Managing constructive and destructive development of conflicts. Functions of conflict

Any management and production activity is almost always associated with conflicts. And although in each specific case the reason for the complaint or conflict is completely specific and unique, upon analysis it is discovered that they all have a common basis: the actual state of affairs contradicts the expectations of the people who join the ranks of those in conflict.

Classification and typology of conflicts

Based on their direction, conflicts are divided into vertical, horizontal, and mixed.

IN vertical conflicts involve persons, one of whom is subordinate to the other. IN horizontal- persons who are not subordinate to each other participate. IN mixed conflicts have both vertical and horizontal components.

Conflicts that have a vertical component (i.e., vertical and mixed conflicts) account for an average of 70 to 80% of their total number. Such conflicts are the most undesirable for a leader: by participating in them, he is “tied hand and foot.” For every action and order in this case is considered by all employees (and especially the participants in the conflict) through the prism of the conflict. And even if the leader is completely objective, they will see intrigues towards his opponents in any of his steps. And since subordinates often lack sufficient awareness to correctly evaluate the actions of management, misunderstandings are more than compensated for by speculation, mostly of a negative nature.

Naturally, in such conditions, when every order can lead to a deepening of the conflict, it is extremely difficult to work.

Already from this preliminary examination, some of the manager’s guidelines are clear: to exercise the greatest caution in relation to vertical conflicts (try to extinguish them in the bud).

According to their significance for the organization, conflicts are divided into constructive (creative) and destructive (destructive). The former are beneficial to the cause, the latter are harmful. It is impossible to escape from the former, but it is necessary to escape from the latter.

By nature of the reasons conflicts can be divided into objective And subjective . The first (as the name suggests) are generated by objective reasons, the second by subjective reasons.

By area of ​​permission conflicts can be divided into those that are resolved in business sphere , and those that are allowed in personal-emotional sphere .

Relationships

Constructive conflicts have objective reasons. Destructive conflicts can have both objective and subjective factors as their causes.

Constructive conflicts must be resolved both in the business and personal-emotional spheres. The fact is that a constructive conflict generated by objective reasons, in the process of its resolution (which takes a very long time), causes tense relations between the participants in this conflict. Therefore, complete resolution of the conflict should mean both a reaction to objective reasons and the elimination of emerging personal hostile relationships.

Causes of conflicts

At riding school, a rider who stays on a rearing horse is not praised. For the specialist knows that under a good rider the horse will not rear. It’s the same in leading people. The leader who deserves the greatest praise is the one who prevents conflicts or at least resolves them in the bud.

Therefore, conflict management begins with anticipating them. And in order to foresee, it is necessary to know the reasons that most often lead to conflict situations.

Causes of constructive conflicts

Usually these are shortcomings in the organization of production and management. Let us list those that most often lead to conflicts:

dissatisfaction with pay;

unfavorable working conditions (for example, lack of ventilation, gas pollution, vibration, noise, drafts, uncomfortable temperature in the workplace, etc.);

shortcomings in labor organization;

inconsistency of rights and responsibilities;

irregular work (downtime, forced vacations, storming);

inconvenient work schedule;

omissions in technology (especially those from which the employee’s earnings suffer, and through no fault of his);

lack of resources for tasks (in particular, interruptions in the supply of raw materials, materials, components);

lack of clarity in the distribution of responsibilities, in particular ineffective, too vague or outdated job descriptions (i.e., forgetting the management principle: “It is preferable to manage with instructions rather than orders”);

low level of labor and performance discipline;

conflictogenic (i.e., conducive to the emergence of conflicts) organizational structures. For example, shop managers may receive 15–20 instructions or requirements daily from various services (directorate, production and dispatch, planning and economic departments, chief specialists, labor and wages department, accounting, etc.). It may be physically impossible to fulfill all these requirements, and failure to comply with instructions leads to conflicts;

contradictory relationships or goals of technological and economic services (for example, services responsible for quantitative indicators, for implementing the plan, and services responsible for quality - the technical control department, etc.).

