Essay Sample Focusing on Task Conflict within a Team

Task conflict may often be regarded as positive or negative. However, this usually depends on the nature of the task assigned to a specific team. Decision-making teams, as well as project teams, may function under high unpredictability and complexity. In such circumstances, task conflict may be considered as positive. On the other hand, when teams engage in simple or routine tasks, task conflict might be considered as dysfunctional. In comparison to relationship conflict, task conflict mostly associates itself with effective decisions rather than poor decisions. Also, this conflict often relates itself to two effects which are inter-related and beneficial. These include the decision quality of the group and effective acceptance of the decisions that are made within a particular group.

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Relationship Conflict

This type of conflict often develops as a result of disagreement among individuals or groups within a particular workplace. In comparison to other conflicts, the main difference is that it mostly deals with personal issues and not in any way related to work. Hence, it is regarded as one of the most difficult conflicts to diffuse and fix within a workplace (Folger, Poole, and Stutman, 2017). Regarding its effectiveness, relationship conflict limits the decision-making quality of group members due to various factors. Some of the factors include limiting the ability to process certain information because of much time, and energy is wasted when groups focus on each other, rather than the matters at hand. Furthermore, it restrains the cognitive abilities of group members since the level of stress increases as well as anxiety. Also, it enhances antagonistic or threatening attributions for other members of the group thus affecting their behaviours.

For relationship conflict to be managed properly, team self-assembly, social networks as well as workgroups must be enhanced accordingly. In turn, this will ensure that the basic unit which exists within a particular accomplishment can be achieved (Busch, 2016). Moreover, the focus needs to be on the team rather than the individuals to enable the shift of consequences. Also, increasing collaborative solutions can accommodate a room for improvement such as substituting technological advancements for employees who are involved in low-skill labour. In turn, this process will encourage individuals to display high concerns about the team's performance rather than concentrating on one person.

Process Conflict

In most cases, process conflict tends to interfere with task obligations that are assigned to different team members. In turn, the productive outcomes of the team may be detracted thus the absorption team members' efforts often accompanied by disagreements over resources and responsibilities (Fitzgerald, Mohammed, and Kremer, 2017). In most situations, process conflict can be considered to be a bit of a mixed bag. For instance, it can serve a beneficial purpose such as seeking clarification for each member of a particular team. Each may be assigned unique roles and values that the organisation offers. On the other hand, if the roles and values are not appreciated by other members, it may lead to a power struggle which is usually centred towards judging individual teammates.

Status Conflict

Communication tends to vary across different cultures. The extent to which people communicate depends on the type of individuals who are involved within a specific social circle. For instance, culture shock can be experienced as a result of failing to identify various cultural issues as well as taking considerable action (Thompson, 2014). This can often lead to experiencing problems such as isolation, anxiety, and a decline in performance among others. Also, culture shock can come as a result of misjudgment among cultural values, beliefs, behaviours as well as specific norms. Most individuals tend to ineffectively use their interpretation, judgment, and behaviour according to their culture. This may exist within a collectivist or individualist societies.

Individuals from collectivist societies may interpret independence according to their organisational structure. Furthermore, they tend to place greater value towards the particular behaviours as well as their goals. This interpretation may occur as a result of disrespect towards the social group. On the other hand, individualist societies tend to consider a more mature approach towards that particular behaviour. Culture shock is commonly experienced by individuals due to the inefficient knowledge regarding the system of rewards and punishment (Ward, 2018). For instance, verbal and non-verbal behaviours may be associated with this kind of perception.

Also, culture shock is usually regarded as a transitional experience. This type of shock is often experienced regarding transitioning from low self-esteem and cultural awareness to that of increased self-awareness from a cultural perspective. Socio-psychological etiology is mostly concerned with the feeling of well-being towards the host culture. This type of etiology tends to cause culture shock due to an individual's adjustment or adaptation towards a particular culture both socially as well as psychological welfare. On the other hand, phenomenological etiology is connected with various aspects such as politeness as a main component of self-identity. Social rules tend to vary from different cultures thus an individual may experience limited validation and conveyance.

Conflict and Team Learning Performance

Collective learning usually serves an important purpose, especially in team-based working. As a result, most organisations tend to value the cooperation that exists among different team members thus enhancing the exchange of valuable information. Team learning is measured regarding the associated outcomes towards a particular outcome (Jiang, Flores, Leelawong, and Manz, 2016). However, these learning processes are different from the outcomes due to a different kind of perception of the level of performance. For instance, interpersonal animosities and tensions can arise between different groups of individuals which in turn would impact a lot of negative emotions. Thus, conflict can occur due to the presence of poor communication or miscommunication.

On the other hand, team performance often shares a common relationship with team learning. The reason for this is because of the adaptation that is perceived towards the changing circumstances of a particular team. Moreover, with the constant confrontations that exist within a team regarding change or uncertainty, teams are usually encouraged to learn various activities. These activities may include understanding the environmental conditions about the targeted customers. Also, this can also lead to effective self-management thus an improvement in the team process.

Language in the Beliefs and Values of Cultures

As a complex phenomenon for human communication, each language differs from the other due to various factors such as cultural and lingual backgrounds. The linguistic standpoint commonly associated with the diversity that exists within different languages provides a clear distinction between pronunciation and vocabulary (Samovar, McDaniel, Porter, and Roy, 2015). Furthermore, this also allows the grammar of each language to have more differences regarding their complexity. This kind of diversity consists of many cultural connotations which are assigned according to different linguistic codes. When considering the style of communication used, individuals often use different variables according to their associated cultures. In turn, this interactive process can generate different meanings depending on how the language is used (Tsui, and Tollefson, 2017).