Conflict, Conflict Resolution, and Cohesion in Groups.
Picture in your mind, your first assignment as the team leader of a problem- solving group at your place of work. You, of course, want to prove your competence as team leader. Facilitating a well functioning team is very important to you. Every thing is going well then bam! All of the sudden it happens, the inevitable first conflict. Is this the end of your dreams for a promotion? Not necessarily, conflict can have a negative effect on a work group but it can also be a positive tool. The purpose of this paper is to examine different types of conflict, look at strategies to promote constructive conflict, and what to do to resolve negative conflict, plus how to maintain a cohesive working group. We will begin by examining working groups.
Before we look at the different types of conflict, we must first take a brief look at working groups. In the workplace, groups are formed to work towards a common goal. Typically, groups are kept small, usually consisting of less than ten members. These individuals bring a variety of experiences and areas of expertise to the group. The ideal is for the group to perform synergistically. This means that that the contributions of the individual members of the group combine to make something better than any of the individual parts, as cited by Engleberg, Wynn, & Schutter (2001) Working In Groups Communication Principles And Strategies. As the group forms, it goes through several predictable phases. Tuckman is one theorist who defines these stages as forming, storming, norming and performing, Catalyst consulting team (2001). Let us take a brief look at these stages. .
Tuckman's first stage of development is called forming. This is the stage where the group is first formed. The teams members get to know one another, define their identities within the group, and define the reason the team has been formed.