The Importance of Constructive Conflicts

A positive resolution of a constructive conflict is, first of all, the elimination of shortcomings and the reasons that led to it. And since these reasons are objective, reflecting the imperfection of the organization of production and management, then eliminating these reasons means improving production and management.

Therefore, positive resolution of constructive conflicts is beneficial to the cause. That is why they are considered creative.

Consequently, a leader should not avoid these conflicts, but should constantly work to resolve them and eliminate the causes that lead to such conflicts.

An attempt to avoid solving these problems leads to their deepening, to a decline in the authority of the manager, the emergence of alienation between him and his subordinates, to a deterioration of the situation in the team, to conflicts, and personnel losses.

Causes of destructive conflicts

Destructive conflicts are most often generated by subjective reasons, which include incorrect actions:

manager;

subordinates;

both the leader and subordinates.

Most often, destructive conflicts arise when both subordinates and the manager act incorrectly.

Many of us are designed in such a way that we first of all notice other people’s mistakes, not our own. But a manager is supposed to help his subordinates correct their mistakes. Therefore, here we will focus specifically on the wrong actions of leaders: to whom more is given, more is asked.

Wrong actions of managers

Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of them. Three directions can be distinguished:

violation of professional ethics:

violation of labor laws;

unfair assessment by the manager of his subordinates and the results of their work.

TO violations of professional ethics relate:

manifestation of rudeness, arrogance, disrespectful attitude towards subordinates;

failure to keep promises;

intolerance to opinions different from one's own;

clamp criticism;

infringement of the rights of subordinates;

abuse of the position of a superior (for example, imposing non-official assignments on subordinates);

assignment to the performer “over the head” of the immediate supervisor;

withholding information (especially in conditions of staff reduction or reorganization);

criticism that belittles a person's dignity;

deliberately provoking conflict between subordinates - management according to the “divide and conquer” principle.

Let us comment on some of these factors.

Displays of disrespect towards a subordinate very diverse. Here are a few of them:

Don't value your employee's time. For example, forcing him to “catch” himself or wait for a long time;

talk to the visitor without looking up from the papers

do not invite the visitor to sit down.

Intolerance of dissent from subordinates and criticism clip go hand in hand. Stendhal owns words whose importance for relationships between people and for production management can hardly be overestimated: “You can only rely on what resists.”

Each specialist is valuable for his professional opinion. To develop this idea, management has formulated the following principle: “If two specialists agree on everything, then one of them is redundant!”

TO abuse of office This can also include making fun of a subordinate, ridicule. After all, a subordinate may simply be afraid to answer the way he would have answered if the “joker” had not been his boss.

In the event of an upcoming reorganization or staff reduction, management often delays in every possible way the unpleasant moment of making a decision and its announcement, so as not to “injure ahead of time.” However, the lack of information on such critical issues leads to the emergence of rumors, which are usually more unpleasant than hidden decisions. (The pattern here is this: the worse the rumor, the faster it spreads.) As a result, a nervous environment is created in which every minor incident is fraught with conflict.

In a situation of reorganization, reduction of administration staff:

you should not delay making a decision;

inform at general meetings or through a large circulation about the decision made;

if the resolution of certain issues is delayed, then make public what has already been decided; then the vast majority (as is usually the case) will be reassured that they will not suffer.

Violations of labor laws

We are talking about violations of both the spirit and the letter of labor legislation and an attempt to act autocratically, regardless of the laws.

This comes from the legal nihilism of leaders. As a result, in more than half of the cases, the courts reinstate dismissed workers who appealed the dismissal decision. Although, the data suggests that the employee has long been “worthy” of dismissal. However, failure to comply with formalities forces the court to declare the administration’s decision to dismiss illegal.

One can only imagine the situation in which managers find themselves when they are forced to reinstate an unfit employee and also compensate him for his salary. And what a hero this unfortunate worker feels like in the team.

Life shows that jokes with the law are bad, and it is better for a manager to study labor legislation than to get into unpleasant situations.

