Defining Conflict
Conflict is an essential evil in the workplace, particularly in different situations. Therefore, it must be understood and maintained to sustain the team process. The success of projects and tasks that involve teams relies on the harmony of the composition of the team. This harmony is determined by how well the team handles the three different kinds of conflicts found in teams: task conflict, relationship conflict, and process conflict. Types of conflict are beneficial and detrimental. Different organizations usually form different teams to meet goals and objectives for both the short and long run. However, the biggest barrier in the team process is the different visibility types of conflicts. It has been revealed that conflict occurs in different teams due to personal incompatibility. These types of conflicts are task conflict, relationship conflict, and process conflict. Interestingly, all these conflicts contain different sources or causes. The most important thing is to navigate these causes and understand each type of conflict to derive several impacts and solutions. Better team building can lead towards success (Tekleab & Quigley, 2014).
The Different Types of Conflict
i. Task Conflict
Disagreement regarding details and results of a team’s duty is a task conflict. In a diverse work culture, the management appreciates the task conflict. The task conflict brings new ideas, thoughts, opinions, and reservations of a different team member. These elements or aspects, derived from the task conflict, are effective for the firm to streamline unique outputs. It can be said that the task conflict is a positive aspect of making improvements. Interestingly, the task conflict depicts positive associations with the work process. For Instance, the firm can derive actual requirements of work, which is to be fulfilled in the team (Bruk-Leea, Nixonb, & Spectorc, 2013).
If a firm takes these reservations regarding the work process, then it can retain the best team members. Better experience and job satisfaction are also important outputs. However, a negative impact will occur if the management does not navigate or appreciate these concerns. Thus, the task conflict has both positive and negative outcomes of the organizational performance. The prominent impact on the team is satisfaction, and it seems the main intention of the team leader or company management. Also, it is a fact that the task conflict also causes stress because it is positively related to negative emotions. Prominent symptoms, which can also create a negative impact, are withdrawal behavior and lack of job satisfaction.
Broadly, despite perceiving the task conflict positive in an organization, the major concern is work sustainability. Team processes can be stopped or impaired if the management observes concerns, ideas, and thoughts. Disagreement among team members, despite having clear goals and strategies, is a barrier. It must be eliminated to sustain the team process (Bruk-Leea, Nixonb, & Spectorc, 2013).
ii. Relationship Conflict
It revolves around misunderstandings, originating from interpersonal problems in a team. The relationship conflict is also called the emotional conflict. In the team, the clash of personalities may hurt both team and organization in terms of individual performance and organizational success. People intend to oppose each other in the team and try to impose different things. It impairs the process sustainability. Normally, in an organization, team members resolve the task conflict through simple communication process and personal interactions. However, in the relationship conflict, people or team member enclose their perceptions (Yang & Mossholder, 2004).
By streamlining personal views, perceptions and ego-involving factors may emerge. Accordingly, interpersonal negotiation may occur, and it seems destructive for teamwork.
People usually focus on personal goals, interests, and objectives instead of understanding and meeting organizational goals and objectives. The byproduct of interpersonal interaction is intra-group conflict. People come from different cultures or backgrounds. They usually have emotional and sentimental attachments with different things. Hurting emotions of people in the team lead towards the stress, and it is quite difficult to handle as compared to task conflict.
iii. Process Conflict
It involves misunderstandings regarding the team process or methodology. Different team members may disagree with different ways, which have been developed by other team members or team leaders. Captivatingly, every team member may have a different way to perform his duties and accomplish tasks. The impact of the process conflict is negative because it can create hurdles in work stability. On the other hand, the process conflict can be considered positive due to positive outcomes (Jehn & Mannix, 2001).
Team members may streamline issues regarding the existing work process. It seems a great opportunity for the management or team leaders to listen to different concerns and identify loopholes. It can enable the process of continuous improvement. Evolvement of the team is crucial with the passage of time, and the process conflict may lead towards several positive changes.
Recent research studies show that people who continuously talk about the work process in a group are unable to perform well according to expectations. In modern organizations, to avoid process conflict, the management usually communicates the vision, purpose, and directions to enable the work sustainability and reduce the visibility of the bargaining over the procedures. However, initially, in group development stages, members must be allowed to talk about the procedural changes. It looks constructive at the initial stage of the group or team development. However, when the team or group experiences maturity or growth, it looks destructive (Jehn & Mannix, 2001).
The Impact of the Conflicts on Teams
i. Relationship Conflicts
Relationship conflicts often adversely influence the performance of teams due to possible negative outcomes. Team members are emotionally disturbed, and it can create a bad impact on performance and willingness to perform better.
It is a kind of conflict that should be avoided or reduced. The relationship conflict must be eliminated or reduced due to negative impact. For Instance, anxiety, fear, and remorse are three prominent outputs of relationship conflict. When a team member is stressed, he cannot meet quality standards. Communication is the backbone of the team in an organization (O’Neill, Allen, & Hastings, 2013).
If a relationship conflict occurs, it seems tough for the member to depict the efficient information processing. To justify his personal views and interests, he may deliver wrong or falsified information. Thus, the impact is negative on the team. The team potency is a major strength of the team, and it can also be used to measure performance. The relationship conflict is also a huge threat to this strength. For Instance, greater beliefs in capabilities always lead to high performance. The relationship conflict also creates an unenthusiastic impact on beliefs. The bad performance or negative impact on the team is obvious (O’Neill, Allen, & Hastings, 2013).
