Conflicts arise as a result of a mismatch in cooperation or a family of various emotional states, methods of action, motives and needs.

Through conflicts, a person works out many problems - either personal or industrial. Therefore, the conflict cannot be assessed as an unambiguously negative phenomenon.

Constructive and destructive conflicts: characteristics

A conflict resolved in time significantly improves mutual understanding, and it is called constructive. And the long-term, ever-growing confrontation, which threatens to break all forms of communication, refers precisely to negative phenomena. Such situations should not be allowed either in the family or in the work team. But how to do that?

In many ways, conflict situations heal relationships in a group, strengthen relationships. From time to time in any team even a "debriefing" is necessary. Especially if this is a company where the motives and goals of disparate departments must be taken into account to achieve a common result.

A qualified manager knows how to manage conflicts; without control and proper leadership, no firm will achieve either success or a strong position in the market.

A destructive conflict occurs when one of the participants crosses the social boundaries of what is permitted or deliberately aggravates an already acute situation.

The characteristics of destructive conflict are:

• all participants have mutually exclusive goals, it is extremely difficult to find a common denominator;
• the parties make efforts to incite contradictions, and not to resolve them;
• there is no regulation, no one is puzzled by the search for regulative principles of behavior in a given situation.

These are the main features by which a constructive dispute is distinguished from a destructive one. The third point is considered the most important. Because in the constructive there is always a third party - arbitration, which is designed to build relationships.

So, what positive functions of situations of mismatch are distinguished in industrial conflictology?

• Team building. Having learned to appreciate their work team, people are in no hurry to find another place. There is no staff turnover in production.
• Each participant begins to understand the motives of the other more and in the future learns to be guided not only by his own, but also by common goals. This means that the staff can solve all problems more efficiently.
• Release of tension. In a tense team, none of the participants gets pleasure from their work.
• Stimulus for development. Each member of the team learns in the process of conflict resolution to find a balance between personal and public interests, which will undoubtedly come in handy in later life.
• Subordinates get rid of the so-called submissive syndrome. It is easier for them to express their opinion, and people do not feel like "pawns".

The destructive functions of conflict are as follows:

• Decreased motivation to work. Excessive and prolonged emotional stress of participants, which can lead to neuroticism of employees.
• Decreased discipline. When the showdown drags on, the workflow stops.
• Deterioration of the emotional climate. It is very difficult to establish a normal working relationship again.
• One or more employees may leave.

It is difficult to single out only positive aspects in the tense confrontation. Usually one conflict has both positive and negative meaning for its participants. After all, they both have to compromise and lose something in the process of building relationships.

Development of a destructive conflict situation: stages

For both sides, the development of a destructive conflict is undesirable. Therefore, we will find out the mechanism of its development, so that everyone knows how to avoid such incidents.

How does this conflict develop? There are several stages, smoothly passing one into another, by which we can characterize the degree of neglect of the collision.

1. The emergence of a situation where the interests of the parties are in opposition to each other.
2. Awareness of the conflict.
3. Development. At this stage, the hidden confrontation can turn into an open one. Supporters may also be involved.
4. expansion of the conflict. An increase in negative statements about the other side.
5. End of the conflict.

The mechanism of development of constructive conflict is similar. Only in it the parties always come to a mutual agreement as a result of the dispute. At the same time, both opponents change their attitudes and values.

Positive conflict passes without an expansion stage. It is solved in most cases through calm negotiations.

But in the case of a destructive conflict, one of the parties ends up defeated and can accumulate strength for further confrontation in the name of "revenge".

Signs of an escalating conflict

With the escalation of the conflict, the atmosphere is so tense that the parties, in principle, cannot see any positive qualities in the other side.

In such a clash of interests, everyone considers the enemy an enemy. Naturally, distrust arises, as well as the desire to blame the enemy for all the failures. All members of the opposing side are removed from among those who deserve ordinary human sympathy and participation.

These factors have an extremely negative impact on the psychological state of the warring parties. And also signs are the generalization of the conflict, the attraction of new participants to their side and the use of violence when other methods of influence are not enough.

Types of behavior in conflict

What are the patterns of behavior in conflict? There is a constructive model, a destructive one, and a conformist one.

Destructive behavior in conflict is noted

• the desire to expand the conflict, to involve new participants;
• humiliation of the personality of another (as a method of influence);
• violation of the ethics of communication;
• intimidation of the opponent;
• focusing on one's own position, authority;
• using flattery and flattery.

The latter always shows passivity in the dispute and agrees with all demands, even contrary to their own values. Such a model is also not considered constructive, because when a person refuses his own position, from responsibility for himself, he unintentionally becomes a cause of conflict.

Accentuation of character and type of behavior in conflict

In adolescence and youth, some distinctive character traits become clearly expressed. Then these characteristics (accentuations) leave an imprint on the whole life of a person, on the way of his interaction with others and productive activity.

Accentuations are closely related to human behavior in a conflict situation. Usually types with more vivid emotionality and desire for communication, dominance behave more aggressively in a dispute, show rivalry. These are excitable, exalted and hyperthymic types of accentuation.

Cycloid types are more likely to compromise with an opponent. But opportunism and avoidance are chosen mainly by emotive personalities. Since their functions are to protect public peace and be responsive to the problems of others.

Conflict resolution strategies

In conflictology, there are several types of strategy. And depending on what strategy the opponents chose and how they showed themselves in the dispute, constructive and destructive conflict resolution are distinguished. In both cases, the conflict is over. But a mutual solution as such in the case of its destructive completion was not found, or even there were no attempts to look for it, since one of the parties simply "broke" the opponent.

According to the strategy developed by Kenneth W. Thomas, there are only five ways to find a solution:

• avoidance;
• fixture;
• competition;
• compromise;
• cooperation.

Cooperation and compromise are the most successful strategies that allow all participants in the dispute to actively develop further. And avoidance and accommodation are more about aggravating the confrontation than resolving the issue.

An uncontrolled conflict threatens both sides with a negative scenario for the development of relations in the future. If this is a conflict between 2 personalities, for example, between a husband and wife, then over time it leads to a depressed state and disorganization of the behavior of each of them. A depressed person gets tired more quickly and copes with daily duties worse, which leads to an aggravation of the conflict, and then the termination of any relationship.

If we talk about the enterprise, there are several other extremely negative consequences. This is the loss of interest of employees in the direct production process, the inability to cooperate and dismissal.

How to resolve a long conflict?

Prolonged intense confrontation between groups completely destroys relationships. All members of the other group are considered enemies. This was confirmed by an experiment conducted in the early 1950s by a group of sociologists led by M. Sherif. The artificially created conflict situation between the two camps of boys aged 9-12 continued even after the emotional release (they were allowed to swear). The only way to reconcile the guys was general occupational therapy. Shared activity is the only method that specialists have tried that has helped restore friendly relations between groups.

Social conflicts - constructive and destructive - are equally resolved on the restoration of mutual respect and trust. And this is possible in the workplace.

In the views of many people, conflicts are associated with purely negative phenomena: wars and revolutions, civil strife and scandals. Therefore, as a rule, the conflict is presented as an undesirable and harmful phenomenon. In fact, this is not always the case. The consequences of conflict can be both negative and positive.

