Question

As a manager, I am having conflict with members of my team due to the increased work load I have put on them. I want to have a meeting with them. TM1 is chinese, expresses their anger subtly, TM2 is American is irritable and sarcastic and TM3 is Australian, direct, voices discontent. Can you suggest a flexibility technique I could use for each person.

Answer 1

Conflict resolution is a process by which two or more individuals find a solution for a problem or a disagreement between them. The steps involved in conflict resolution includes clarifying about the conflict, developing a common solution for both the parties, discussing the means by which the common solution could be attained, identifying the barriers that stops the parties from attaining the common goal, agreeing on the best possible solution for the conflict and accepting each parties responsibilities for mutually resolving the conflict.

With increased globalization, the cultural diversity in the workplace have also increased significantly. It is necessary that the manager be aware of all the cultural differences that exists in the organization and between the employees, so that he can successfully resolve the conflicts that arise between them. Considering whether the employee belongs to an individualistic or collectivist culture is necessary because, employee from collectivist culture gives more importance to harmony and getting along with others, so they prefer avoiding conflicting, whereas employees from individualistic culture may initiate conflict and want to resolve them effectively.   

In this example, the conflict had raised between the team members and the manager, and these team members express their dissatisfaction that are typical representation of their cultures. The team member from China shows a behavior that represents their collectivist culture, whereas the other two members from America and Australia shows a behavior that represents the individualistic culture.

Now, to resolve the conflict, we must first identify the cause of the conflict, which is the increased work load in this case and the two parties involves are the manager and the employees. So, a common solution for both the parties includes reducing the workload to a considerable amount so that the employees won't feel over burdened and the manager may also get his work done. While discussing on how to attain this common goal, the manager may suggests that he would segregate the work to the members of the team equally so that they don't feel too much of pressure, or the manager could divide the work in shifts such that one member gets to do one task on one day and the next day he could be free and then do the work on the day after, this will ensure that the employee is not under continuous pressure. Therefore, both the parties choose the best option that would suit them and mutually agree to work on it. In considering the cultural differences, the manager must empathize with the employee from the collectivist culture and make them understand that everyone is under pressure to complete their respective tasks, and request them to offer their effort and help in completing the work, whereas employees from individualistic culture are explained about the situation of the organization and given rational explanation on why they are given so much workload and how necessary it is to get the work done for the benefit of the organization. This will ensure that the employees understand the situation and help in successfully resolving the conflict.