Unfair assessment of subordinates

The forms of this phenomenon are very diverse. Here are some of the most common ones:

Errors in the use of rewards and punishments

Such mistakes are common when there is no well-thought-out system of rewards and punishments. In many organizations, we prioritize punishment over rewards. And this despite the fact that it has been reliably established that rewards are much more effective than punishments. For the need for encouragement is one of the most important human needs.

Disadvantages in the distribution of work between performers

It is known that there are profitable and unprofitable jobs. When profitable jobs always go to the same workers, and unprofitable ones to others, this also predetermines unequal remuneration, which causes natural discontent.

Violation of the balance “contribution - salary”

If the contribution to the work is less, and the salary is higher than that of other employees, then a conflict situation is inevitable. It often happens that a new employee is given a higher salary than his predecessor. If the newcomer does not show from the first steps that he is head and shoulders above his predecessor in his business, then both he and the manager who “knocked out” him for an increased salary will feel a negative attitude towards himself from the team. The same situation arises when one of the employees, who does not stand out in any way at work, “knocks out” a salary that exceeds the rest.

Inviting an employee “from outside” when there is an applicant “from within” for the position

In general, inviting outside managers has its pros and cons. A plus may be the introduction of new ideas and expansion of the arsenal of methods used. This is like fresh blood in the body of the enterprise, preventing “swamping”.

The downside is the uncertainty of their employees, reducing the chances of advancement. After all, precedents with invitations tell everyone that he can remain in his current position until retirement. The most active will declare injustice to themselves, or think about moving to another organization, or will conflict.

Thus, an invitation from outside must have good reasons and imposes on the invitee the obligation to bring significant innovations to the work.

This means that the manager not only does not want to recognize a good employee, but also tries to lower his authority in the eyes of others. Since both the actions of a subordinate and their assessment by the leader occur in front of the team, the injustice of these assessments is an open secret. Such actions by a leader, first of all, diminish his own authority. And if an authoritative subordinate “accepts the challenge” of the leader, a conflict arises, then there is no doubt on whose side the sympathies of the subordinates will be.

Non-specific criticism of a group of subordinates

Such criticism is unaddressed, since everyone can decide that it does not apply to him. Consequently, the charge will miss the target. At the same time, a contrast between the leader and his subordinates arises, which unites the accused against the accuser. At the same time, they unanimously declare themselves victims.

Quite often, sweeping criticism occurs at the first meeting with the team of a newly appointed manager, especially if he is sent “to strengthen” a poorly performing unit.

“You will no longer work the way you worked until today” - this is a categorical invitation to a conflict that can drag on for years. The speaker made one more mistake, in addition to those already mentioned: he removed the blame from his predecessor and completely shifted it onto the team. This position indicates that in the future they will look for the guilty only among subordinates. Thus, the sense of self-preservation will push the team to unite against the leader.

Unclear wording of tasks

It will ultimately lead to an unfair assessment of the subordinate's work. After all, regardless of his efforts, further misunderstanding is predetermined. And the result is mutual irritation.

It is precisely because of the vagueness in setting tasks that statements from subordinates about managers “who don’t know what they want” and counter-claims from managers about the “stupidity” of subordinates have become widespread.

Lack of information

It makes you nervous and gives rise to rumors, some worse than others. In many cases, managers hide unfavorable information (for example, about upcoming staff reductions) so as not to unnecessarily or prematurely stress people. The effect of concealment is the opposite.

Underestimation of persuasion as a means of controlling a person

Unfortunately, practical methods of persuasion are not taught anywhere in our country. The fourteen most important techniques of persuasion are given, in particular, in the author’s book “How to Manage Others. How to manage yourself (The Art of the Manager)."

Psychological incompatibility

How often do you actually hear the words: “We are not compatible with him.” However, in reality, psychological incompatibility is much less common than people say.

Most often, these words cover up feelings that are embarrassing not only to strangers, but also to oneself. For example, elementary envy gives rise to constant hostility and serves as a source of a huge number of conflicts, including at work.

Cases of truly psychological incompatibility are relatively rare. They can only be determined by specialized compatibility/incompatibility tests.