The firm must find what is right instead of finding who is right as it is necessary to remove the relational conflict. It can enable rational decisions in the conflict resolution process and improve the team and organizational functioning. The natural rise of competing interests must be prevented by avoiding yelling. Adding emotions is the best way to remove contradictions.
ii. Task Conflicts
Task conflict is beneficial for a team, as it encourages the understanding of the tasks and the critical assessment of the ideas of other team members. The emergence of multiple thoughts is in the best interest of the firm to create an innovative culture as well.
Task conflict is one of the conflicts that should be tolerated but contained. The continuation of the task conflict is important in a dynamic work culture to augment the visibility of creativity and innovation. Creative and critical thinking is good to improve team performance. One of the prominent benefits of task conflict is the better decision-making process (Bradley, Postlethwaite, Klotz, Hamdani, & Brown, 2012).
Team members have a habit of the rational decision-making process. Task conflict brings logical considerations in the group process, and it produces remarkable outcomes in the internal business environment.
In this modern business era, the leadership team in the company must create a psychologically safe environment for groups. If the company wants to enclose the relationship conflict, it must occur in the psychologically safe environment because it reduces or eliminates interpersonal risks.
Concern regarding tasks is constructive if it is not endangering the team harmony. It looks like a condition to inject the relationship conflict in the team. It must link with the corporate goals and objectives (Bradley, Postlethwaite, Klotz, Hamdani, & Brown, 2012).
The best way to improve team functioning is to train managers as mediators. Managers must have task knowledge, relevant resources, and control of the work process to guide people and allocate the work accordingly.
iii. Process Conflicts
Process conflict can be either beneficial or detrimental. It is due to positive and negative impacts on both team and organization. It depends on the situation and approach. According to different research studies, it has been navigated that the process conflict increases competitive behavior. For Instance, different group members may show their assertiveness to identify strengths and weakness of the procedures and communicate to the upper management to get the appreciation or reward. Nevertheless, it is based on knowledge and rationale. From the perspective of the organization, the process conflict is beneficial because it helps people to explore knowledge and cognitive skills (Bendersky & Hays, 2011).
Partially, the management may allow the process of conflict when conducting the change. The pure process conflict enables logical discussions in the team. It enhances the idea brainstorming and critical thinking as well. It is advantageous for the company and team when the executive leadership intends to delegate the process to team members. In the work delegation, the process conflict emerges as a need of the team. It is considered constructive because eventually, members have to find better outputs for the company. It is also detrimental because it can be converted into relationship conflict. The competition may become negative, and it can cause an inefficient information process.
It can create big hurdles in business or work sustainability. If the management at the upper level shapes the process by using knowledge and cognition, changes may hurt the work and the business. Every business wants business sustainability in the competitive landscape. Frequent changes due to process conflict can impair the outcomes. The process of conflict can be dangerous when it increases the contradiction among group members over different aspects. People may not agree with others. Thus, opposing others to get the appreciation or advantage can cause relationship conflict. The process conflict is time-consuming, and the administration cannot afford to contain it. Structural properties of the group or team may play a role in making the process conflict positive or negative. For Instance, knowledge, thinking, communication, and thinking of team members may cause different behaviors (Bendersky & Hays, 2011).
Improving the overall functionality needs the identification of conflict courses. In the process conflict, the common goal for each party can help to produce favorable results. Both parties are talking about the change process. However, a common goal can assist in finding the way for better collaboration.
iv. Teams Should Understand and Learn Conflicts to Attain Their Objectives
Teams should understand and learn to identify the different kinds of conflicts for them to attain their objectives successfully. When making different teams, team members must be trained or guided regarding these possible contradictions. The management must shape the pertinent structural properties of different teams, which are better to bring harmony. Getting more insights into a different group or team dynamics is a good approach to understanding possible conflicts. In a shared culture, the team administration must assign the right task to the right individual at the right time to eliminate the conflict risk. Negative impacts or aspects must be diminished to make conflicts constructive. In a democratic work culture, conflicts are perceived constructive. However, these conflicts should be identified with the possible consequence to derive the impact or influence (Tekleab & Quigley, 2014).
The study revolved around several conflict types along with the impact on team performance. Better conflict handling strategies and the unfavorable impact of these conflict types can be eliminated. Task, relationship, and process conflicts may occur in any organization, and these can be managed through exclusive conflict resolution strategies or traits.
References
Bendersky, C., & Hays, N. A. (2011). Status Conflict in Groups. Organization Science, 23(2), 323–340.
Bradley, B. H., Postlethwaite, B. E., Klotz, A. C., Hamdani, M. R., & Brown, K. G. (2012). Reaping the Benefits of Task Conflict in Teams: The Critical Role of Team Psychological Safety Climate. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(1), 151–158.
Bruk-Leea, V., Nixonb, A. E., & Spectorc, P. E. (2013). An expanded typology of conflict at work: Task, relationship and non-task organizational conflict as social stressors. Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations, 27(4), 339-350.
Jehn, K. A., & Mannix, E. A. (2001). The Dynamic Nature of Conflict: A Longitudinal Study of Intragroup Conflict and Group Performance. The Academy of Management Journal, 44(2), 238-251.
O’Neill, T. A., Allen, N. J., & Hastings, S. E. (2013). Examining the “Pros” and “Cons” of Team Conflict: A Team-Level Meta-Analysis of Task, Relationship, and Process Conflict. Human Performance, 26, 236–260.
Tekleab, A. G., & Quigley, N. R. (2014). Team deep-level diversity, relationship conflict, and team members’ affective reactions: A cross-level investigation. Journal of Business Research, 67(3), 394.
Yang, J., & Mossholder, K. W. (2004). Decoupling task and relationship conflict the role of intragroup emotional processing. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 589–605.
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