Thus, the question of the place and role of conflicts in the life of an individual, social group, organization and society as a whole is essentially significant. It is not for nothing that the thinkers of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages saw in conflicts a kind of means to mutual understanding and good agreement. In modern times, most of those who laid the foundation for conflictology pointed to conflicts as a means of resolving social contradictions and maintaining balance in the social order. At the present stage, both the condemnation of hostile confrontations at any level and the recognition of the important role of peacefully resolved conflicts in establishing mutual understanding and cooperation between people are clearly distinguished.

To explain the functions of social conflict, one should first of all turn to the very concept of “function”. In the social sciences function means the significance and role that a certain social institution or private social process performs in relation to the needs of a social system of a higher level of organization or the interests of its constituent communities, social groups and individuals. In accordance with this under conflict function we will understand the role that conflict plays in relation to society and its various structural formations: social groups, organizations and individuals. In this way, the function of the conflict expresses, on the one hand, its social purpose, and on the other- the dependence that arises between it and other components of social life. In the first case, the consequences of the conflict are taken into account, in the second - the direction of the relations of the conflicting subjects of social ties.

Conflict collision refers to those phenomena that cannot be unambiguously assessed. It acts as a way of social interaction in conditions of aggravated tension between people, when incompatible views, positions and interests are revealed, there is a confrontation between the parties pursuing far distant goals from each other. By its very nature, a conflict can be a carrier of both constructive and destructive tendencies, be good and evil at the same time, bring both good and harm to the parties involved.

Therefore, its functions are characterized taking into account positive and negative consequences. Positive, functionally useful results of the conflict are the solution of the problem that gave rise to the contradiction and caused a clash, taking into account the mutual interests and goals of all parties, as well as the achievement of understanding and trust, strengthening partnerships and cooperation, overcoming conformism, humility, striving for superiority. The negative, dysfunctional consequences of the conflict include people's dissatisfaction with the common cause, avoiding the solution of urgent problems, increasing hostility in interpersonal and intergroup relations, weakening the cohesion of employees, etc.

In terms of their content, the functions of the conflict cover both the material sphere (associated with economic interests, gains or losses) and the spiritual and moral sphere (they are able to increase or weaken social activity, encourage or suppress optimism, inspiration of people). All this emotionally affects the effectiveness of joint activities, can facilitate or hinder the process of managing an organization. Life presents countless facts confirming the functional variety of conflicts in terms of direction, beneficial and harmful consequences.

There are explicit and latent (hidden) functions of the conflict. Explicit The functions of the conflict The functions of the conflict are characterized by the fact that its consequences coincide with the goals that were proclaimed and pursued by the opponents of the conflict. For example, the Russian government, starting hostilities with the "Chechen" bandit formations, announced their liquidation. An explicit function of the conflict is also the victory of the miners in their conflict with the administration, if they pursued precisely this goal.

Hidden The (latent) functions of a conflict are those in which its consequences are revealed only over time and which, to a certain extent, differ from the intentions previously proclaimed by the parties to the conflict. Latent functions can also be expressed in the fact that its consequences in general may turn out to be unexpected and not meeting the goals of the participants in the conflict. Thus, none of the participants in the “Chechen” conflict imagined that oil refineries, of which there were a large number in the republic, would be destroyed during it, and as a result, there would be a danger of an ecological catastrophe not only in Chechnya, but also beyond its borders. The striking miners, who demanded that the government of the country in the late 1980s and early 1990s cancel the state order and give them the opportunity to freely dispose of profits, did a lot to reform society, but they did not even imagine that already in the late 1990s years will demand the return of the state order.

In terms of functions, conflict is enough contradictory phenomenon. By engaging in confrontation, people can achieve their goals. But it is often difficult to predict even the not very distant consequences that will follow. At the same time, the consequences can be both positive and negative for the participants in the conflict. An employee who has entered into a conflict with the administration can achieve his immediate goal, for example, payment of compensation for forced absenteeism. But after some time, this may be followed by his dismissal from work under some plausible pretext. For a dismissed employee, this is most likely to be a latent function of the conflict and, at the same time, a negative one. But after this, he can get a job that is more attractive than before. And then it will be a positive latent function of the conflict. In this case, they often say "if there were no happiness, but misfortune helped."

Thus, both explicit and latent conflict functions can be both negative and positive, that is, they can have dual character. If the function of the conflict is positive for its participants, one speaks of functional conflict, otherwise dysfunctional conflict, the results of which are negative for its participants, and for which they did not count.

It should be emphasized that the evaluation of the functions of the conflict as positive or negative is always specific character. From the point of view of one subject of the conflict, it can be considered as positive, from the point of view of another - as negative. In other words, there is subjective relativity in assessing the nature of conflict functions. In addition, the same conflict in different respects and at different times can be evaluated from different or even opposite positions. This testifies to the relativistic nature of the conflict functions. Thus, the October Socialist Revolution, as well as the victory in the early 1990s of the forces that acted under the slogan of reforms, were viewed differently in our country at different times and by different social strata.

All this indicates that conflict- this is a functionally inconsistent phenomenon, and the ratio of its positive and negative functions must always be considered concretely. If we keep in mind objective criterion assessing the functions of the conflict, then in general terms it can apparently be said that a social conflict is functional in the event that it contributes to the development of a wider social system. For an intrapersonal conflict it will be a person, for an interpersonal conflict it will be a group, and so on. However, in this regard, not everything is going smoothly. For one should always bear in mind those costs (the price of the conflict) that are associated with it. Thus, an organization that realizes its goals through exorbitant intensification of labor and people's health; an army that wins at the expense of heavy losses, etc. are examples that show that a victory in a conflict can be pyrrhic. Thus, in this case, too, we are faced with the functional inconsistency of the conflict - not everything that benefits the development of a wider social system is functional for its constituent elements.

According to their consequences, conflicts are divided into constructive and destructive.

Constructive ones suggest the possibility of rational transformations, as a result of which the object of the conflict itself is eliminated. With the right approach, these types of conflicts can bring great benefits to the organization. If the conflict does not have a real basis and is not created, therefore, there are no opportunities for improving internal organizational processes, it turns out to be destructive, since it first destroys the system of relations between people, and then introduces disorganization into the course of objective processes.

Concrete causes of constructive conflicts most often turn out to be unfavorable working conditions, imperfect pay; shortcomings in the organization; overload at work; discrepancy between the rights and obligations of employees; lack of resources; low level of discipline.

Destructive conflicts are usually caused by wrong actions, including abuse of office, violation of labor laws, unfair assessments of people. Thus, if in constructive conflicts the parties do not go beyond ethical norms, then destructive ones, in essence, are based on their violation, as well as on the psychological incompatibility of people.

The laws of intra-organizational conflict are such that any constructive conflict, if it is not resolved in a timely manner, turns into a destructive one. People begin to demonstrate personal antipathy to each other, find fault, humiliate partners, threaten them, impose their point of view, refuse to solve the problems that have arisen for mutual benefit.

In many ways, the transformation of a constructive conflict into a destructive one is connected with the personality traits of its participants themselves. Novosibirsk scientists F. Borodkin and N. Koryak identify six types of "conflict" personalities, which voluntarily or involuntarily provoke additional clashes with others. These include:

1) demonstrative, striving to be the center of attention, becoming the initiators of disputes in which they show excessive emotions;

2) rigid, possessing inflated self-esteem, not considering the interests of others, uncritically related to their actions, painfully touchy, inclined to vent evil on others;

3) uncontrollable, characterized by impulsiveness, aggressiveness, unpredictable behavior, weak self-control;

4) ultra-precise, characterized by excessive exactingness, suspiciousness, pettiness, suspicion;

5) purposefully conflict, considering the collision as a means to achieve their own goals, inclined to manipulate others in their own interests;

6) non-conflict, which, by their desire to please everyone, only create new conflicts.