What factors in a manager’s performance can cause envy? This is the possession of power, higher social status, higher salaries, comfortable working conditions (office, personal telephone, secretary, assistants), greater freedom of action and movement, better information. (At the same time, they forget that all this is more than compensated for by the stressful nature of the work, greater responsibility, longer work week, etc.)

The leader must remember about the factors that cause envy and not emphasize his privileged position, and be more democratic. And boasting, arrogance and other manifestations of a position of superiority should be completely excluded from everyday life.

Actions in conflict situations

When to take action?

This question concerns to a greater extent “horizontal” conflicts in which the manager is not involved.

Research shows that some managers tend to take a wait-and-see approach in conflict. They are afraid of being drawn into a conflict, afraid of its escalation and hope that everything will somehow resolve itself.

There are situations when, in fact, the third one is superfluous. But even in this case, the leader, having learned about the conflict, can help restore normal relations by creating the conditions for reconciliation. For example, he will give those in conflict such assignments (business trips) that they will not see each other for some time. Those arguing will calm down, come to their senses, and the conflict will fade away.

Conflict escalation pattern

Leaving a conflict unattended is like leaving smoldering coals in an empty house: a fire, of course, may not happen, but if it happens...

In general, the analogy between conflict and fire is deeper: both are easier to prevent than to extinguish; in both cases, the time factor can become decisive, because both conflict and fire are terrible in their growth.

These same two signs connect conflict with illness.

The escalation of the conflict occurs according to the following scheme:

Such escalation is explained by the fact that the participant in the conflict seeks support from others and recruits supporters. They especially try to attract the leader to their side.

As the conflict grows (escalates), things get complicated. The original conflict acquires new ones, reflecting the interests of the new participants and the contradictions between them. At the same time, emotions grow like a snowball.

All this convinces us that, having received information about the conflict, the leader must act and take measures without waiting for the conflict to escalate. Moreover, inaction, the position of non-interference, is regarded in the team as indifference, or even cowardice. Both do not contribute to the authority of the leader.

The first stage of conflict resolution: determining its true causes

The essence of this stage is to establish the true (often carefully hidden or unconscious) cause of the conflict. For example, concern for business and adherence to principles often mask selfish interests, hurt pride, grievances (including long-standing ones), and the desire to get rid of the unwanted and take its place.

This disguise is explained by the fact that no one wants to look like a troublemaker - after all, those around them value the calm atmosphere in the team. The substitution of motives may occur at first for “external use”, to explain one’s position to others, but then it becomes more pleasant for the initiator of the conflict to believe in it.

Here the psychological mechanism of self-defense is triggered, as in general in cases of unseemly actions: in addition to the true, ignoble reason, a certain noble one is invented, supposedly moving the person.

Thus, the first task of a leader - to find where the seed of the conflict is hidden - is very difficult.

This approach makes the task somewhat easier: you need to try to analyze all possible reasons, considering separately both the constructive components and the personal-emotional ones.

Detection of hidden participants in a conflict helps to answer the question: who benefits from this?

An external sign of a person’s involvement in a personal-emotional, destructive conflict is his behavior, manifested in excessive verbosity, agitated speech, and reluctance to listen to counter arguments.

In the case of a constructive conflict, participants are more restrained in expressing emotions, more importance is attached to logic, facts, and arguments.

Therefore, excessive ardor of a participant in a constructive conflict may serve as an indication that the constructive component for him is, perhaps, only a screen for achieving his personal interests.

Continuing the comparison with the disease, we can say that just as correct treatment is impossible without making an accurate diagnosis, it is also impossible to effectively resolve the conflict without knowing the real reasons that led to it.

To illustrate this, let us give a practical example. Experienced workers began to refuse to engage in mentoring. The management accused them of being in a greedy mood, of not wanting to create competitors for themselves, and of intending to consolidate their exclusive position.

However, in reality it turned out that the workers had other reasons for this: the supply of necessary components was irregular, and the workers were constantly on the verge of downtime. Therefore, they believed that they first needed to ensure the supply of components, and then increase the number of jobs. When the issue with components was resolved, mentoring ceased to be a problem.

