Personal and Team Effectiveness in Health Care

Question: Explain the effect of conflict in workplace or between colleagues at work. Answer: Scenario/Background setting The conflict is between Kawal and Kuldeep. Both came for an interview in a hospital and were selected for the nursing job by Jenish. Jenish decided to choose both of them. Both joined the ABS hospital together and became the close friend. After two months in the hospital, a conflict occurred in the emergency department of a hospital. Atinder another nurse was busy in mobile; Jenish noticed that Atin did not attend to the patient in need of emergency help. So she called her to ask if she is interested in working here. She explained that she thought Kawal was going to attend the patient, so she did not go. Jenish clarified that since both had the same responsibility, both of them need to be present in the emergency department. Atinder apologized for her future carelessness. Next day when Pratik came, Atinder sarcastically remarked that Kawal was the future manager nurse. Pratik understood that there was some problem with two nurses. Pratik complained about the conflict between the two nurses to the doctor. Jenish called both of them and advised them to be professional and not create a big issue. Again Atinder explained the whole thing explaining that she had some problem, so she was busy on the mobile. She told that Kawal should have called her, but she went alone. So she felt that she was scolded by Jenish unnecessarily, and she felt terrible about it. Effects of the Conflict The above scenario about the conflict between two nurses is an example of how it can affect the performance of individual, team and organization. In the above example, we see that the conflict between two nurses was unnecessary. Both had a conflict for the very small reason. Kawal could have called her while she was on call while Atinder should not have indulged herself in mobile conversation while on duty. She should have been more attentive while dealing with patients in the emergency department. Therefore, it is seen that in professional practice, conflict in workforce creates a lot of problems (Schmidt et al., 2014). Discord between individuals reduces team unity and ability to work as a team. This has an effect on team performance. In the case of above example, we can see that the carelessness of the nurse will have an impact on patient's health. It will be a cause of great inconvenience to them. Conflicts lead to distraction from individuals' task. It can result in the delay in their task and affect their performance. Improper communication between colleagues could lead to inattentive behavior in work. It creates tension and frustration among team members. The team member satisfaction level decreases due to workplace conflict and leads to bad judgment. Due to conflict, some individual even withdraw from the team. In this case, the organization suffers. They need to appoint new person immediately for the same task. It takes some time, and the workflow of the team is affected. It will create resource scarcity were other team members will find difficult to achieve work goals and objectives. If the issue is not solved, then a team fails completely in their task (de Wit et al., 2013). Conflict Resolution Process/ Rationale There are various ways to manage conflict in the organization. It requires a negotiated solution to the conflict. The first step in conflict resolution is identifying the reason for the disagreement among team members. Like in the above case, Jenish tried to enquire about the matter from both Kawal and Atinder. During this step, each person's point of view should be considered. The HR or a manager needs to understand what needs are not met on both sides and accordingly ensure mutual understanding. Secondly, it should be made clear to both parties that they work together to achieve common goals. Therefore, they should give more focus on these goals. In the above scenario, Jenish made it clear to both nurses that they both need to be present in the emergency department (Abu-Nimer, 2012). The manager can organize team members to meet the common goal by effective communication, listening and brainstorming. A vital goal is to identify barriers in the process. If the two parties reveal wha t has brought them into conflict, solutions can be taken out. It is necessary to make an agreement between both sides to resolve the dispute. The manager can ask conflicting groups regarding what steps could resolve their issue. After deciding the solution, it should be acknowledged both the conflicting parties. Both sides also have a responsibility in a resolution of the conflict (Moore, 2014). Evaluating consequences From the role played by nurse above, we realized that any conflict in the workplace can be eliminated only if involved parties are willing to resolve the issue (Barsky, 2014). Atinder had a problem with Kawal. Jenish advised her to be professional in attitude. The matter was small, instead of developing grudges against Kawal, she should have talked about this with Atinder. She should also realize that it was her fault too as she was careless in her professional responsibility and she cannot blame others for that. Therefore, it can be concluded that conflict in workplace unavoidable, but we can take steps to recognized conflict and resolve them. Miscommunication and emotions drive often lead to conflict. A manager looking into this issue should have leadership skill to define acceptable behavior at the workplace and penalizing those going against it (Ralph et al., 2013). Conclusion From the completed study on the issue of conflict in workplace, it can be concluded that conflict in inherent in work environment. No one can eliminate it completely, but one should take care not to make the matter too big. If two parties understand the effect the conflict will have on their organization, then can always avoid it or solve the problem by mutual resolving of the matter. Reference Abu-Nimer, M. (2012).Dialogue, conflict resolution, and change: Arab-Jewish encounters in Israel. SUNY Press. Barsky, A. (2014).Conflict resolution for the helping professions. Oxford University Press. de Wit, F. R., Jehn, K. A., Scheepers, D. (2013). Task conflict, information processing, and decision-making: The damaging effect of relationship conflict.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,122(2), 177-189. Moore, C. W. (2014).The mediation process: Practical strategies for resolving conflict. John Wiley Sons. Ralph, N., Welch, A. J., Norris, P., Irwin, R. (2013). Reflections on power, conflict and resolution for the perioperative environment. Schmidt, S., Roesler, U., Kusserow, T., Rau, R. (2014). Uncertainty in the workplace: Examining role ambiguity and role conflict, and their link to depressiona meta-analysis.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,23(1), 91-106.