Conflict

Conflict Resolution on a Work Team

Anytime you bring a group of strangers together to form a work team, whether for a company project or educational experience, there are going to be conflicts within the group. The worst conflict for a group is personality conflicts. However, for the purpose of this paper, we will discuss the experiences of this learning team in conflict resolution based upon the problems we have experienced.

The best approach to resolving conflicts is utilizing the problem solving and decision-making process. The steps in this process are; identify and recognize the problem, know the relevant rules by gathering the necessary information, facts and assumptions, analyze the problem and develop potential courses of action or alternatives, analyze the courses of action or alternatives, select the best course of action and implement it, and finally review the results of the selected course of action and make any necessary adjustments (Headquarters, Department of the Army, 1999).

By utilizing the problem solving and decision-making process, we identified the conflicts faced by the team of bringing the team together and meeting deadlines. We were also able to identify the necessary steps of establishing our communication processes, delegating the workload amongst team members and balancing the learning styles of the team members. Finally, we determined that we would need to learn from the lessons of the experience and establish how we were going to operate and cooperate as a team.

The first conflict we experienced as a team was simply bringing the team together. We needed to get everybody on the "same sheet of music" so to speak and moving in the same direction. Resolution of this first issue was paramount to get the team off of the ground.

One of the major keys to developing strategic learning skills and attitudes on a personal level also applies to the team. It is necessary to get input from all team members on a topic in order to gather information and study it to be able to come to creative solutions. This process of studying and solving a problem with other members on the team is vital to the team's success (Carter, Bishop, and Kravits, 2002, chapter 1).

Knowing that the input from all team members was vital, the first problem that contributed to difficulty in bringing the team together was the fact that being involved in a online learning team meant that the team members were located in various geographical locations and time zones. We absolutely had to get this problem solved.

After one attempt at trying to get the team together for a team meeting failed utilizing the Internet technology available and we missed our first assignment deadline, it became a critical issue. With input from the whole team as to when would be a good date and time to meet, we all posted contact information again and got together via phone conference. This proved to be the perfect solution for this team as each team member that was able to make the meeting was able to have immediate input into what was being proposed. Additionally, it helped to personalize the event more than text chatting or posting emails. The team was able to assign roles within the team towards working on the team projects and everybody left the meeting with a sense of purpose and awareness of what their contributions were to be for the team.

Once the first issue had been addressed, the team also had to recognize another issue that a plan of communication had to be devised that would accommodate each team member's personal lives as much as possible.

From our class reading, and just common sense, we know that things in our external environment had to be taken into account. These issues are termed in the class reading as obstacles to strategic learning for individuals. The classification of "obstacle" for life's events and requirements is a bit harsh. The need to have a job to provide for yourself and a family, if a person is married or has children, or the responsibilities of a parent or spouse shouldn't be viewed as obstacles, but rather as simply issues that need to be addressed and allowed for (Carter et al., 2002, chapter 1). However, within a team, the issues for the individuals are also issues for the team.

The team had to take into account that each team member had different responsibilities towards work schedules, family requirements, and other personal needs. Taking these issues into account, we devised a plan of action that took these issues into account.

Meeting deadlines was the next topic of concern for the team, which was also interconnected to the first topic discussed of bringing the team together. For the first team assignment, we missed the deadline and failed to meet the requirement. The product for the team was incomplete due to lack of team member information. In order to be able to meet these deadlines as a team we identified two key areas to address; communication processes and delegation of workload.

First we had to establish our communication processes. The solution we arrived at was for each team member to check the Learning Team Folder daily and post any concerns. On days that assignments were due the folder would be checked several times a day, within each team member's ability to do so according to their schedules, to see if there were any issues that had arisen for a project. We also designated that phone contact should be used if critical issues needing immediate attention were identified. Additionally, we decided that team meetings would be called when necessary. All of these guidelines were put into place with each person's role on the team in mind.

The role of each team member was assigned taking into account the need to delegate certain functions within the team and to spread out the workload of team projects. The aspect of building the team and the teamwork skills was approached from viewing each team member's strengths and weaknesses according to their abilities and playing upon the key asset of our diversity. Our success would depend on our ability to cooperate, to communicate the needs of the team, and stick to our developed team vision (Carter et al., 2002, chapter 1). A key role identified was to assign a team organizer. A single point of contact to keep the team on track in regards to assignments, deadlines, and other tasking is vital to helping the team to be successful.

Other roles of delegation were identified and assigned to various team members based upon their strengths, such as; writing, research, detail oriented for proof reading and formatting, and knowledge of necessary technology to support the team. These strengths each person had identified for themselves via the various assessments we had completed during the course and