Conflict Management: BUS 1070 Human Relations Reflection Essay

This essay, written for the BUS 1070 Introduction to Human Relations course, explores the student's experience with a past conflict situation. The student, acting as a team leader, faced disagreements within the team regarding the formulation of a code of conduct. The essay details the conflict, the student's emotional responses, and the outcome. It then applies the Awareness Wheel framework from the course textbook to analyze the situation, identifying areas for improved conflict management. The student reflects on how controlling emotions and gathering more information could have led to a more positive resolution. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of the Awareness Wheel in understanding and addressing business scenarios effectively, and cites the course textbook using APA style.

INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RELATIONS 1
Introduction
I believe, management of conflicts is an essential element of the complex business functions
of today. As the functions are chiefly dependent on the managers and the employees of an
organization, it is essential that the team managers resolve their conflicts through the aid of
the communication techniques (Noe et. al, 2017). The course enabled me to learn the
significance of the various aspects of communication for the effective management of the
conflicts.
Real life situation and Awareness Wheel
One of the conflicts that I had faced while working as a part of the team is described as
follows. As a team leader of my team, I was given a task of formulating a code of conduct for
the team to enable them to guide the achievement of the common goal. Further, the code of
conduct was necessitated to streamline the procedures of the team members. Due to lack of
knowledge and experience, I was not able to convince the team members to reach a common
goal and there were a lot of disagreements when I had asked to incorporate their suggestions
in the said code of conduct. Further, everyone had a different point of views, which I was not
able to accommodate. To address the same, I had devised my own code of conduct and had
authoritatively asked the teammates to follow this to avoid the conflicts among subordinates.
However, the authoritative approach to bring everyone to a common goal had failed, and the
majority of the team members had denied following the said code of conduct.
The knowledge of the awareness wheel could have enabled me to handle the conflict in a
better manner. I had sensed the disagreement among the subordinates regarding the policy as
a negative factor, in fact, which was natural as every team member has a different set of
values, experiences and aspirations. The disagreement on the policy formulation exercise had
brought me instant disappointment. As a leader, I could have taken the scenario in a less
negative manner. I wanted to devise a common policy to which everyone agrees, and wanted
everyone to agree onto it completely. As a team leader, I could have controlled my feelings
and should have understood that minor disagreements are natural unless the same do not
hamper the overall productivity of each of the team members and interpersonal relationships.
Lastly, I had devised a policy by myself and had tried everyone to follow the same
authoritatively.
The major technique that could have helped me to deal with the situation in a better manner
was the “controlling of emotions.” The study of the techniques has enabled me to learn that

INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RELATIONS 2
controlling emotions is a prime necessity in the corporate world among teams. This is
because the same obstructs the rational and logical thinking capacity. The second technique
that I could have used is that of “getting more information.” I could have asked the
subordinates to fill a form listing their aspirations from the policy document. The interests
that were repeatedly expressed could have been considered in the policy documents, to make
the subordinates feel the part of the team.
Conclusion
Hence, I can conclude that awareness wheel provides insight towards the enhanced
understanding of the situations, thereby aiding to address the business scenarios in an
efficient manner.

INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RELATIONS 3
References
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P. M. (2017) Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.