At the same time, conflict personalities, once in a favorable situation, often do not manifest themselves as such.

Positive and destructive functions of conflict

Despite the relative relativity of conflict function assessments, they can be divided into two groups according to their meaning, significance and role:

1. constructive (positive) functions of the conflict;

2. destructive (negative) functions of the conflict.

6. Conclusion

Although relationships with other people should promote peace and harmony, conflicts are inevitable. Every sane person should have the ability to effectively resolve disputes and disagreements so that the fabric of social life is not torn with every conflict, but, on the contrary, is strengthened due to the growth of the ability to find and develop common interests.

To resolve conflict, it is important to have different approaches at your disposal, be able to use them flexibly, go beyond the usual patterns and be sensitive to opportunities and act and think in new ways. At the same time, conflict can be used as a source of life experience, self-education and self-learning.

Conflicts can be great learning material if you take the time to remember what led up to the conflict and what happened in the conflict later on. Then you can learn more about yourself, about the people involved in the conflict, or about the surrounding circumstances that contributed to the conflict. This knowledge will help you make the right decision in the future and avoid conflict. social conflict warning

Literature

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2. Vilyunas V.K. Psychology of emotional phenomena. - M., 1973.

3.Izard K.E. Human emotions. - M., 1980.

4. Jung K.G. Problems of the soul of our time. - M., 1996.

5. Anikeeva N.P. Psychological climate in the team. - M., 1989.

6.Andreeva G.M. Social Psychology. - M., 1998.

7. Sieger V. Lang L. Lead without conflict. - M., 1990.

8. Scott J. The power of the mind. Conflict resolution methods. - St. Petersburg, 1993.

9. Fair M. Everyone can win. - M., 1992.

10. Sheinov V.P. Conflicts in our life and their solution. - Mn., 1996.
11. Alexandra Vladimirovna Palagina, teacher of English.

12. Andrey Stegantseva Psychologist.

Any managerial and production activity is almost always associated with conflicts. And although in each specific case the reason for the complaint, the conflict is completely specific, its own, the analysis reveals that they all have a common basis: the actual state of affairs is in conflict with the expectations of people who become in the ranks of the conflicting.

Classification and typology of conflicts

By direction, conflicts are divided into vertical, horizontal, mixed.

AT vertical conflicts involve persons, one of which is subordinate to the other. AT horizontal- persons who are not subordinate to each other participate. AT mixed conflicts have both vertical and horizontal components.

Conflicts with a vertical component (i.e. vertical and mixed conflicts) account for an average of 70 to 80% of their total number. Such conflicts are the most undesirable for the leader: participating in them, he is “tied hand and foot”. For each action and order in this case is considered by all employees (and especially the participants in the conflict) through the prism of the conflict. And even in the case of complete objectivity of the leader, they will see intrigues in relation to opponents in any of his steps. And since the awareness of subordinates is often not enough to correctly assess the actions of the leadership, the misunderstanding is more than compensated by speculation, mostly of a negative nature.

Naturally, in such conditions, when every order can lead to a deepening of the conflict, it is extremely difficult to work.

Already from this preliminary consideration, some of the leader's attitudes are clear: to show the greatest caution in relation to vertical conflicts (try to extinguish them in the bud).

According to the importance for the organization, conflicts are divided into constructive (creative) and destructive (destructive). The first is beneficial to the cause, the second is harmful. It is impossible to leave the first, it is necessary to leave the second.

By the nature of the causes conflicts can be divided into objective and subjective . The first (as the name implies) are generated by objective reasons, the second - by subjective ones.

By scope of permission conflicts can be divided into those that are resolved in business area , and those that are allowed in personal-emotional sphere .

Relationships

Constructive conflicts have objective reasons. Destructive conflicts can be caused by both objective and subjective factors.

Constructive conflicts should be resolved both in the business and in the personal-emotional sphere. The fact is that a constructive conflict, generated by objective reasons, in the process of its resolution (which is very long in time) causes tense relations between the participants in this conflict. Therefore, the complete resolution of the conflict should mean both a reaction to objective causes and the elimination of emerging personal hostile relations.

Causes of conflicts

Riding school does not praise a rider who holds on to a rearing horse. For the specialist knows that under a good rider the horse will not rear up. It's the same with managing people. The leader who deserves the greatest praise is the one who prevents conflicts, or at least resolves them in the bud.

Therefore, conflict management begins with their foresight. And in order to foresee, it is necessary to know the reasons that most often lead to conflict situations.

Reasons for constructive conflicts

Usually these are shortcomings in the organization of production and management. We list those that most often lead to conflicts:

dissatisfaction with wages;

unfavorable working conditions (for example, lack of ventilation, gas pollution, vibration, noise, drafts, uncomfortable temperature at the workplace, etc.);

shortcomings in the organization of work;

mismatch of rights and obligations;

irregularity of work (downtime, forced vacations, storming);

inconvenient work schedule;

omissions in technology (especially those from which the employee's earnings suffer, and not through his fault);

lack of resources for assignments (in particular, interruptions in the provision of raw materials, materials, components);

lack of clarity in the distribution of responsibilities, in particular, ineffective, too vague or outdated job descriptions (i.e. forgetting such a management principle: “It is preferable to manage with the help of instructions, not orders”);

low level of labor and performance discipline;

conflictogenic (i.e., contributing to the emergence of conflicts) organizational structures. For example, shop managers can receive daily 15–20 instructions or requests from various services (management, production and dispatching, planning and economic departments, chief specialists, labor and wages department, accounting, etc.). It may be physically impossible to fulfill all these requirements, while failure to comply with the instructions leads to conflicts;

conflicting attitudes or goals of technological and economic services (for example, services responsible for quantitative indicators, for the implementation of the plan, and services responsible for quality - technical control department, etc.).

The Importance of Constructive Conflicts

A positive resolution of a constructive conflict is, first of all, the elimination of shortcomings, the reasons that led to it. And since these reasons are objective, reflecting the imperfection of the organization of production and management, the elimination of these causes means the improvement of production and management.

Therefore, the positive resolution of constructive conflicts is good for the cause. That is why they are considered creative.

Consequently, the leader should not move away from these conflicts, but constantly work on their resolution, deal with the elimination of the causes leading to such conflicts.

An attempt to get away from solving these problems leads to their deepening, to a drop in the authority of the leader, the emergence of alienation between him and his subordinates, to a deterioration in the situation in the team, to conflicts, and personnel losses.

Causes of destructive conflicts

Destructive conflicts are most often generated by subjective causes, which include wrong actions:

leader;

subordinates;

both leader and subordinates.

Most often, destructive conflicts arise with the wrong actions of both subordinates and the leader.

Many of us are so arranged that first of all we notice the mistakes of others, and not our own. But the head of the position is supposed to help subordinates correct their mistakes. Therefore, we will focus here on the wrong actions of leaders: to whom more is given, more is asked.

Wrong actions of leaders

Unfortunately, there are quite a few of them. Three directions can be distinguished:

violation of work ethics:

violation of labor laws;

unfair assessment by the head of subordinates and the results of their work.

