The Directing Process in Nursing Management

- Conflict management

introduction

Conflict is not a modern matter It has been and still is of interest to those interested in management sciences, and the interest of administrators in the skills of managing various conflicts between employees has increased, as organizations suffer from many types of conflicts that take up attention and time, in addition to their negative impact on the organization’s ability

What is the conflict?

Conflict is a disagreement or disagreement between two or more people whose interests, goals, or concerns appear to be incompatible

It is the process that begins when a certain individual or group feels a kind of frustration as a result of another individual or group violating the rights of the first

Conflict occurs when there is a conflict of interests that turns into a conflict over goals, and at the same time there is a difference in values that turns into a conflict between the different methods used by each individual

Negative aspects of conflict

◾  Some employees feel defeated and dissatisfied

◾  Distance between employees and the organization

◾  The spirit of doubt and mistrust prevails among workers

◾  Focus on individual achievements more than collective ones

◾  Low team spirit and deterioration of organizational performance

◾  High employee turnover rate

Positive aspects of the conflict

◾  Develop ideas

◾  Tendency to search for new ideas

◾  Giving opportunities to express opinions

◾  Research and solution to perennial problems

◾  Drive the process of creativity and development

Latent conflict

◾  At this stage, the causes of conflict are available without it occurring Examples of this include cases in which individuals compete for some limited resources or there is a contradiction or functional conflict In these cases, the conflict does not surface due to its low intensity or the two parties not being prepared to engage in the conflict process

Perceived conflict

◾  This stage begins when the parties to the conflict realize that there is an expected conflict that will occur, and the conflict is initiated by the party that feels a contradiction in its interests or goals

tangible conflict

◾  It is the stage in which the parties to the conflict feel the phenomena and indicators indicating the beginning of the actual conflict between the different parties

Realistic conflict

◾  It is the stage of using behavior to show actions and reactions resulting from the existence of a conflict, such as attack or withdrawal

 Types of conflict

◾ Internal conflict        ( psychological conflict within the individual)

◾ Intragroup conflict   (conflict between members of the same group)

◾ Organizational conflict         ( conflict within the organization)

Factors affecting conflict

• Specifications of the parties to the conflict
• Causes of conflict
• Individual and group interests
• Social environment

Causes of conflict

• the time
• Experience
• Administrative leadership
• Lack of resources
• hypersensitivity
• Conflict of goals and interests
• unclear roles  

Conflict with oneself

The difference between an individual's own values and those around him

Factors that increase the conflict with oneself

 Failure to coordinate between the individual’s personal capabilities and potential and his ambitions

 Failure to prioritize

 Hypocrisy

Causes of conflict within the group

* Fear * Insecurity * Lack of information about the group

* Group values * Group requirements

Factors that increase conflict within the group

* Attack * Obstruction and putting obstacles * Showing off and attracting attention

* Love of control * Seeking personal interests

Factors that reduce conflict between the individual and the group

* Encouragement * Reconciliation * Standardization

* Monitoring * Opening communication channels

 Organizational conflict

When conflicts appear in the organization, management must intervene so that the conflict does not go beyond acceptable limits

Ways to deal with conflict

* Competition * Compatibility  * Avoidance         * Cooperation and participation         * Reconciliation and negotiation

Competition

Uncooperative behavior is embodied in individuals seeking their own interests at the expense of others This behavior is often used by individuals who are directed toward power and authority  When to use ???

◾  This method is used in situations characterized by a high degree of force variance

◾  Or in case of unwillingness to respond to the demands of others

◾  Situations that require a quick decision (emergency situations)

Compatibility

Conformity is the opposite of competition and consists of uncooperative behaviors The individual tries to be compatible with the surrounding circumstances or others and neglects his interests and concerns    When to use ???

◾ When a person feels that he has made a mistake

◾  When other issues are more important than personal issues

◾  To strengthen social relations with others

◾  To reduce the amount of losses in case you fail in the conflict

Cooperation and participation

The opposite of avoidance behavior, which involves cooperation and seeking to work with others to find a solution that satisfies both conflicting parties  When is it used ???

◾  When one wants a solution, all parties respond

◾  When you want all individuals to commit to implementation

◾  When you want to know the views of others

Reconciliation and negotiation

Agreement means striving and making some concessions to reach a point of agreement and understanding with the other party When to use  ? 

