My second revelation is that conflict is necessary for a stronger team. Before going through the leadership course, I thought that conflict was a disaster, and conflict meant that there were factors that caused disharmony in the team. In my previous point of view, conflicts hurt the relationship between team members. I thought the less discord in teams would lead to more success. So, when my colleagues and I had different opinions in a discussion, if we could not reach a consensus, I would consent to others’ ideas although I did not fully agree with them. I thought arguing would lead to conflict and then damage the working atmosphere. However, I have definitely changed my opinion about workplace conflict after studying in these few weeks. First, I have realized that conflict was not always a bad thing for an organization. When I was reading Lencioni’s book- the five dysfunctions of a team: a leadership fable, I have found that my previous understanding of conflict is one-sided.
Conflicts do not only include mean-spirited and interpersonal conflicts, but also include productive debate. Lencioni considers productive conflict is important to a team because it can “produce the best possible solution in the short period of time”, and team members will “emerge from heated debates with no residual feelings or collateral damage” (2002B).
I realize that the conflict I tried to avoid is the productive conflict, and I should not avoid this kind of conflict in the workplace. Just as Lencioni’s point of view, other scholar like Caudron also considers that conflict can lead to more discoveries and leaps in improvement and innovation. Caudron regards conflict as “a potent source of creativity” (1998).
The Essay on Managing Conflict Team Member
Managing conflict within the workplace is a challenge that most managers face every day. Whether the conflict is perceived or felt, handling the conflict correctly is necessary in order to maintain a successful and comfortable work environment. At my company, Target, we deal with conflict on several different levels. There is team member versus team member conflict, team member versus management ...
Healthy conflicts will not hurt the team but instead boost creativity and teamwork. Second, I have realized that people should not be afraid of conflicts.
One concern about conflict is seeded in cultural factors. People from different countries have different beliefs and backgrounds. In some countries such as China, conflict means disrespect even when it is productive. Sometimes people know such productive conflict can lead to come up with new ideas and better results, however, people also feel uncomfortable and unhappy when they get involved in this kind of conflict. As Lencioni’s indicates, fear of conflicts is one of the five dysfunctions of a team (2002B).
To overcome this dysfunction, it is needed that everyone agrees to cooperate without succumbing to discomfort. Given this fact, it is important for the leaders to build a team environment in which productive conflict is acceptable.
The foundation to this culture is trust (Lencioni, 2002B).
Everyone in a team should trust each other and realize that productive conflict is different from interpersonal conflicts. Caudron (1998) believes that respect, reward and training are also approaches for the leaders to deal with conflicts. In this way, the interpersonal conflict in the team will reduce, and a healthy environment for intelligent debate will be built so that the team is more active in creating and innovating. Reflecting on my past and combining with these new key concepts, I am truly inspired that leader should build a healthy conflict environment in the work place. For the future when I am placed in a position of a leader, I will place “trust” as a team’s basic value, because trust is the foundation of having healthy conflict. As an employee, I will not fear of conflict anymore. For the situation I mentioned above, I will speak out my opinion in order to achieve the best goal. Conclusion
The Essay on Team Leader
Describe how a team leader should communicate the team’s purpose and objectives to its members. A team leader should communicate with team members their purpose and objectives for a task using the SMART model. This is an acronym and its meaning is as follows; Specific – targets are to be communicated as simply as possible. Measurable – targets are to be communicated so that they are measurable in ...
The above listed and expanded upon two key concepts that I have taken away from the course. First, corporate values are significant and meaningful to the companies. Leaders should develop their companies’ values with caution. I used my classmate’s case in this paper, and the case alerted me that values are not decorations for a said company but rather its most basic foundation. Besides values, I have also realized that conflict is not always a bad thing for a team. With productive conflict, harmony is retained within a team while acting as a catalyst for a successful workforce output. Although scholars offer approaches such as trust, respect and reward to manage conflict, these are theoretical. I believe that this may need to be practiced in a real working environment to test its validity. In conclusion, the leadership course has broadened my view of values and changed my opinion about conflict.
References
Caudron, S. (1998).
Keeping team conflict alive. Training & Development, 52(9), 48-52. Lencioni, P. M. (2002A).
Make your values mean something. Harvard Business Review, 80 (7), 113-117 Lencioni, P. M. (2002B).
The five dysfunctions of a team: a leadership fable. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Retrieved from http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/toc.aspx?bookid=3740 Parker, S., & Rippey, D. (2011).
Corporate values. Leadership Excellence, 28(9), 15.
