CIMA E2 Syllabus B. Managing people performance - Methods of Handling Conflict - Notes ^{5 / 6}

1. Employees perceive themselves as part of an identifiable group or department.

2. There are some observable group differences.

3. There is frustration that if one group achieves its goal the other will not.

There are 5 methods of handling conflict:

1. Confrontation -  This technique involves the conflicting parties directly engaging with each other and negotiating with one another to try to work out their differences.

2. Third-party consultants - This technique can be used where conflicting parties are uncooperative. An independent party is brought in to meet with the conflicting parties to encourage them to reach agreement.

3. Member rotation - With this technique, members of one department are asked to work in the other department for a period of time, to allow them to better understand the issues faced by the other department.

4. Superordinate goals - This technique involves management imposing shared targets on both parties which will require the cooperation of both parties in order to meet the target.

5. Inter-group training - A technique developed by Robert Blake, Jane Mouton and Richard Walton, department members attend an outside workshop away from day-to-day work problems.