Workplace Conflict Management

The conflict involved in this case is a marketing manager, Mrs. Nicolle, and an administrative assistant, Catherine, of a certain company. The manager had been long serving in the company and felt superior while the administrative assistant was a new staff who suffered from inferiority complex.  As a result, Nicolle wanted to prove to Catherine that she was senior and every time shouted at her especially if Nicolle made a call that went unanswered a time when Catherine was not in a position to answer it. Under this circumstance, Catherine felt intimidated and according to Nicolle, the new staff was not performing efficiently.

Though unplanned, the conflict formally took place within the office for several days until Catherine could not take it any more and therefore forwarded the matter to the general manager of the company, Stephen Joseph. Shortly after, Nicolle was summoned by the general manager and it became apparent that she was having an attitude towards most of the staff. In addition, she was expecting and was noted that she was always temperamental. This was the surface problem; however the underlying problem was that she had a superiority complex.

Basically, conflict is inevitable; nevertheless it is manageable and thus several conflict management strategies have been developed to deal with it. Evident in this conflict is avoidance as employed by Catherine whereas Nicolle used a competing strategy. However the general manager acted as a mediator between the two parties and Nicolle was forced to be accommodative since working toward a common goal is of more importance than any personal concerns. This resulted to a win-lose situation and Catherine was now appreciated like any other employee of the company and with time the relationship between the two became health.

Conflict and Good Communication in Organization

Essentially, good communication is vital in any organization if conflict is to be circumvented. Besides, with good communication, any conflict can be solved instantaneously. Additionally, a good leadership system will curb conflict as well since supervisors will have a good understanding of the duties of their subordinates. Finally, something to be noted about conflict is that even though it raises problems, it facilitates addressing them and helps people learn how to appreciate and benefit from their differences.

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