Managing Conflict within or between Groups

This section deals with conflict. It recognizes that conflict often occurs within and between groups and can be a debilitating force which can lead to unhappy and unproductive groups. The section has two parts: dealing with conflict in Australian groups and dealing with cross cultural conflict.

Different cultures have different attitudes and different means of coping with conflict. It is important for your group to find out how your counterpart deals with conflict. In some countries it is not acceptable to deal with conflict using western style conflict resolution methods as outlined below. Check with the Friendship Liaison Officer what the cultural protocols for dealing with conflict in Timor are.

Conflict is a natural part of every day life. Disagreements happen every day. Conflicts occur at home and at work and are usually the result of misunderstanding or differences in opinion. While some conflicts are relatively easy to overcome, some can become very entrenched and lead to unhappiness and ultimately, people leaving the group. It is important for the health and success of your group that you recognize when conflict is occurring and seek to deal with it as openly and effectively as you can.

Avoiding a disagreement doesn't make it go away. Conflict becomes negative only when it continues to be ignored or ‘swept under the carpet’.

Coping With Conflict

There are a variety of strategies available for dealing with conflict. A variety of conflict resolution practitioners have come up with the following ways for dealing with conflict. They are:

• Avoidance
• Accommodation
• Compromise
• Collaboration

Avoidance

Some people attempt to avoid conflict by postponing it, hiding their feelings, changing the subject, leaving the room or eventually leaving the group.

As a short-term measure avoidance can work if the conflict is only very minor; if there are too many relationships at stake and the issue is too pressing, and if more time is needed to sort out the issue or information. It is good to be clear that there is a conflict but the group is choosing to avoid it at the present time but are aware that they may need to deal with the issue at a later date.

Example:

A group is designing a strategic plan and during the process a conflict emerges between two people about who is going to be responsible for printing out the document. The group only has one more task to do and then the plan will be complete. The rest of the group decides to finish the document before worrying about who is going to print it out. Even though the two people still are in disagreement, the document gets finished in time and then they turn to the issue of who is going to be responsible for printing and distributing it.

However, Avoidance is not the best option when the issue is very important, a decision is needed quickly or postponing the issue will only make matters worse.

Accommodation

Accommodation is a convenient strategy to satisfy an immediate need for individuals or the group. It highlights the common purpose of the group or individuals and concentrates on that.

Even though we don't agree on the details, we do agree that we want to keep working on developing a child care centre for our district in Timor. So let’s move on for now and put on the agenda for the next time an agreement to discuss in detail our various approaches to this endeavour.

Accommodation works if the group can agree to disagree in the short term in order to keep the meeting or activity flowing. It is important to recognise that the issue will need to be raised again at a later date.

Compromise

Compromise works when all parties feel that some of their needs are being satisfied. For a compromise to work, all parties should receive something, and all parties will need to give up something.

Compromise works when:

• both parties are willing to reduce or put on hold some demands
• an intermediate solution saves time and effort for both sides.

Compromise doesn't work when:

• initial demands are too great from the beginning
• there is no commitment to honor the compromise.

Example:

The Australian group has decided to sponsor two young Timorese female students to learn English in Melbourne. The Timorese are eager to send three male students rather than two female. The Australian group recognises the importance of more students learning English and so agrees to sponsor three but wants female students included. The Timorese group agrees to send two female and one male student to Melbourne.

Collaboration

Collaboration is about learning to accept that conflict is inevitable and learning to manage conflict as a team. The team recognizes that conflict is an opportunity to change and grow and so is committed to dealing with the issues in an open and mutually respectful manner.

Collaboration is best when:

• individuals trust and respect one another
• there is time for all parties to share their views and feelings
• members want the best solution for the larger group
• iindividuals are willing to change their thinking when more information is found and new options are suggested.

Collaboration may NOT be best when:

• time is limited and people must act before they can work through their conflict
• there is not enough trust, respect or communication among the group for collaboration to occur.