Conflict occurs when one party perceives their interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. Even the best managers will often have to help resolve disagreements and even destructive conflicts. This activity is important because good managers should understand the various techniques or styles they can use to handle workplace conflicts.
The goal of this activity is to challenge your knowledge of the five conflict handling styles.
Match each item to the appropriate conflict handling style.
Dominating
Obliging
Compromising
Integrating
Avoiding
Match each of the options above to the items below.
Milton always finds something petty to be upset about. Today Milton is complaining to you that he did not get a shiny new red Swingline stapler like his office mate did
Lauryl works hourly shifts at a restaurant and she isn’t happy about her schedule for the upcoming week. You are Lauryl’s coworker and offer to switch schedules with her this week. You don’t have much going on outside of work this week, and one day in the future you may need a favor from her.
Your company withdrew the funding you planned to use to put your employees up at a really fancy hotel on this week’s work trip. Instead, you’ll have to stay at a cheap motel and double up in rooms. You announce the disappointing news and quickly move on to other business. There’s no point in fielding questions or complaints since the money just isn’t there.
Stanley and Phyllis are both top salespeople at their company. Both believe that the biggest, most important potential clients should be given to them. They decide that a good system is to alternate evenly—one important potential client goes to one of them, then the next goes to the other, etc.
Your department has just been given a $4,000 end-of-year bonus. Everyone has an opinion on how it should be spent, including fancy new desk chairs, a big party, a new copy machine, and new laptops. You take a few days to evaluate the office’s needs using historical data and discussing options with each employee individually before finally arriving at a decision that you believe everyone will see as the best decision for all in the group.