To violations of professional ethics relate:

manifestation of rudeness, arrogance, disrespectful attitude towards subordinates;

failure to fulfill promises;

intolerance for opinions other than one's own;

clip of criticism;

infringement of the rights of subordinates;

abuse of the position of a superior (for example, imposing non-official assignments on subordinates);

assignment to the performer "over the head" of the immediate supervisor;

withholding information (especially in conditions of downsizing or reorganization);

criticism that belittles the dignity of a person;

deliberately provoking conflict between subordinates - management according to the principle of "divide and conquer".

Let's comment on some of these factors.

Manifestations of disrespectful attitude towards a subordinate are very diverse. Here are a few of them:

do not value the employee's time. For example, make him "catch" himself or wait a long time;

talk to the visitor without looking up from the papers

do not invite the visitor to sit down.

Intolerance to dissent of subordinates and a critique of criticism go hand in hand. Stendhal owns the words, the importance of which for the relationship of people and for the management of production can hardly be overestimated: "You can only rely on what resists."

Each specialist is valuable for his professional opinion. In the development of this idea, the following principle was formulated in management: “If two specialists agree on everything, then one of them is superfluous!”

To malpractice joking of a subordinate, ridicule can also be attributed. After all, a subordinate may simply be afraid to answer the way he would have answered if the “joker” were not his boss.

In the event of an upcoming reorganization or downsizing, management often delays in every possible way the unpleasant moment of making a decision and its announcement so as not to “injure ahead of time”. However, the lack of information on such critical issues leads to rumors, usually more unpleasant than hidden decisions. (The pattern here is this: the worse the rumor, the faster it spreads.) As a result, a nervous atmosphere is created in which any, even the most insignificant incident, is fraught with conflict.

In a situation of reorganization, downsizing of the administration:

do not delay making a decision;

inform at general meetings or through the circulation of the decision taken;

if the solution of individual issues is delayed, then make public what has already been decided; then the vast majority (as is usually the case) will be reassured that they will not suffer.

Labor law violations

We are talking about violations of both the spirit and the letter of labor legislation and an attempt to act autocratically, regardless of the laws.

This comes from the legal nihilism of the leaders. As a result, in more than half of the cases, the courts reinstate dismissed workers who have appealed the dismissal decision. Although, the data indicate that the employee has long been "worthy" of dismissal. However, non-compliance with formalities forces the court to recognize the decision of the administration to dismiss him as illegal.

One can only imagine the position in which leaders find themselves, who are forced to reinstate a worthless worker, and even compensate him for his salary. And what a hero this would-be worker feels like in a team.

Life shows that jokes with the law are bad, and it is better for a manager to study labor legislation than to get into unpleasant situations.

Unfair assessment of subordinates

The forms of this phenomenon are very diverse. Here are some of the most common ones:

Errors in the application of rewards and punishments

Such mistakes are common when there is no thoughtful system of rewards and punishments. In many organizations, we prioritize punishment over rewards. And this despite the fact that it is reliably established that rewards are much more effective than punishments. For the need for encouragement is one of the most important human needs.

Disadvantages in the distribution of work between performers

It is known that there are profitable and unprofitable jobs. When profitable jobs always go to the same workers, and unprofitable jobs to others, this also predetermines unequal remuneration, which causes natural discontent.

Violation of the balance "contribution - salary"

If the contribution to the work is less, and the salary is higher than that of other employees, then a conflict situation is inevitable. It often happens that a new employee is paid a higher salary than his predecessor. If a newcomer from the first steps does not show that he is head and shoulders above his predecessor in his business, then both he and the manager who “knocked out” him an increased salary will feel a negative attitude towards themselves from the team. The same situation arises when the excess of salary over the rest was “knocked out” by one of the employees who does not stand out in any way at work.

Invitation of an employee “from outside”, when there is an applicant “from within” for the position

In general, inviting outside managers has its pros and cons. A plus may be the introduction of new ideas by them, the expansion of the arsenal of methods used. It is, as it were, fresh blood in the body of the enterprise, preventing "waterlogging".

The downside is the uncertainty of their employees, reducing the chances of promotion. After all, precedents with invitations tell everyone that he can sit in his current position until retirement. The most active will declare injustice to themselves, or think about moving to another organization, or they will conflict.

Thus, an invitation from the outside must have good reasons and imposes on the invited person the obligation to bring significant innovations to the work.

This means that the leader not only does not want to mark a good employee, but also tries to lower his authority in the eyes of others. Since both the actions of the subordinate and the assessment of their leader take place before the eyes of the team, the injustice of these assessments is an open secret. Such actions of the head, first of all, belittle the authority of himself. And if an authoritative subordinate "accepts the challenge" of the leader, a conflict arises, then there is no doubt on whose side the sympathies of the subordinates will be.

Non-specific criticism of a group of subordinates

Such criticism is unaddressed, since everyone can decide that it does not apply to him. Therefore, the charge will miss the target. At the same time, opposition of the leader to subordinates arises, which unites the accused against the accuser. At the same time, they unanimously declare themselves victims.

Quite often, sweeping criticism occurs at the first meeting with the team of a newly appointed leader, especially if he is sent "to strengthen" a poorly performing unit.

“You will no longer work as you have worked until today” - this is a categorical invitation to a conflict that can drag on for years. The speaker made one more mistake, in addition to those already mentioned: he removed the guilt of his predecessor and completely shifted it to the team. Such a position indicates that henceforth the guilty will be sought only among subordinates. Thus, a sense of self-preservation will push the team to unite against the leader.

Fuzzy wording of tasks

It will eventually lead to an unfair assessment of the work of a subordinate. After all, regardless of his efforts, further misunderstanding is predetermined. And the result is mutual irritation.

It is precisely because of the fuzziness in setting tasks that subordinates' statements about leaders "who do not know what they want" and counterclaims of leaders about the "stupidity" of subordinates have become widespread.

Lack of information

It unnerves, gives rise to rumors, some worse than others. In many cases, managers withhold unfavorable information (such as upcoming layoffs) so as not to unnecessarily or prematurely unnerve people. The effect of hiding is the opposite.

Underestimation of persuasion as a means of managing a person

Unfortunately, we are not taught the practical methods of persuasion anywhere. The fourteen most important persuasion techniques are given, in particular, in the author's book How to Manage Others. How to Manage Yourself (The Art of a Manager).

Psychological incompatibility

How often do you really hear the words: "We are not compatible with him." However, in fact, psychological incompatibility is much less common than they say.

Most often, these words cover up such feelings in which it is ashamed not only to strangers, but also to oneself to admit. For example, elementary envy gives rise to constant hostility, serves as a source of a huge number of conflicts, including at work.

Cases of truly psychological incompatibility are comparatively rare. They can only be established by specialized compatibility/incompatibility tests.

What factors in the work of a leader can cause envy? This is the possession of power, a higher social status, a higher salary, comfortable working conditions (office, personal telephone, secretary, assistants), greater freedom of action and movement, better information. (At the same time, they forget that all this is more than "compensated" by the stressful nature of the work, greater responsibility, longer working week, etc.)

The leader should remember about envy-causing factors and not emphasize his privileged position, be more democratic. And bragging, arrogance and other manifestations of a position of superiority should be completely excluded from everyday life.

Actions in conflict situations

When to take action?

This question concerns to a greater extent "horizontal" conflicts in which the leader does not participate.

Research shows that some leaders tend to take a wait-and-see approach to conflict. They are afraid of being drawn into the conflict, afraid of its escalation and hoping that everything will somehow resolve itself.

