Conflicts Between Healthcare Staff

Conflicts Between Healthcare Staff

The type of conflict

The staff of the Safety and Quality department is experiencing a workplace interpersonal conflict. A workplace interpersonal conflict is an emotional experience where one feels that their needs, values or sense of identity is threatened or undermined by the behavior of someone else. In the case of the safety and quality department, the conflict is due to excessive authority and power of the department manager which creates an uncomfortable working environment for the staff.  The workplace interpersonal conflict has been present for a long time because even before the expansion of the hospital, the old team has worked under the same department manager for nine years in perfect harmony but with conflict occurring amongst them.

Conflict resolution approach used by the junior staff

Since the senior team has been working under the same conditions, the junior staff have adapted the avoidance strategy as a conflict resolution approach. The avoidance strategy involves ignoring the problem in the hope that the conflict will resolve itself without a confrontation. The junior staff has adopted the plan because they hold a position of low power and furthermore, the senior team has worked under the same department manager with perfect harmony. The primary reason as to why the junior staff has used the avoidance strategy is the fear of losing their job or making matters worse.

Better conflict resolution strategies

The avoidance strategy adopted by the quality and safety management staff is not recommendable since it leads to unsatisfied and demotivated employees. The team should take up the collaboration conflict resolution technique. Collaboration technique requires an open discussion of all the issues and concerns, consideration of alternative solutions, honesty and commitment from both parties-the staff and the department manager. In line with, Debra et al. (2015),  the collaboration technique is a primarily intellectual exercise where both parties should spontaneously adopt the psychological point of view of each other. In this case, the quality and safety department manager should put himself in the position of the staff assuming all present working conditions including the power and authority of the manager.

On the other hand, the staff should put themselves in the position of the department manager, assuming all the present working conditions as well. In such a scenario, the department manager gains insight into how his excess power and authority affects the staff members and the workplace interpersonal conflict experienced as a result. In the same manner, the staff understands the position of the department manager and the pressure that comes from the higher authorities of the hospitals. As such, both parties understand the situation of each other and work out a way to resolve the conflict.

Since the department manager holds high authority and power, the staff members may resolve to accommodation as a conflict resolution technique. The technique is most suitable where the other party is of outmatched strength. The staff members would settle to this strategy because the compromising approach would not be useful since they do not hold equal power or authority to the department manager. According to Jose et al. (2015), high power in a workplace can intimidate junior staff because when employees know that the manager has more potential, they at times have to forego personal interests. However, accommodation as a conflict resolution technique does not solve the underlying problem; instead, it only preserves a harmonious relationship and increases workplace interpersonal technique. As such, the members of the quality and safety department should use the collaboration technique to resolve the workplace interpersonal conflict.

References

Gilin Oore, D., Leiter, M. P., & LeBlanc, D. E. (2015). Individual and organizational factors promoting successful responses to workplace conflict. Canadian Psychology/psychologie canadienne, 56(3), 301.

Leon-Perez, J. M., Medina, F. J., Arenas, A., & Munduate, L. (2015). The relationship between interpersonal conflict and workplace bullying. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 30(3), 250-263.