◾  In case of equal strength

◾  to achieve a temporary settlement of the issue

◾  In case of reaching a quick solution under time pressure

Avoidance

Uncooperative behavior The person who uses this method in dealing with conflict does not seek his own interests or the interests of others, but avoids conflict in any way

◾  The individual withdraws from the conflict because he does not want to help himself or because his belief in his goals is not strong Among the most important situations in which the individual uses this method are

◾  If the conflict is trivial

◾  In case of confirmation of the inability to satisfy personal desires

◾  Ensure that the problems resulting from the solution are greater than the return on the solution itself

◾  If others are able to solve the problem

Types of conflicts within work environments

1. Conflict according to its level (Conflict within the individual, between two individuals, within the group, between groups, at the organizational level, between organizations)
2. Conflict according to its trends Vertical conflict, horizontal conflict
3. The conflict according to its results Positive conflict, negative conflict
4. Conflict in terms of organization Organized conflict   This shows the expression of actions that require work and social solidarity Unorganized conflict  This is done by using behavioral forms such as complaints, grumbling, and leaving work
5. Conflict in terms of planning Strategic conflict, unplanned conflict

Stages of the conflict process

• Latent conflict stage Here, there is no awareness, understanding, or feeling of the emergence of conflict, but some situations appear that affect the relationship of some parties, such as competition over limited resources or the need for independence and diversity of goals
• Conflict perception stage Here the conflict is perceived without there being any previous situations, such as one party misunderstanding or misunderstanding the other party
• Stage of feeling conflict Here there may be an awareness of the conflict, but without the manager feeling that there are cases of anxiety and tension
• Conflict display stage Here it can be noted that the behaviour of each party indicates the emergence of a conflicting problem
• Post-conflict stage If there are solutions that satisfy both parties, then it is expected that there will be cooperation and affection between the parties, but if there are no solutions, then the feelings will remain latent and increase and will explode at any moment

Conflict management in work environments

Among the reasons that prompted organizations to manage conflict is the increasing interest in globalization and the decreasing reliance on local authorities or governments to do some work Harrigel presented a method for resolving and managing conflict that depends on two elements

1. Distribution That is, one of the parties to the conflict is aware that the amount of gain one of them will be at the expense of the loss of the other party
2. Integration The result of calculating the parties is that each will achieve a gain, and this element leads to achieving greater satisfaction

In the event of a conflict, the administration resorts to using one of the following methods

1.     Withdrawal It is the manager leaving some work duties for a short period, such as postponing the response to a memo or being absent from attending a meeting It is used in the event that the problem is minor and does not require a lot of time, or if the manager does not have a great personality or presence, or if there is someone who can develop solutions in the manager’s absence

2.     Appeasement It is the intervention of the administration, headed by the director, by following a behavioral strategy that represents the conflict will gradually fade away while calling for the necessity of cooperation between the parties

3.     Compromise solutions Any manager's choice of an alternative that satisfies both parties and does not result in any loss for either party

4.     Compulsion It is the administration’s resort to using legal force to resolve the dispute, and it is preferable to use it in emergency cases

5.     Confrontation Recognizing the existence of a conflict, then the management resorting to using the scientific method, evaluation, and studying alternatives to reach acceptable solutions

The role of the head nurse in conflicts

       Conflicts often occur when people work in groups or teams, and the supervisor must prevent this from happening or work to solve it as a team leader An effective supervisor is one who listens to problems and tries as much as possible to help solve them Therefore, the head nurse has an important and fundamental role in preventing conflicts and also in resolving them in a way that is acceptable to the conflicting parties and that benefits the workplace

The most important reasons for disagreements between team members are lack of clarity of vision and chaos in work, ie when opinions differ about what work should be done and how team members should do it Disagreements can be prevented and their impact reduced by

·       Consecutive meetings of team members

·       Giving people the freedom to express their ideas openly and then making a collective decision about them

·       Participate in achieving the goals after agreeing on them

·       Develop a clear and detailed job description

·       Establish clear work instructions and procedures

·       Justice in the distribution of tasks and duties

·       Preparing schedules according to which tasks and duties are distributed