There are situations when, in fact, the third one is superfluous. But even in this case, the leader, having learned about the conflict, can help restore normal relations by creating the conditions for reconciliation. For example, he will give conflicting assignments (business trips) such that they will not see each other for some time. Those who argue will calm down, change their minds, the conflict will fade away.

Conflict escalation scheme

Leaving a conflict unattended is like leaving embers in an empty house: of course, there may not be a fire, but if it happens ...

In general, the analogy between conflict and fire is deeper: both are easier to prevent than extinguish; in both cases, the time factor can become decisive, because both conflict and fire are terrible in their growth.

The same two signs make conflict related to the disease.

The escalation of the conflict occurs according to the scheme:

Such an escalation is explained by the fact that the participant in the conflict seeks support from others, recruits supporters. They especially try to attract the leader to their side.

When the conflict grows (escalates), the matter gets confused. The original conflict is overgrown with new ones, reflecting the interests of new participants and the contradictions between them. At the same time, emotions grow like a snowball.

All this convinces that, having received information about the conflict, the leader must act, take measures, without waiting for the conflict to escalate. Moreover, inaction, the position of non-interference is regarded in the team as indifference, and even as cowardice. Both do not contribute to the authority of the leader.

The first stage of conflict resolution: determining its true causes

The essence of this stage is to establish the true (often carefully hidden or unconscious) cause of the conflict. For example, caring about business, adherence to principles often mask selfish interests, hurt pride, resentment (including old ones), the desire to get rid of the objectionable and take its place.

This disguise is explained by the fact that no one wants to look like a squabbler - after all, others value a calm atmosphere in the team. The substitution of motives can occur at first for "external use", to explain one's position to others, but then it becomes more pleasant for the initiator of the conflict to believe in it.

Here, the psychological mechanism of self-defense is triggered, as in general in cases of unseemly acts: in addition to the true, ignoble reason, some kind of noble one is invented, supposedly moving a person.

Thus, the first task of the leader - to find where the seed of the conflict is hidden - is very difficult.

This approach makes the task somewhat easier: you need to try to analyze all kinds of reasons, considering separately both constructive components and personal-emotional ones.

Finding hidden participants in the conflict helps answer the question: who benefits from this?

An external sign of a person's involvement in a personal-emotional, destructive conflict is his behavior, manifested in excessive verbosity, agitation of speech, unwillingness to listen to counter arguments.

In the case of a constructive conflict, the participants are more restrained in expressing emotions, more importance is attached to logic, facts, and arguments.

Therefore, the excessive ardor of a participant in a constructive conflict may serve as an indication that the constructive component for him is, perhaps, only a screen for achieving his personal interests.

Continuing the comparison with the disease, we can say that just as the correct treatment is impossible without an accurate diagnosis, so it is impossible to effectively resolve the conflict without knowing the real causes that led to it.

Let's take an example from practice as an illustration. Experienced workers began to refuse to engage in mentoring. The leadership accused them of greedy moods, of unwillingness to create competitors for themselves, of the intention to consolidate their exclusive position.

However, in reality, it turned out that the workers had other reasons for this: the supply of necessary components was irregular, and the workers were constantly on the verge of downtime. Therefore, they believed that first you need to ensure the flow of components, and then increase the number of jobs. Once the hardware issue was resolved, mentoring was no longer a problem.

The original version was beneficial to those responsible for providing jobs with everything necessary, because it took them away from responsibility. But at the same time, it led away from the resolution of the conflict, contributed to its confusion, the growth of new conflicts. Thus, the refusal of mentoring was only a manifestation that took place in a conflict situation with a shortage of components.

The cause of the incident can be any word carelessly spoken by the head, any other reason.

Unfortunately, many of our leaders approach conflict resolution superficially, not daring to look into the depths of the phenomenon, to understand its causes. But since the causes of conflicts remain unresolved, the latter arise again and again.

What to do?

The specific actions of the leader in the conflict depend, firstly, on whether he sees his guilt. This is probably the most difficult moment - not to succumb to the temptation to look for mistakes first of all in others, protecting yourself from criticism. What happens next depends on what goal the initiators of the conflict are trying to achieve - near or far.

If short-term goals are set, then most often some practical action is necessary: ​​to make or cancel a decision (if possible), to apologize if the manager feels guilty, that is, to take concrete steps. It is relatively easy to assess the situation and make a decision in this case.

The difficulty lies in the fact that in the case when real steps to satisfy claims are impossible, you need to convince your opponent that your refusal is forced.

The goal of the initiator of the conflict may be distant. It cannot be achieved immediately, since it takes a long time to implement the decisions made: to reorganize the work of the unit, improve working and rest conditions, deviate from the usual routines and established structures, etc.

This kind of transformation requires many successive steps. But the most important thing is that the first step be taken without delay. He will show the initiators of the conflict that "the ice has broken." The inaction of the leadership, even flavored with promises, can only irritate people.

In the case when the leader seeks to change the attitude of the subordinate to his duties, the most important thing is to convince the latter that this is not a whim of the leader, but an urgent need that must be reckoned with.

There is another kind of conflict, expressed in a negative emotional reaction to what happened.

Conflicts of this kind often do not make sense. But the victim internally cannot come to terms with an objectionable decision, creating tension in relations with others.

In such cases, the leader must take into account the state of the person, show sympathy for him, because only on an emotional level can such conflicts be exhausted.

Often there are conflicts based on imaginary contradictions. This happens mainly due to some small incident or a remark from the head to the subordinate who “turned up at the wrong time”.

The resolution of the situation is achieved by frank conversation and the manifestation of a benevolent attitude towards the subordinate.

How to behave

In dealing with conflicting people, observe the following rules:

show patience; taking into account that in conflicts the painful “breaks through”, conduct business with maximum tact and caution in order not to let yourself be drawn into the conflict or aggravate it;

listen to those who turn to you, let them speak to the end, fully using the therapeutic effect of the opportunity to speak out, “cry”;

do not rush to conclusions and promises, do not "cut off the shoulder"; only after listening to the other side, having checked all the facts and statements, comprehend the situation and take appropriate measures;

do not overestimate the degree of your awareness, remember that the effectiveness of communication "bottom-up" (from subordinates to managers) is on average only 10%.

Conflict prevention

The Art of Leading

The work of a manager largely consists of resolving constantly arising contradictions. However, not all of them reach conflicts, and the manager manages to resolve many of them in a timely manner.

This is precisely what the art of leadership consists of - to anticipate conflicts, to resolve them in the bud.

Attitude towards conflicts

To conflicts of different nature, the attitude of the leader should be unequal.

With regard to destructive conflicts generated by inept relationships, the natural attitude is that there should be as few of them as possible.

Where painful issues cannot be resolved without conflict, the leader should not “hide” from him.

Conflict prevention measures follow from the causes of their occurrence discussed above. Let's look at these measures in detail.

Constant work to improve working conditions, improve its pay, improve the organization of production, improve the living conditions of workers.

Given the complexity of these issues, the time required to achieve tangible results, it should be possible to inform subordinates unobtrusively about the measures taken. After all, the fact that the issues are complex and not everything depends on the immediate supervisor, people will understand. But what they will not want to understand is the unwillingness of management to deal with these problems.

Dealing with such issues is one of the most important ongoing duties of any leader.

2. Strict adherence not only to the spirit, but also to the letter of labor legislation.

3. Compliance with work ethics.

Remember, that:

managing people starts with managing yourself;

not respecting a subordinate, you will not achieve respect from his side, and lack of respect is already a pre-conflict situation;

nothing is so valuable and so cheap as politeness;

the study of subordinates, interest in them as individuals is absolutely necessary for successful work with them, an individual approach is the way to mutual understanding with subordinates;

Withholding information creates tension in relationships.

