Conflict as a Trool

Abstract

Teams have become the preferred method of performing work in organizations and departments in the 21st century. Teamwork fosters creativity and innovation and allows organizations to react quickly to changing market and technological environment. A team however must have an optimum level of autonomy and independence of action to function effectively. The level of task independence in a team can hurt or aid the performance of the team and the department. Another factor that affects team performance is conflict. Conflict can be task or relationship related. Adopting the appropriate conflict resolution strategy can help the organization learn from conflict and achieve synergy in a team. If conflicts are not resolved appropriately they can have negative effect on the performance of the team, the department, and hence the organization.

Conflict as a Team Tool

The increasing complexity, uncertainty, and dynamism of the business environment in which organization must compete demands quick responses to technological and market changes in order for organizations to remain relevant and competitive (Somech, Desivilya, & Lidogoster, 2009). Fast response to the constantly changing internal and external environment requires an open, flexible, innovative, and creative organization that encourages cooperation and collaboration between employees in accomplishing work processes in the organization (Huey-Wen & Ying-Jung, 2007). The need for quick and effective response to market forces by organizations spurs the increasing popularity of teams as the preferred means of accomplishing work in organizations and departments.

Work teams are ubiquitous in the workplace in the 21st century and departmental work teams have become the preferred method of accomplishing work quickly and efficiently in forward-looking organizations. A work team consists of a group of individuals who share common interests and are committed to accomplishing a common objectives beneficial to all members of the group (Sikes, Gulbro, & Shonesy, 2010). Teamwork is beneficial to the group and the organization because the diversity of knowledge and experience in a team synergizes to produce superior outcome that surpasses what the individual member can achieve on his or her own. Although teamwork brings a great deal of benefits to the organization, the possibility of conflict and disruption among team members as a result of differences in culture, opinions, perceptions, and other inter-personal factors is high. Conflict decreases team performance and influences the department and organization negatively if not managed in an effective manner.

The objective in this paper is to analyze the acceptable level of task independence between teams and the effect of inter-team conflict on departmental and team performance. The analysis will explore the type of conflicts and causes of conflicts in teams and the methods to manage conflicts effectively when they occur. The relationship between task independence and team conflict will form part of the analysis. Examples will be provided to further elucidate the concept discussed in the paper. The discussion commences with the examination of the concept of task independence in the next section.

Level of Task Independence

The structure of an organization is critical to the ability of the organization to achieve its objectives. Organizational effectiveness is a measure of the ability of the organization to meet its set goals and objectives (Daft, 2008). The objective of creating a team is to accomplish important task critical to the advancement of the organization in an autonomous and independent manner. Team autonomy refers to the degree of freedom and discretion a team has in designing, planning, and performing its task without external interference (Langfred, 2007; Mierlo, Rutte, Vermunt, Kompier, & Doorewaard, 2007). Autonomy and independent of action is critical to the ability of teams to function effectively. The level of task independence in a team defines the level of interaction between team members required for individual in the team to complete his or her assigned task (Langfred, 2007).

In the process of carrying out its assigned task, team members must coordinate, collaborate, and interact with each other. According to Nemiro, Beyerlein, Bradley, and Beyerlein (2008), trust, deep relationship, and shared understanding are essential ingredients in building a high-performing team. Trust among team members develops through interaction. When team members' ability to carry out assigned task depends on significantly on the other members of the team, task independence is low. Task independence is high when team members can accomplish their assigned tasks with little or no interaction with other members of the team. Although interaction between team members is desirable for creating trust, it can also brew conflict.

Thus a departmental team must find an optimum balance between task independence and team effectiveness. An acceptable level of task independence allows the team members to engage in a sufficient level of interaction in the process of completing individual tasks without jeopardizing individual freedom and discretion. Achieving this balance will require careful task design taking into consideration team diversity, team culture, and individual psychological well-being in terms of task autonomy, task variety, and performance level required. Task independence within the team is, of course a reflection of the autonomy level granted the team by the department.

A departmental culture must support team environment through flexible and adaptable. Autonomous teams enjoy a high-level of trust from the management of the department and this acts as a motivating factor for the team members. A supportive departmental culture will allow the team to form, storm, norm, and perform independently. Self-managed teams are teams that enjoy high-level of autonomy and freedom of action which are critical design factors of high-performing teams (Langfred, 2007). Although the department cannot accurately set a level of task independence of teams, careful planning of team assignment and creating supportive environment for teams can help define team structure and processes to ensure effectiveness. Conflict is a factor that can affect team performance and will be the topic of discussion in the next section.

Impact