By Barbara Bowes

I don't imagine many readers sit down and think much about the parallels between the workplace and family. But in fact, workplace dynamics are very much like those found in families.

We see healthy relationships, where each member can speak up freely, seek and give attention and expect to be treated with respect. That's not to say there are never disagreements. Certainly members of healthy families might get angry and act out, but the issues are usually resolved effectively.

On the other hand, dysfunctional families often experience issues of control, emotional chaos and a range of abusive behaviour. As one can expect, the long-term effects of this kind of turmoil have great social costs and create a substantial list of survivor behaviours.

As with families, conflict in organizations is inevitable and must be dealt with; you can't just wish it away. If conflict is allowed to fester, your organization faces the risk of substantial personal, social and economic costs. So, what are the organizational conditions that create potential conflict?

Dr. Art Bell, a professor of workplace conflict at the University of San Francisco, has created a "Hall of Flame" list of six organizational conditions that can lead to conflict. No matter what level in the organization, the following factors can act as springboards for conflict.

Conflicting needs

Organizations are hierarchical structures with assigned power distribution. Thus some departments and individuals are deemed more important and struggles can quickly arise over resources, time, office space and budgets. Each person has their own agenda and turf wars might break out.

Conflicting personality styles

Each worker has a unique personal style of communication and behaviour that guides work interactions. For instance, quiet unassuming folks might resent those who come out with both barrels blazing. Others are miffed with procrastinators while still others don't work well with details. All in all, personality can cause a lot of conflict on teams and projects.

Conflicting perceptions

Each of us perceives our world and interprets communication and behaviour according to our own values and beliefs. What is welcomed by one person is seen as a threat to another. These differing perceptions and values can lead to significant misunderstanding.

Conflicting goals

Conflict is often created by incompatible goals that are set by different bosses. This is often the case when employees report to more than one person. Or, there may be conflict between the goals of an individual and the work team itself. Sometimes when a company changes strategic direction, the corporate goals no longer match individual employee goals.

Conflicting pressures

As can be expected, each sub-department of a company typically has its own goals, objectives and time frames. And within this grouping, each team may have conflicting time frames. Conflict is easily created when the work of one group is dependent on another.

Conflicting roles

Organizations are moving to more team-based workplaces and this causes the roles and responsibilities of individuals to change as well. Those individuals who prefer to be "sole" contributors will face conflict in trying to get their needs met while others might simply be confused about what they must do in order to contribute.

But, what does organizational conflict look like? How will you know it when you see it?

Peter Bishop, an Ottawa-based mediation consultant, categorizes conflict into three progressive levels: suppressed, open and dispute. He goes further to indicate that each level of conflict has its own price tag.

Suppressed conflict

Suppressed conflict occurs when an individual is unhappy but does not complain. Conflict is thus avoided by suppressing anger, but in actual fact, it simply simmers away silently ready to explode at any time. This creates tension and resistant behaviour.

This style of conflict can be recognized by observing an individual over time. Look for signs of anxiety, stress, loss of motivation, dissatisfaction at work or psychological illness. Take note also of problems at home between children and/or a spouse.

From a cost perspective, suppressed conflict generally impacts mostly on the individual, but you will begin to see a loss of productivity and perhaps attendance in the early stages. As the internal conflict progresses, the negative impact of productivity on an organization can reach up to 160 per cent of an employee's annual salary.

Open conflict

In this situation, there is open disagreement, potshots, passive resistance, criticism or open fighting between employees. But, it doesn't end there. Other colleagues and team workers are affected and overall morale and motivation suffers.

As a result, an open conflict creates a much broader impact on the social and economic costs to the company because more employees are involved. As well, in most cases, management will have also stepped in with disciplinary processes, thus adding even more costs.

Dispute

A dispute is a complaint that is made either formally or informally. It will require time, effort and expense to resolve. At this point, productivity and absenteeism is probably impacting a broader base of employees, thus increasing costs. As well, increased management costs for legal representation or the expense of an outside investigator or mediator are more than likely involved.

While we might joke about conflict at work as the "kids in the sandbox" syndrome, work is not just a day care for adults. It's a place where work must be done regardless of employee likes and dislikes, personalities or personal motivations. But if organizational conflict is allowed to fester, your company will face significant economic risks.

The following five steps will help to create a healthy workplace family:

1. Establish corporate goals and objectives; communicate it to all staff and assist them to understand how their goals interrelate.
2. Develop and implement a conflict management process; train all managers and employees.
3. Ensure an organizational culture that sincerely welcomes open communication.
4. Empower employees to deal with conflicts at their level; be alert to brewing conflicts and deal with them immediately.
5. Don't be afraid to call for external professional assistance.