4. Accounting for the expectations of subordinates.

Subordinates expect their leader to:

business knowledge;

ability to get the job done;

perspective vision;

good earnings;

respect for oneself;

respect.

It is in this order that male employees most often name the desired qualities of a leader.

Workers name the same qualities, but in the first place they put a polite attitude towards themselves. The worker worries if she is not seen as a woman, that is, a creature in need of support - such is the property of female nature. Women are more responsive than men to rewards and punishments.

With the growth of the educational and cultural level of workers, the expectation of a more democratic style of leadership increases.

It is useful to remember all this for a manager who wants to avoid difficulties in managing people and reduce the conflict of business communication.

Leader and conflict personalities

Different types of conflict personalities, for all their differences, have something in common: painful ambition and the habit of not giving up on their desires. For "demonstrative", "uncontrollable" and "super-accurate" personalities, conflict is rather their misfortune than fault. Such is the psychological make-up of these people. Most of them suffer from various complexes, especially an inferiority complex.

Knowing this, the leader does not always “raise the gauntlet” of the challenge to the conflict thrown to him by such individuals. It happens that a subordinate in an excited state scolded the leader, slammed the door, and the leader waved his hand at him: “What to take from him - a sick person!”

The leader himself should not be a conflict personality. It is unacceptable to use one's commanding position to relieve internal tension, to get rid of an inferiority complex, to satisfy painful pride.

I am glad to welcome you, dear readers of the blog! I have already told in the article that they can both destroy relationships and health, and help a person in development. Accordingly, they are distinguished as destructive and constructive conflicts. Today I propose to consider their features and differences from each other in more detail.

Introduction

Let's start with a definition

Conflict is the emergence and collision of contradictions, that is, when opposite parties have completely different views on circumstances, values ​​and information, as a result of which there is no agreement between them.

The outcome of such disagreements can sometimes be predicted, but most often it is unforeseen. It depends not only on the subject of the dispute, but also on the individuals who participate in it, their motivation, as well as the environment and background in which it arose. Usually people have a negative attitude to quarrels, disputes, preferring to avoid them.

Sometimes their needs are ignored out of fear and unwillingness to compete, to clarify something and declare themselves and their own, perhaps different from others, point of view. But modern psychology gives a lot of arguments, on the basis of which, the clarification of disagreements is considered not only as useful, but in general necessary. And not only for a person in order to improve his quality of life, but also for the whole organization, which ceases to develop if employees in every possible way "leave" tense moments.

Therefore, the task of managers and leaders in large corporations and successful companies is to artificially create creative, stimulating circumstances.

Differences

1.Constructive

The functions are to bring its participants closer, to relieve tension that could accumulate for a long time. To defuse the situation and provide full information about the opposite side, the absence of which destroyed both the relationship and the workflow. This kind of dispute helps to clarify the shortcomings of the whole system in which people exist. Stabilize it and fix bugs.

If we look at the example of a family, did you notice how much closer the partners became after a quarrel, instead of completely quarreling? How did the communication process improve, the level of satisfaction increased, and mutual understanding appeared? In addition, with the constructive conduct of the dispute, there is a huge probability of preventing very serious and protracted disagreements. Sometimes they have such devastating consequences that they can lead to the death of one of the opponents if the tension has reached a level that the person becomes unable to control.

It also has the function of uniting the participants in the dispute. Then they may well group up and direct all their energy to creativity, that is, a creative and developing innovative way to solve a problem that previously seemed overwhelming. Thanks to constructivism, character is tempered, it becomes possible to gain recognition. From which self-esteem rises and self-respect arises.

New styles of behavior and values ​​are born when a whole system of people understands that the old methods and attitudes do not work and it is time to creatively adapt and develop new ones. After all, society is rapidly developing, and it is always necessary to adapt and be "on the wave" of change.

Basic rules and features of constructive dispute management

Clarity

The very first thing that distinguishes a developing conflict from a destructive one is clarity. When both sides are ready to hear each other's opinion, even if they categorically disagree with it, this is, as they say, "half the battle." With clarity, the opponent becomes understandable, it is quite possible to ask clarifying and clarifying questions, to give "feedback" to his words. With this type of communication, a person is heard and retains self-esteem.

Creativity

concreteness

Both parties directly discuss the specific subject of the dispute. They do not take on each other's personalities and do not remember past cases, even if they are somewhat similar to the one that has arisen at the moment.

Involvement

Inclusion in the dialogue, interest and wasted energy are the same, the participants alternately both inflict and receive “hits”. If there is no dialogue and the attack is one-sided, we can talk about the so-called triangle of violence, from which it is very difficult to escape. Its essence lies in the fact that someone necessarily plays the role of a victim, a tyrant and a savior, and, moreover, replacing each other.

Honesty

It is not practiced to use manipulations and "dirty methods" when they try to hurt and injure, using information that is a weak point for a person. Although aggression arises, there is mutual respect and a desire to maintain contact.

Contact

No one leaves prematurely, and no matter how difficult it is to clarify some points and listen to feedback, people stay in touch. Since they are interested in finding a way out and peacefully ending the quarrel, and not showing their weaknesses, unable to withstand the stress. Because they understand that then they will have to continue living with him, feeling discomfort and anxiety, and it is better to make an effort now, and still breathe a sigh of relief, having come to a compromise.

Well, for example, has it happened that after quarreling with someone, you don’t greet when you meet and try to ignore him, believing that this person is a scoundrel and not worthy of putting up with him, punishing him in this way?

The main methods are argumentation and counterargumentation.

When arguing, they usually use the method of positive answers and present facts that prove the accuracy and truth of the opinion. When counterarguing, they find such a fact that refutes the opinion and arguments of the opponent. I recommend reading the article in which you can find information on how to effectively conduct a dispute, you will find

2.Destructive

The very concept of "destruction" suggests that these are destructive situations that are not beneficial, but threaten both relationships and health, and sometimes even human life. With this type of disagreement, innocent people who are not at all involved and have become victims of circumstances may well suffer. Victims are when both sides have lost control and "lost their temper", wanting to destroy each other, both physically and mentally.

It leads to a decrease in motivation, if it happened at the workplace, to the point that the entire organization system suffers. It causes depression and a lack of desire to be active, participate in social life, and also leads to a decrease in self-esteem. A person "wounded" in a verbal battle may well experience shame. It can lead to neurosis, which causes panic attacks in stressful situations and an unwillingness to leave the house so as not to intersect with other people.

The consequences are so horrifying that they can provoke a suicide attempt if you do not get the support of loved ones in time and do not find in yourself the resources to move on. At best, tension and disappointment remain, not only from myself, but also from people with whom I was in friendly, partner and other relations. By the way, this disappointment may well eventually lead to excessive distrust, even to close people. What will alienate from everyone, again causing symptoms of neurosis, in extreme cases leading to the degradation of the personality.

