Communication and Conflict Management

This document discusses self-awareness, emotional intelligence, team and group work, negotiation and conflict management, and intercultural communication. It includes a case study on the founder of Spanx, Sara Blakely, and a group discussion on what makes a team perform up to its full potential. It also presents a situation involving two employees having a heated conflict and proposes suitable ways to put the conflict to an end. Lastly, it talks about intercultural communication and how it affects communication styles in different cultures.

Running head: COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Communication and Conflict Management
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author notes:

1COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
Unlike other skills, emotional intelligence (EI) of a person can rise and fall at any point in
their lifetime (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee 2013, p 58). Every participant of the Group
discussion shared there inputs about what could boost emotional intelligence in one’s self and
that of other individuals. The group agreed upon the following:
 Develop an ability avoid negative impulses
 Manage stress effectively by staying calm and composed
 Stay passive and do not react directly.
 Pick yourself up whenever in the face of adversity
 Vent all the troubles that you face in a person you can rely on.
The participant of the group discussion were given a case study on the founder of
Spanx, Sara Blakely who went through a lot of unfavourable circumstances in her life and
those shaped her emotional intelligence (Elkington & Breen 2015,p.93).
According to me the reason behind her success lies in her ability to deal with adverse
situations. I feel that a person who possess such qualities are bound to achieve success. I
would be thrilled to work for someone like Sara because her style of keeping things clear and
informal would greatly coincide with my ideologies which are similar. I provided
contradictory opinions to the discussion regarding pros of being an introvert since I consider
myself as an extrovert and that according to me helps me communicate with people in better
ways than would have been possible if I was an introvert. Most of the member agreed with
me.

2COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Team and group work
The group discussion commenced with a brainstorming session where each individual
had to put forward their ideas regarding what makes a team perform up to its full potential.
Following were the ideas that were put forward in the discussion:
 Establishing connections with each other
 Co-operation
 Each member should be committed to achieve targets.
 A common goal should be set so that the above three can be incorporated.
 There should be existence of a proper conflict management body
 Communication within the group members should be clear
 Each member should contribute their best efforts
The management can promote a good communication framework by indulging the
group in activities in which each team member have to communicate with each other
(Yildirim 2014, p.1097). I added that, communication building activities such as group
discussions and team outings should be promoted and I also added that the managers should
be aware that favouritism will lead to demotivation of other team members (Safina 2015,
p.632). I was aware of the situation since I came to know from my parents. Others might
think that they are not receiving the same attention and recognition from the group leaders or
head because they are not performing well. This can often lead to attrition. Each team
member shared their personal experiences of working in group. Sharing our personal stories
experiences led to feeling of being in a tem and a sense of communication was developed.
This later led helped me to effectively solve the case study that was discussed.

3COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Negotiation and conflict management
The topic of the third group discussion was conflict management. The group was
presented with a situation which involved two employees having a heated conflict. An
employee named Claudia decided to intervene as she felt that it was to in appropriate for
them to have a conflict. The group members had to put themselves in the place of Claudia
and propose suitable ways to put the conflict to an end. I proposed that the best way to stop
the tense situation was to separate the individuals. Individuals seem to react abruptly when
they are angry and thus proximity helps ease the heat of the situation and can help bring the
individuals back to their senses (Salerno & Peter 2013, p.2072).
To help determine the cause of the conflict, the best possible option is to communicate with
both individuals (Einarsen et al. 2018, p. 553). The mediator should listen to both the parties
in order to have a firm and unbiased idea about the situation. It is only then that the one can
present the suitable solutions for the solving the conflicts (Einarsen et al. 2018, p.559).To
resolve the issue effectively the mediator should do the following which I and the other
members agreed upon;
 Identify the real cause of concern
 Reinstate confidence in both the individuals
 Engage them in a activity through which they can settle their differences
 Encourage the conflicted individuals to take out their anger on their work
 Promote the concept of emotional intelligence.

4COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Intercultural communication
As an Indonesian student in Australia, I often used encounter situations when, neither
me nor my Australian counterparts were sure about what we want say. I shared my inferences
regarding how I view Australians as direct communicators. They are direct whereas in
Indonesia communication is rather indirect (Samovar et al. 2014, p.53). My Indonesian
values let influenced my style of expression and my values. I let the panel know, that in my
home country we are careful about what we speak and the ‘face’ concept is (Nisa 2013,
p.247). We have to take great care when speaking with seniors and it is expected that we pay
due respect to them depending on their status and position in the society. On the other hand
Australians are more open and the hierarchy does not influence their way of communication.
There exists a friendly atmosphere and the use of strong words are common. I shared my
experience before my semester examination when I was unsure about a topic and required
help. Since it was the year end, the professors where also not there to help me out. I decided
not to ask anyone about the topic I was very poor at. Later our class mates decided to gather
for a group study one day where I shared my insecurities. My classmates laughed at me and
made fun of me even, I realized that is how Australians behave and got over it as they helped
me with my problem. However I have overcome the differences and have been able adapt to
their way of interacting.
References
Einarsen, S., Skogstad, A., Rørvik, E., Lande, Å.B. and Nielsen, M.B., 2018. Climate for
conflict management, exposure to workplace bullying and work engagement: a moderated
mediation analysis. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(3),
pp.549-570.

5COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Elkington, R. and Breen, J.M., 2015. How Senior Leaders Develop Resilience in Adversity:
A Qualitative Study. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 12(4), p.93.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R.E. and McKee, A., 2013. Primal leadership: Unleashing the power
of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press, 17(6), Boston, Massachusetts, United
States, p.58.
Nisa, E.F., 2013. The internet subculture of Indonesian face-veiled women. International
Journal of Cultural Studies, 16(3), pp.241-255.
Safina, D., 2015. Favouritism and nepotism in an organization: Causes and effects. Procedia
economics and finance, 23, Elsevier,NY, United States, pp.630-634.
Salerno, J.M. and Peter-Hagene, L.C., 2013. The interactive effect of anger and disgust on
moral outrage and judgments. Psychological Science, 24(10), pp.2069-2078.
Samovar, L.A., Porter, R.E., McDaniel, E.R. and Roy, C.S., 2014. Intercultural
communication: A reader. Cengage Learning, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 10(8),
p.45-59.
Yildirim, O., 2014. The Impact of organizational communication on organizational
citizenship behavior: research findings. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, Elsevier,NY, United States,150, pp.1095-1100.