Conflict Management Through Technology
Jenna Tenkley, Kelsey Cornish, Jasper Kim, Mackenzie Dunham, Zoe Barnes
How do you manage conflict within an organization through different forms of remote communication? Most people in the workforce are now working from different locations because of COVID and therefore a group must be managed virtually. The issue of conflict management has never been more relevant in any business than it is right now and being able to work through conflict is a huge key in running a successful business. Because online could be the new normal it’s more important now than ever to learn how to deal with conflict within the business remotely.
Sources:
Kniffin, K. M., Narayanan, J., Anseel, F., Antonakis, J., Ashford, S. P., Bakker, A. B., … & Vugt, M. V. (2021). COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future research and action. American Psychologist, 76(1), 63.
This source gives insight on different aspects of remote communications. It touches base on management, virtual leadership, and virtual teamwork. In this project we focus on the management aspect but having this source also discuss the employment and teamwork aspect is important. This will give us more insight on how employees have been affected with virtual communication which will allow us to come to a conclusion on how managers can deal with remote conflict. We can conclude how the employees feel and what the managers can do to further improve the team as a whole.
Ferrazzi, K. (2014, August 7). How to Manage Conflict in Virtual Teams. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2012/11/how-to-manage-conflict-in-virt#.
With an advancing world of technology we are able to do so much more, however that can create even more conflict. This article gives us an overview on the costs of conflict within a business, what the different types of conflict are, and then suggests ways to reduce conflict. One of the main conclusions this article draws is that every workplace, whether virtual or in person, is going to face conflict, it’s inevitable, however good communication is a way to reduce and work through conflict in the workplace.
Bin, F. “Leo,” Branson, L., & Fang He. (2015). Face-To-Face Vs Computer-Mediated Communication Team Decision Performance in Stocktrak Investment Simulations. International Journal of Business, Accounting, & Finance, 9(1), 114–128.
This source researches the comparison between face to face communication versus online communication and how that impacts financial market transaction performance. The research includes member satisfaction, trust, control and other values to determine how well either team performs. The results show that computer mediated communication have better returns and company performance than their face to face teams counterparts but had significantly lower levels of trust and team satisfaction/happiness. From this we can draw that there are trade-offs between face to face and computer mediated communication.
Wakefield, R. L., Leidner, D. E., & Garrison, G. (2008). Research note—a model of conflict, leadership, and performance in virtual teams. Information systems research, 19(4), 434-455.
Wakefield and Garrison look at virtual team leadership in the face of team conflict in this article. Their research focused on communication among virtual team members and how that related to task conflict, relational conflict and process conflict. They also looked at how different leadership roles affected conflict. The data was collected from a major US telecommunications corporation and virtual team members located in Korea. This will help us look at how a change in leadership style might affect how well a team will work together in a virtual setting.
Garro-Abarca, V., Palos-Sanchez, P., & Aguayo-Camacho, M. (2021). Virtual Teams in Times of Pandemic: Factors That Influence Performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 232.
This source is focused on a study conducted during the COVID-19 crisis with 317 software development teams that all had to work virtually. The results of the study focused communication in relation to the tasks and trust in relation to leadership, empowerment and cohesion. The conclusions that are drawn from this research provide information on virtual work strategies for future use. This will help our project stay current with how virtual teams are affected during COVID-19.
Curlee, W. & Gordon, R. L. (2004). Leading through conflict in a virtual team. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2004—North America, Anaheim, CA. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
This source gives insight on methods to use within a virtual team to resolve conflict. The article discusses that conflict tends to arise during the forming phase of a project and goes in depth on ways for management to handle it. This can be shown by communicating, stating the expectations for the project and defining the ramifications. This source is an important add to this project because it gives insight on how managers can be better leaders for their team and how they can reduce the chance of conflict within the company during the certain project phases.