty and a spirit of teamwork than organizations with a completely dry and emotionless approach to business. This ability to view and resolve conflicts with sensitivity can be acquired across the board when the organization understands the importance of conflict management with a human touch and its long term competitive advantages for the organization.

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