The original version was beneficial to those responsible for providing workplaces with everything necessary, because it took them away from responsibility. But at the same time, it also led away from resolving the conflict, contributed to its confusion, and the growth of new conflicts. Thus, the refusal to mentor was only a manifestation that took place in a conflict situation with a shortage of components.

The cause of the incident could be any careless word spoken by the manager or any other reason.

Unfortunately, many of our leaders approach conflict resolution superficially, not daring to look into the depths of the phenomenon and understand its causes. But since the causes of conflicts remain unresolved, they arise again and again.

What to do?

The specific actions of a leader in a conflict depend, firstly, on whether he sees his guilt. This is probably the most difficult moment - not to succumb to the temptation to look for mistakes primarily in others, while protecting yourself from criticism. What happens next depends on what goal the initiators of the conflict are achieving - near or distant.

If short-term goals are set, then most often some kind of practical action is necessary: ​​make or cancel a decision (if possible), apologize if the manager feels guilty, that is, take specific steps. Assessing the situation and making a decision in this case is relatively easy.

The difficulty is that in the case where real steps to satisfy the claims are impossible, you need to convince your opponent that your refusal is forced.

The goal of the conflict initiator may be distant. Achieving it cannot be accomplished immediately, since a long time is needed to implement the decisions made: to reorganize the work of the unit, improve working and rest conditions, deviate from the usual routines and established structures, etc.

This kind of transformation requires many sequential steps. But the most important thing is that the first step is taken without delay. It will show the initiators of the conflict that “the ice has broken.” The inaction of the leadership, even flavored with promises, can only irritate people.

In the case when a manager seeks to change a subordinate’s attitude towards his duties, the most important thing is to convince the latter that this is not a whim of the manager, but an urgent necessity that must be taken into account.

There is another type of conflict, expressed in a negative emotional reaction to what happened.

Conflicts of this kind often make no sense. But the victim internally cannot come to terms with a decision he does not like, creating tension in relationships with others.

In such cases, the leader needs to take into account the person’s condition and show sympathy for him, because only on an emotional level can such conflicts be resolved.

Conflicts often arise, based on imaginary contradictions. This happens mainly due to some small incident or a remark from the manager to a subordinate who “came to hand at the wrong time.”

Resolution of the situation is achieved through a frank conversation and the manifestation of a friendly attitude towards the subordinate.

How to behave

When communicating with conflicting people, follow the following rules:

show restraint; Considering that in conflicts, painful things “break through”, conduct business with maximum tact and caution in order to prevent yourself from being drawn into the conflict or aggravating it;

listen to those who come to you, let them speak to the end, making full use of the therapeutic effect of the opportunity to speak out and “cry”;

do not rush to conclusions and promises, do not “judge”; only after listening to the other side, checking all the facts and statements, comprehend the situation and take appropriate measures;

do not overestimate the degree of your awareness; remember that the effectiveness of communication “bottom-up” (from subordinates to managers) is on average only 10%.

Conflict Prevention

The art of leading

The work of a leader largely consists of resolving constantly emerging contradictions. However, not all of them lead to conflicts; the manager manages to resolve many of them in a timely manner.

This is precisely what the art of leading consists of - anticipating conflicts and resolving them in the bud.

Attitude to conflicts

A manager's attitude towards conflicts of different natures should be different.

With regard to destructive conflicts generated by inept relationships, the natural attitude is that there should be as few of them as possible.

Where pressing issues cannot be resolved without conflict, the leader should not “hide” from it.

Measures to prevent conflicts follow from the reasons for their occurrence discussed above. Let's consider these measures in detail.

Constant work to improve working conditions, improve remuneration, improve the organization of production, and improve the living conditions of workers.

Given the complexity of these issues and the time required to achieve tangible results, opportunities should be found to unobtrusively inform subordinates about the measures being taken. After all, people will understand that the issues are complex and not everything depends on the immediate supervisor. But what they will not want to understand is the reluctance of management to deal with these problems.

Working on such issues is one of the most important ongoing responsibilities of any leader.

2. Strict adherence not only to the spirit, but also to the letter of labor legislation.

3. Compliance with work ethics.

Remember, that:

managing people begins with managing yourself;

without respecting a subordinate, you will not achieve respect on his part, and lack of respect is already a pre-conflict situation;

nothing is valued so highly or costs so little as politeness;

studying subordinates, interest in them as individuals are absolutely necessary for successful work with them, an individual approach is the path to mutual understanding with subordinates;

withholding information creates tension in relationships.

4. Taking into account the expectations of subordinates.

Subordinates expect from the leader:

knowledge of the matter;

ability to organize work;

vision of perspective;

good earnings;

polite attitude towards yourself;

respect.

It is in this order that male employees most often name the desired qualities of a leader.

Female workers name the same qualities, but they put polite attitude towards themselves first. A worker worries if she is not seen as a woman, that is, a creature in need of support - such is the property of female nature. Women react more sharply to rewards and punishments than men.

As the educational and cultural level of workers increases, the expectation of a more democratic leadership style increases.

All this is useful to remember for a manager who wants to avoid difficulties in managing people and reduce conflict in business communication.

Leader and conflicting personalities

Different types of conflicting personalities, despite all their differences, also have something in common: morbid ambition and the habit of not giving up their desires. For “demonstrative”, “uncontrollable” and “hyper-precise” individuals, conflict is more their problem than their fault. This is the psychological makeup of these people. Most of them suffer from various complexes, especially an inferiority complex.

Knowing this, the leader does not always “pick up the gauntlet” of the challenge to conflict thrown at him by such individuals. It happens that a subordinate in an excited state was insolent to the manager, slammed the door, and the manager waved his hand at him: “What can we take from him - he’s a sick man!”

The leader himself should not be a conflict-ridden person. It is unacceptable to use your position of authority to relieve internal tension, overcome an inferiority complex, or satisfy painful pride.

A destructive conflict is a situation that arises between individuals or a group. Read about the ways to solve it and the consequences in the article.

From the article you will learn:

Types of constructive and destructive conflicts

Constructive and destructive conflicts differ in that the former have a basis. The reasons for the development of destructive relationships are not always clear, and the opposition of the parties gradually intensifies if the situation is not intervened in time. When disagreements arise between ordinary employees, the manager can resolve them. When there is a conflict between managers, the director's intervention is required.

Destructive consequences of conflict:

• competitive and unproductive relationships between colleagues;
• lack of desire to cooperate;
• reduction or cessation of interaction between people, even on work issues;
• feeling of resentment, bad mood, dissatisfaction;
• low labor productivity;
• staff turnover.

The destructive functions of conflict are reflected in the psychological climate of the organization and corporate culture. Even those employees who are not involved in the confrontation between the parties experience discomfort. If you notice signs of discord, do not hesitate, otherwise you will have to eliminate the consequences that negatively affect all processes.

Constructive consequences include: a sense of involvement in solving difficulties; disposition of the parties to cooperate; elaboration of problems by group members; paying attention to the situation that provokes conflict interaction. It is easier to achieve a positive outcome if several people are involved in the conflict, rather than groups of people.

The constructive and destructive functions of conflict rarely intersect. Negatively minded people, whose position is unsubstantiated, do not try to interact with their opponents and use techniques of personality suppression. The consequences are not important to them, as they pursue a personal goal.

Stop destructive conflict at the stage of its occurrence. Teach employees to interact, solve problems peacefully, and control emotions. Conduct trainings that help you understand your colleagues. Avoid situations that provoke difficulties in staff relationships.

Constructive and destructive conflict: an example

Research, analytics, reviews

The presented methods and techniques will help resolve destructive conflict. You will eliminate negativity and negative emotions between the parties to the confrontation and help them understand what was the real reason for the disagreement. Each participant will be able to look at the situation through the eyes of their opponent. As a result, the conflicting parties themselves will develop an effective solution and find a compromise...