Features and styles of management

• Generalization . Sometimes completely illogical arguments and facts aggravate the process of communication, delaying time and making it impossible to understand the problem. This is the simplest example, when sellers and customers swear in the market. There is even a phrase that characterizes the personality of the participants, namely “bazaar woman”. That is, it begins with a certain subject, because of which the dispute arose, and ends with insults and mutual wishes for the worst.
• "falling out" of the process. When one of the parties ceases to take part in the discussion and leaves it without the consent of the opponent. Sometimes "playing on feelings", showing how offended and injured, in order to cause guilt and immediately mitigate the consequences of a quarrel with the help of apologies and other things.
• Communication is broken. Because it becomes impossible to clearly argue one's opinion for various reasons, and one can trace not only a misunderstanding of the arguments of another, but sometimes one's own position too.
• Words are selected , which must certainly injure and disarm. At a critical moment, when there are no arguments at all, threats can begin to pour in, depreciation of authority and personality.
• Depreciation . It often happens that attempts to clarify the points that caused misunderstandings are associated with the "bad" character of the party that took the initiative. For example, a subordinate says that the boss is unfair, who in turn simply calls him quarrelsome or not getting enough sleep.
• Flattery is also a method that does not dot all the “and”, but on the contrary, aggravates the situation. Due to the fact that it causes a lot of anger, which becomes difficult to present to the defendant. The reasons for its use are simple - manipulation. And if the participant in the dispute decides to show anger, then for those around him he will be a negative character, because they communicated with him in a good way, and he allows himself this.

Ways to be a winner

In order for the quarrel to be not in vain, and, moreover, not destructive, it is necessary to transform it into a constructive one. Then it will be possible to hear each other and come to a mutually beneficial agreement or understanding.

1. Learn to separate "flies from cutlets"

That is, if a problem arises, do not associate it with the character of another person. At the moment of contention, this will not be your argument, no matter how much you want, but will only alienate you from your partner. And besides, it will not help in any way to correct the situation. Even children are told that it is not they who are bad, but sometimes their behavior. For example, if a woman tells her man that he is a terrible husband, then, in addition to the fact that this will cause a lot of negative feelings, it will not help him find a solution in any way, because it is one thing - to replace him with a good husband.

But if you explain what exactly in his behavior and actions makes his wife unhappy, then there is a chance to move forward in the relationship and change them a little.

2. Disagreement resolution begins with the determination of the total

After all, even if you are on opposite sides of the barricades, you are bound to have something in common. Without this, there will be no motivation to withstand stress and look for solutions, which threatens to fall into destructive communication. So, no matter how you feel about each other, discuss how this misunderstanding hinders both of you.

3.Now each of you must offer solutions

Gain the strength to listen and hear, showing respect, you increase the chance of being heard in response. If the option doesn’t fit, don’t discount it or criticize it, but simply explain what exactly you don’t like about it.

4.Use arguments

In order to become more understandable for the second party. And remember, do not attract old situations and resentments.

5. The last stage is the adoption of a decision that you mutually approve

It happens that it is not always possible to find ways to solve the complexity, then it is quite normal if you come to a mutual agreement to do nothing for now and see how things develop further. The level of tension will subside, you will already have the experience of conducting a conversation with each other, which means that over time everything will definitely fall into place.

6.Dismemberment

It suddenly happened that you just had a tangle of claims to each other - be sure to use the method of dismemberment and concretization, otherwise you will not come to any mutually beneficial agreement if you talk about everything at once. We singled out one problem - solve it, and only then move on to the next one.

7. Special phrases

In your speech, use phrases such as “I understood you”, “I heard you”, “Do you mean that ...?”, “Did I understand you correctly?” And so on. This will endear you and will not provoke you to a militant position.

Conclusion

And that’s all for today, dear readers! It does not matter what kind of conflicts arise, social or interpersonal, it is important to find the courage and strength in yourself to solve them, and not avoid them. This will help you to progress in development, be healthy and experience the joy of life. If you have your own ways to resolve the conflict, please write in the comments. I will be very interested in discussing your suggestions, thanks in advance. See you soon, take care!

Since contradictions are resolved during the conflict, ways out of the impasse are sought, the question arises about its function - positive or negative, bad or good. From an ordinary point of view, only a negative answer can be given here, because the conflict is associated with such phenomena as domestic quarrels and troubles, official troubles, interethnic, territorial, socio-political confrontations and confrontations associated with suffering and losses. Hence the assessment of the conflict as an undesirable phenomenon. But a closer look reveals a different approach, a different point of view, according to which conflict is not only a negative social phenomenon, but also a positive one. The line of reasoning here is roughly the following. Yes, conflict is an undesirable phenomenon that begins to corrode a normally functioning social system, but in its course such forces appear that can return it to a state of balance and stability, as well as maintain it in a stable state.

All constructive (as well as negative) functions of the conflict, with a certain degree of conventionality and for the convenience of presenting the material, can be divided into:

1) the general functions of the conflict - take place at various levels of the social system;

2) the functions of the conflict at the personal level, which relate to the impact of the conflict directly on the personality.

General constructive functions of conflict

1 Conflict is a way of detecting and fixing contradictions and problems in a society, organization, group. In addition, the conflict indicates that these contradictions have already reached a great maturity and it is necessary to take urgent measures to eliminate them. Thus, any conflict performs an informational function, gives additional impulses to the awareness of one's own and others' interests in the confrontation.

2 Conflict is a form of conflict resolution. Its development contributes to the elimination of those shortcomings and miscalculations in the social organization that led to the conflict.

3 The conflict contributes to the removal of social tension and the elimination of a stressful situation, helps to “let off steam”, defuse the situation and remove the accumulated tension.

4 The conflict can perform an integrative, unifying function. In the face of an external threat, the group uses all its resources to rally and confront the external enemy. In addition, the very task of solving the problems that have arisen unites people. In search of a way out of the conflict, mutual understanding and a sense of belonging to the solution of a common problem are developed.

5 The resolution of the conflict leads to the stabilization of the social system, because in this case the sources of dissatisfaction are eliminated - The parties to the conflict, taught by “bitter experience”, in the future will be more disposed to cooperation than to conflict. In addition, conflict resolution can prevent more serious conflicts that could have occurred had the conflict not occurred.

6 The conflict intensifies and stimulates group creativity, contributes to the mobilization of energy to solve the problems facing the subjects. In the process of finding ways to resolve the conflict, the analysis of difficult situations is activated, new approaches, ideas, innovative technologies, etc. are being developed.

7 The conflict can serve as a means of clarifying the balance of power of social groups or communities, and thus can warn against subsequent more destructive conflicts.

8 Conflict can serve as a means for the emergence of new norms of communication between people or help to fill old norms with new content.

Constructive Functions of Conflict at the Personal Level

Here there is an influence of the conflict and on the individual characteristics of the personality.

1 Conflict can perform a cognitive function in relation to the people who take part in it. It is in difficult critical (existential) situations that the true character, values ​​and motives of people's behavior are manifested; It is no coincidence that they say “a friend in need is known”. The possibility of diagnosing the enemy's strength is also connected with the cognitive function.

2 Conflict can contribute to self-knowledge and adequate self-esteem of the individual. It can help to correctly assess one's strengths and abilities and reveal new, previously unknown aspects of the personality's character. It can also temper the character, contribute to the emergence of new qualities, such as a sense of pride, dignity, etc.

3 Conflict can help get rid of unwanted character traits, such as feelings of inferiority, submissiveness, subservience, etc.

4 Conflict is the most important factor in the socialization of a person, his development as a person. In a conflict, an individual can gain as much life experience in a relatively short period of time as he may never get outside of a conflict.

5 Conflict is an essential factor in the adaptation of a person in a group, since it is in conflict that people are most revealed and one can say with certainty who is who. And then the personality is either accepted by the members of the group, or, on the contrary, rejected by them. In the latter case, of course, no adaptation takes place.

