To speak of conflicts, is to approach a very extensive subject, since the life of a man is full of them; from the most insignificant, as it is, which shirt will be able, to the most momentous, such as making an important or momentous decision. Now, conflicts are not the destruction or contamination of organizations, as some people often say; Rather, conflicts are opportunities for changes to be generated and in these changes, conflicts, if they are channeled and directed in the correct way, will result in the use of it; There are innumerable examples and experiences of how the use of conflicts has benefited organizations, or as I have called the other side of the hand,In other words, the analysis of the conflicts but from the points of view of those who are involved.
For this, we will start with the definition of conflicts.
" It is a confrontation of positions that arise between several or a group of people, because the behavior of one harms the achievement of the objectives of the other ".1
“Conflict can be defined as perceived incompatible differences that result in mutual interference or opposition. In other words, it is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are in opposition to or are adversely affected by another or other parties ”.2
While it is true that conflicts denote problems and inconveniences in the institutions, it is also a fact that progress and changes emerge from them.
This essay addresses the issue of conflicts but from an analytical point of view seeking to make the most of the differences to achieve sustained growth through changes.
For years we have agreed that the only constant are changes, and since a company is an organism made up of the human factor, it is common for there to be different types of conflicts, so below we will address the sources and most common conflict situations that affect organizations and how this conflict can be converted into an improvement advantage for the company.
The conflicts that afflict organizations are innumerable and range from the simplest to the most complicated, the truth is that the most common situations of such differences are those caused by:
• Experiences, habits, experiences of the individuals who collaborate for the organization.
• Customs, personalities, socioeconomic status.
According to the publication of Lic. Víctor Ariel Mojica in his publication of Conflict Management through the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, Communication Training Center, last June 2005, he mentions that there are two basic types of conflicts: " Cognitive conflict (type c conflict) and affective conflict (type a conflict). Cognitive conflict is also known as substantive conflict and affective conflict as emotional conflict ”.
“Cognitive conflict is that conflict that arises from differences of opinion related to problems and affective conflict refers to the emotional reactions that can occur when disagreements become personal. Cognitive conflict includes disagreements regarding goals, allocation of resources, distribution of rewards, policies and procedures, and task assignments. Affective conflict results from feelings of anger, mistrust, fear, and resentment; as well as personality clashes. Cognitive conflict is strongly associated with improvements in the performance of work teams, while affective conflict is strongly associated with decreased performance of work teams ”.
Now, there is a colloquial saying "each head is a world", and it is appropriate, because according to people are the types of conflicts that develop, there are conflicts that are easily solved and others that can become increasingly complicated, because the people who intervene in the problem cannot agree to a conciliation and the differences subsist and it is precisely those differences that I refer to when mentioning the information of Prof. Víctor Ariel, since he addresses the issue referring to the components of the personality to explain the types of conflicts that the human being and therefore the companies go through.
The primary source of conflicts or situations that encourages conflicts to arise is undoubtedly changes, since there is no conflict if we are in an environment of total domination and control.
Different authors consider that there are several stages of the conflict, from my point of view and for the purposes of this essay I will address the stages that according to my work, personal and documentary experience I have been able to observe:
1.- First stage thinking.- It refers to when differences begin to be created, but the individual chooses not to take it seriously, to say to himself "nothing happens" this stage can be compared to self-deception, to say to himself that the things are fine.
2.- Second Stage, if that thought of differences is not discarded and it is fed, it gives way to the recognition of the conflict and therefore to initiate a feeling with such a referent, that is, we are faced with the feeling originated by the thought.
3.- Third Stage, Action, stage I have called it this way because, if the thought becomes fruitful it gives rise to the feeling, when the feeling has manifested itself in our being, it originates an action, such motive, it gives the conflict as manifest.
4.- Fourth Stage, Solution, this stage I consider the best of all because it refers to directing the conflict to productive situations with an enriching effect and when the conflict is unmanageable, in other words there is no viable solution, the resignation will be given, abandon the problem before getting involved in an exhausting situation that will not have a solution.
It is necessary to mention that not every conflict is synonymous with a problem, since there are intrapersonal conflicts, which are those that occur internally, also interpersonal ones, those that occur between individuals and there are also labor conflicts that occur between employee and employer, thus, conflicts can through efficient handling become the ideal pretext to move forward and change.
The sources for a conflict to be generated are diverse to mention a few I list the following:
- Communication failures, - Structural differences, - Role ambiguity, - Scarce resources, - Incompatibility of goals, - Poorly designed reward systems, - Differences of power and status, - Personal differences and previous conflicts that have not been resolved.
There are different styles to handle conflicts, however it is important to mention that it will be intrinsically linked to the personality of the individual, as it will depend on their experiences, experiences, to go to the solution.
There is no doubt, talking about conflicts is a very interesting and important topic, because there is no exclusive school that teaches us how to act before such or such problems, since it will depend on many occasions on the situations that are faced, now, there are different options to obtain the tools for its management; one of them is emotional intelligence and / or neurolinguistic programming to know our personality and control our emotions, since the conflicts eliminated in the beginning can help us prevent them from becoming problems and will allow us to know in advance the situations that require your attention before it's unmanageable.
To resolve conflicts it is necessary to consider:
1.- Know those involved.
2.- What are the interests of the parties, that is, the other side of the hand, know, what is the position of each of the parties and respect them.
3.- What are the values, personality, experience, characteristics of each of the parties, as they influence when dealing with conflict management.
By way of conclusion I can say that conflicts are necessary for people and organizations, however I want to emphasize that it is a priority to be directed to exploitation, in a few words, when you go through any type of problem ask yourself, Can I turn this situation into a growth opportunity? And don't forget to see the other side of the hand, because maybe your partner sees the palm and you the nails, but if you turn the hand you can appreciate what he sees and vice versa, I assure you that you can be surprised.
Bibliography
Conflict Management, Professor Vítor Ariel Mojica, June 2005 publication.
1. Conflict.
2. Administration.
