Conflict Analysis Report: Analyzing a Personal Workplace Conflict

This report provides a conflict analysis of a workplace incident between the author and a coworker, Tom. The conflict arose from differing opinions during a business meeting about solutions to address data breaches within the company. The author details the events leading to the conflict, highlighting the passion each individual had for their proposed solutions, which ultimately led to an inability to reach a mutual agreement. The report analyzes the triggers and escalation of the conflict, the involvement of other team members, and the application of conflict resolution strategies. The author reflects on what could have been done differently, emphasizing the importance of avoiding competitive behavior and using respectful communication. The report concludes with a self-assessment of the conflict's intensity, frequency, and degree of resolution, offering valuable insights into conflict management and resolution within a professional setting.

Running Head: CONFLICT ANALYSIS 1
Conflict Analysis
Name
Institution
Date

CONFLICT ANALYSIS 2
Conflict Analysis
Throughout an average day, there are very many different areas of conflict that one tends
to encounter (Neu & Kriesberg, 2019). This is because any individual is surrounded by friends,
colleagues and family members who tend to have varied opinions about issues surrounding one
another hence the probability of having conflicts. Throughout my life, I have had conflicts with
my friends, family members, colleagues and even at times personal conflicts. Identifying
conflicts and dealing with the conflict in an effect manner is very crucial as it helps to ensure that
relationships are not damaged. There is a very specific situation however that I had a conflict that
has always remained very significant since the person involved and I were able to manage the
conflict in an effective manner resolving our issues. This paper is a conflict analysis paper based
on a personal experience.
Part I
The person who was involved in the conflict was a co-worker, Tom. Being a colleague
that I worked with on a day to day basis, my relationship with Tom was that of a trusted
colleague and a close partner at work. We supported and helped one another in our work duties.
The conflict occurred at work as a result of personal opinion overlapping.
Part II
Based on the learning material covered in class, it is evident that conflict often tends to
occur as a result of personal opinions and issues influencing working environments or casual
relationships. The conflict occurred during a typical business meeting whereby my partner and I
saw varied solutions to a problem. At that point, we both justified our ways and opinions as the
only way the company would take to solve the problem at hand. As a result, the issue of conflict

CONFLICT ANALYSIS 3
was that we both had different opinions on how we felt the issue affecting the company should
have been dealt with.
What actually triggered the conflict was our passion to prove that our solutions we the
best possible ways to solve the problem within the company hence ended up conflicting. The
conflict resulted from not being able to reach a mutual and reasonable agreement on how to
harness our ideas and find a way to use both solutions in dealing with the issue within the
organization. According to Hirsch (2018), most organizational goals tend to occur as a result of
incompatible activities, ideas, or goals, the conflict between my colleague and I was triggered by
the same reason, different ideas.
The conflict did not start of as a typical type of interpersonal conflict since neither of us
knew we would end up having a conflict over the issues. It started off during the meeting when
the chair asked us to give risk management suggestions that we felt that would be effective in
dealing with the issue of data breaches that the company was facing then. The risk management
team comprises of a five employees. Among the five, my partner, Tom, and I gave solutions that
we thought would help deal with the problem effectively. The solutions we gave were not the
issue, how we passionately engaged in supporting and proving that our solutions were the best
ways to deal with the best applicable options brought about the conflict. We spent quite a long
time proving one another wrong wasting a lot of time arguing on whose solution was viable and
better rather than finding a way to harness the two ideas and work with both. Identifying the
cause of conflict is very crucial and so is applying effective conflict resolution strategies. This is
because it helps get relationships between the conflicting parties back to normal or even in a
better position. Consequently we applied conflict resolution approaches to resolve the conflict.
Part III

CONFLICT ANALYSIS 4
Other team risk management team members who were also present in the meeting had
stake in the way the conflict between Tom and I was resolved. The meeting chair for instance
was very involved in helping us resolve the conflict as he explained the importance of resolving
conflict to our relationship and to the company as well. The other members were also involved as
they encourages is to resolve the conflict amicably by using Chritlike communication.
Based on the various concepts and insights gained from class readings, there are a
number of things that I would do differently in this conflict if I had to do it all over again. For
instance, if I had to do it all over again, I would totally avoid the way the conflict escalated. This
is because from the class readings, it is evident that engaging in conflict in an attempt to prove
one’s ways is wrong. As this was the main cause of the conflict, I would totally do it differently
if I had to. Besides, based on class readings, conflicts affect and cause personal and relational
changes between conflicting individuals. This is one of the effects I experienced with my partner
a short while after the conflict mainly because before resolving the conflict we exchanged
competitive words that hurt one another. As a result, this is another aspect about the conflict that
I would totally do differently had I to do the conflict all over again.
On the contrary however, based on the readings, there are a number of things that my
partner and I did very well in the conflict that we would do all over again in the future.
According to the readings, unresolved conflicts are like leftovers in the fridge that get worse with
time. During the conflict, it reached a point that we realized the conflict was wasting most of our
meeting time and realized that it would affect our relationship hence decided to resolve the
conflict amicably. Another thing that we would do again in the future is using Chritlike
communication in conflicts. Based on the reading, using Chritlike communication in conflicts is

CONFLICT ANALYSIS 5
important as it helps individuals use words of respect and love for one another hence avoiding
further damage.
Part IV
(Highlight or underline the number that reflects the best answer.)
How often has this issue come up in the past?
Rarely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very Often
Intensity of disagreement:
Low 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 High
Degree of resolution:
Resolved 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Unresolved

CONFLICT ANALYSIS 6
References
Hirsch, S. F. (2018). Experiential learning in conflict analysis and resolution education: an
overview.
Neu, J., & Kriesberg, L. (2019). Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Development of the Field.
In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies.