Communication and Conflict
Communication and Conflict: Workgroup Conflict at Fortress Gaming Fortress Gaming (a new guiding case) is in the final stages of releasing the fourth edition of its most popular game, Red Star. Before the work on the new edition began, Fortress changed its work group model. Previously, groups had been defined by skill area: the creatives (responsible for storyline and characters) formed one, and the technical crew (responsible for graphics and coding) functioned separately. The teams shared no physical or virtual spaces, and only came together to accomplish specific tasks. Within these teams, members worked on Red Star, but also worked on other Fortress projects. Twelve months ago, the teams were re-organized by game product. The new Red Star team includes all employees working on the game, both creatives and techs. They share physical space (in the Calgary office) and virtual space (on the company-wide task management software). They meet regularly in mixed sessions, both in person and virtually, with the intention of developing closer links and more efficient processes. The past six months have been challenging, however, with holdups in production and technical problems found during testing. Tensions have been high within the team. Conflicts have broken out between creative team members technical team members, with each blaming the other for the delays. Conflict is now impeding communication and causing open face-to-face and online hostilities. The conflict threatens to slow an already delayed release.
Topic: Conflict Styles and Workgroups: Jennifer Lee, Vice President of Human Relations, has asked you for input on managing workgroup communication and conflict. Look at the research and writing on conflict styles to understand this workgroup conflict at Fortress. In brief, the conflict styles research suggests that people vary in conflict style, and that understanding these differences can help in managing conflict. Begin your research by reading “What goes around comes around: The impact of personal conflict style on work conflict and stress” by Friedman, Tidd, Currall, and Tsai (2000), published in the International Journal of Conflict Management. Supplement this reading with other understandings of conflict styles gained through your research.[unique_solution]
Outline
Title page ➢
Transmittal letter ➢
Executive summary ➢
Table of contents ➢
Report (introduction, body sections, and a conclusion or recommendations)
Introduction ➢
Section 1 (body paragraphs) Conflict Styles and Resolution ➢
Section 1 will discuss the four types of conflict and the resolutions to them.
Types of conflict:
Task
Process
Relationship
So to resolve conflicts its beneficial to know about how people manage conflicts?
- Obligating
- Dominating
- Withdrawal
- Integrating
Section 2 (body paragraphs) Managing Conflict ➢
Section 2 will discuss the various types of conflict management (MUST BASED OFF OF RESEARCH ARTICLES. Please find a few more points. These will be the subheadings and points of discussion)
- Educating employees ?
- Self-reflection ? (see article on meditation)
- Implement feedback meetings?
- Reevaluate the team ?
Recommendations
Based on the overall analysis,
APA reference list. ➢ Everyone is in charge of their own citations and ensuring they’re correct.
Appendix (optional), to be used if you wish to include large images, tables, or extended text samples.
See below…
POST ARTICLE LINKS HERE (add your name beside it)
Trade management
The article above is about how using meditation can assist in resolving workplace conflict. “Stress triggered by workplace-based interpersonal conflict can result in damaged relationships, loss of productivity, diminished job satisfaction and increasingly, workers’ compensation claims for psychological injury. This paper examined the literature on the role and effectiveness of mediation, as the most common method of Alternative Dispute Resolution, in resolving workplace relationship conflict.” This article could be evidence towards self-reflection?? maybe…)