6 The conflict can help relieve mental tension in the group, relieve stress for its participants, if the conflict is resolved positively for the person. Otherwise, this internal tension may even intensify.

7 The conflict can serve as a means of satisfying not only primary, but also secondary needs of the individual, a way of its self-realization and self-affirmation. It is no coincidence that A. S. Pushkin wrote that "there is rapture in battle."

Common destructive functions of conflict

They manifest themselves at various levels of the social system and are expressed in the following consequences.

1 The conflict may be associated with violent methods of its resolution, as a result there may be large human casualties and material losses. In addition to the parties involved in the military conflict, civilians can also suffer from it.

2 The conflict can lead the parties to the confrontation (society, social group, individual) into a state of destabilization and disorganization.

3 Conflict can lead to a slowdown in the pace of social, economic, political and spiritual development of society. Moreover, it can cause stagnation and crisis of social development, the emergence of dictatorial and totalitarian regimes.

4 Conflict can contribute to the disintegration of society, the destruction of social communications and the socio-cultural alienation of social formations within the social system.

5 The conflict may be accompanied by an increase in pessimism in society and a decline in morals.

6 Conflict can lead to new, more destructive conflicts.

7 Conflict in organizations often leads to a decrease in the level of organization of the system, a decrease in discipline and efficiency.

A typical example of a constructive conflict at the level of the body is a duel. At the level of the psyche - the clarification of relationships. At the level of intellect - discussion. In a duel, the parties find out who is stronger or which technique and tactics are more effective. During the showdown, it is determined who is right and who is wrong. During the discussion - who is smarter or whose picture of the world is closer to the truth.

Destructive functions of conflict at the personal level

They are expressed in the following consequences.

1 Conflict can have a negative impact on the socio-psychological climate in the group; in particular, such negative mental states as feelings of depression, pessimism and anxiety may appear, leading the person to a state of stress. 2 The conflict can lead to disappointment in one's abilities and abilities, to de-identification of the person.

3 Conflict can cause a feeling of self-doubt, loss of previous motivation and destruction of existing value orientations and patterns of behavior. In the worst case, as a result of the conflict, both disappointment and loss of faith in former ideals can occur. And this can already have very serious consequences - deviant (deviant) behavior and, as an extreme case, suicide. There is no doubt about the close relationship in our society in the 90s of such phenomena as an increase in the number of social conflicts, deviant behavior and suicide. In terms of suicide, in particular, our country is today one of the first places in the world.

4 Conflict can lead to a person's negative assessment of his partners in joint activities, disappointment in his colleagues and recent friends.

5 As a reaction to conflict, a person may “turn on” defense mechanisms, demonstrating behaviors that are negative for communication, such as:

Retreat - silence, lack of enthusiasm, isolation of the individual in the group;

Frightening information - criticism, swearing, demonstration of superiority over other members of the group;

Rigid formalism - formal politeness, literalism, the establishment of strict norms and principles of behavior in a group, tracking others;

Turning the case into a joke. This principle is in many ways the opposite of the previous one;

Conversations on extraneous topics instead of a business discussion of problems;

Constant search for the guilty, self-flagellation or blaming all the troubles of the team members,

These are the main dysfunctional consequences of the conflict, which (as well as the functional consequences) are interconnected and are of a specific and relative nature. Here it is appropriate to recall a well-known proposition: there is no abstract truth, truth is always concrete. The victory of one often means the defeat of the other.

A typical example of a destructive conflict at the level of the body is a fight. At the level of the psyche - a scandal. At the level of intelligence - a dispute. In a fight, everyone seeks to destroy the opponent's body. In a scandal - a mental state. In a dispute - a picture of the world.

Example 1: a quarrel broke out in the company's marketing department, which escalated into an acute emotional conflict: one of the employees called another - a specialist in engineering and economic education and a long practical work experience - the insulting word "hack", meaning that he, not content with with his high salary, constantly preoccupied with part-time work on the side, therefore he transfers part of his duties to colleagues. The employees of the department provided “calmness and peace of mind” with friendly support, and the head of the company was forced to transfer his opponent to another job.

The conflict was not without its negative consequences - the need to find an appropriate replacement for an experienced worker. But everything ended well, because the employees of the department showed solidarity with those of the colleagues who spoke out for common interests, condemned the dishonest attitude to business and the desire for benefits for themselves at the expense of others. And this further strengthened their cohesion, strengthened the importance of the rules of group behavior. This often happens in life.

Example 2: There was a trade licensing meeting in the office of the Chairman of the Trade Enterprises Association, where the operation of a supermarket with a newly opened cafe for mass food and a night bar received general approval. Dissonance was the speech of the process engineer of the city trade inspection Sazonov, who reported that the tests carried out the other day in a cafe at a supermarket revealed an underestimation of the calorie content of food against the norm. The reason for this could be either a lack of food, or a violation of the technology of cooking. In connection with this serious argument, process engineer Sazonov believes that the cafe cannot be licensed.

Sazonov's speech aroused the indignation of the director of the supermarket Orlova, no longer young, but an energetic woman with extensive experience in commercial work. “You use your official position to settle personal accounts,” she said to Sazonov and explained: “He often visited my store at lunchtime and dined in my office. But one day I was busy and could not serve him, asking him to dine in the common room of the cafe. He took offense at this, and his performance in denying the right to license the supermarket is subjective.”

So, there is a conflict. From the sphere of industrial relations, he moves into the sphere of interpersonal relations. Before it happened, a conflict situation and an incident arose.

Example 3. Positive Conflict Function

As an example, consider the story of a young woman. She married very early, she was not yet nineteen years old. Her chosen one was several years older than her, and although he was also young, it seemed to her that he was wiser and more experienced. Perhaps this is what led to the fact that, despite a good relationship with him, she felt some kind of constraint in her soul, felt the distance that separated them. After the birth of the child, their relationship began to deteriorate and finally approached that dangerous line, after which, perhaps, parting awaited them. However, there was that often unexpected breakthrough, for which there is always hope. They began to sort things out and in the course of this frank conversation they understood each other. After telling this rather banal story, the woman added at the end: “I am so glad that this conflict then was between us. Because since then my husband and I have become absolutely close to each other people. I can tell him anything and everything that's in my heart.

Example 4. Destructive function

Two specialists of the firm were in a state of "cold war". Instead of working in the same team and pointing out each other's mistakes, they secretly rejoiced in other people's mistakes. This led to the fact that the violations made in the technological cycle were not eliminated in time, and the entire batch of products was manufactured with irreparable defects. The organization suffered heavy losses and serious damage was done to its reputation.

Example 5. Constructive function

Mitrofanov, the director's nephew, was appointed to the staff of the financial department. The department staff knew that Mitrofanov was not an ordinary employee, so everyone was sure that the boss would have a special relationship with him. However, the manager was an experienced person and understood the psychology of people, he avoided the tactics of applying double standards when evaluating the results of the work of his subordinates. Thus, he managed to prevent a conflict that could arise between Mitrofanov and his colleagues.

Example 6. Constructive function

In the firm between two employees there was a conflict over a financial issue; they behaved very aggressively towards each other, which distracted everyone else from work. The manager considered it necessary to intervene, made them understand that he himself would look for a solution, but together with them, but for now temporarily transfers them to different departments. This arrangement of personnel suited everyone, including both employees. Thus, the leader managed to eliminate the conflict.