Organizational Conflict Management

Can organizational conflict be managed?

Because conflict can occur anywhere two or more parties disagree, all organizations experience conflict to some degree. Conflict isn’t inherently bad, but it can escalate quickly when it is not managed.

Organizational conflict management is described as the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in organizations (Gosline et al., 2001). How leaders and employees handle conflict is dependent on the kinds of systems organizations put into place. Setting employee expectations, implementing conflict-related policies and procedures, providing conflict resolution training, and other factors influence how and whether conflicts can be resolved in a satisfactory way.

While addressing conflict in the workplace isn’t always easy, it can be an opportunity for learning, growth and innovation and is essential for long-term organizational health.

OCDR guides

• Conflict continuum and conflict resolution principles
• Developing a problem solving mindset
• Questions for resolving conflict
• Group agreements for collaborative processes
• Creating a healthy team culture
• Assessment process overview
• Collaborative problem-solving glossary
• Conflict resolution FAQ

Recommended resources

• What is Dispute System Design?: This Harvard Program on Negotiation blog post provides a brief overview of factors needed in a conflict management design.
• Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes: This textbook describes how third parties intervened effectively to interrupt gang violence, resolve disputes in corporations, and put an end to Apartheid policies in South Africa.
• Organizational Conflict Management - What’s a System?: In this article, John Ford describes features and benefits of designing conflict management systems.
• Questions to Consider for Developing Conflict Resolution Systems: Ken Cloke provides questions to consider when an organization is beginning to designing its conflict resolution/management system.
• The HR Guide to Conflict Resolution: Building a Harmonious Workplace: This 2024 article by Higginbotham provides a clear and succinct overview of workplace conflict and key considerations in addressing it.
• The HR Mediation Academy: A Workplace Mediation Training: This affordable training provides six hours of instruction and two hours of demonstration for HR professionals who want to learn mediation skills.
• Ten Principles for Collaborative Problem-Solving: This is a user-friendly description of the key steps needed to resolve conflicts collaboratively.
• The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement: A complete and detailed guide to designing collaborative processes.
• A Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making: Provides useful facilitation tools and advice for collaborative and consensus building efforts in the workplace (and elsewhere!)
• JAMS Workplace Performance Trainings: These live, customizable trainings from JAMS, including trainings on conflict, can improve workplace skills and culture.
• Being Coachable in a Passive-Aggressive Culture: This article describes how leaders can seek honest feedback, even in indirect workplace cultures.