Managing constructive and destructive conflicts

Have a conversation with both parties. If one employee is destructive behavior patterns in conflict, does not make contact with your opponent, talk to him separately so as not to escalate the situation. Once you have identified the cause of the disagreement, eliminate it.

Examples of constructive and destructive conflicts

Do not take a wait-and-see attitude - act, use effective methods to resolve the problem. Otherwise, other participants will be drawn into the conflict, which will provoke a real corporate war.

If employees do not make contact and do not want to seek a compromise, identify the aggressor. Use radical methods of influence, but take into account the requirements of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Reprimands and fines can be issued when employees’ actions violate labor discipline or legal norms.

When communicating with conflicting parties, follow a number of rules:

1. Show restraint. Keep in mind that in conflicts people are ruled by emotions. Talk to employees carefully and tactfully.
2. Don't rush into promises and conclusions. Only after checking the facts and statements, comprehend the situation, and take action.
3. Listen to both sides, not just the victim. Let me speak.
4. Don't overestimate your level of awareness. Remember that the effectiveness of bottom-up communication is low.

If the destructive role of conflict is obvious, reconsider your attitude towards your subordinate. Clearly formulate requirements for personnel, indicate methods of reward and punishment. Regulate behavior rules in the organization, style of communication with colleagues. Use coordination mechanisms to adhere to the principle of unity of command.

Do not use destructive methods of conflict resolution. Show authority, but don't suppress people. When resolving a situation, do not show a personal attitude towards the staff, otherwise the problem will worsen. Be honest with yourself and other employees.

In the minds of many people, conflicts are associated with purely negative phenomena: wars and revolutions, civil strife and scandals. Therefore, as a rule, conflict is presented as an undesirable and harmful phenomenon. In reality, this is not always the case. The consequences of conflict can be both negative and positive.

Thus, the question of the place and role of conflicts in the life of an individual, social group, organization and society as a whole is significantly significant. It is not without reason that thinkers of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages saw in conflicts a certain means of mutual understanding and good agreement. In modern times, most of those who laid the foundation for conflictology pointed to conflicts as a means of resolving social contradictions and maintaining balance in the social order. At the present stage, both the condemnation of hostile confrontations at any level and the recognition of the important role of peacefully resolved conflicts in establishing mutual understanding and cooperation between people are clearly distinguished.

To explain the functions of social conflict, one should turn, first of all, to the very concept of “function”. In social sciences function means the meaning and role that a certain social institution or private social process performs in relation to the needs of a social system at a higher level of organization or the interests of its constituent communities, social groups and individuals. In accordance with this, under conflict function we will understand the role that conflict plays in relation to society and its various structural formations: social groups, organizations and individuals. Thus, fThe function of conflict expresses, on the one hand, its social purpose, and on the other- the dependence that arises between it and other components of social life. In the first case, the consequences of the conflict are taken into account, in the second - the direction of the relations of conflicting subjects of social ties.

A conflict is one of those phenomena that cannot be assessed unambiguously. It acts as a way of social interaction in conditions of heightened tension between people, when incompatible views, positions and interests are revealed, and there is a confrontation between parties pursuing goals far removed from each other. By its very nature, a conflict can be a carrier of both creative and destructive tendencies, be good and evil at the same time, bring both benefit and harm to the parties involved.

Therefore, its functions are characterized taking into account positive and negative consequences. Positive, functionally useful results of the conflict are considered to be the solution to the problem that gave rise to the contradiction and caused the clash, taking into account the mutual interests and goals of all parties, as well as achieving understanding and trust, strengthening partnerships and cooperation, overcoming conformism, humility, and the desire for superiority. The negative, dysfunctional consequences of conflict include people’s dissatisfaction with the common cause, withdrawal from pressing problems, increasing hostility in interpersonal and intergroup relations, weakening cohesion among employees, etc.

In terms of their content, the functions of conflict cover both the material sphere (related to economic interests, benefits or losses) and the spiritual and moral sphere (can increase or weaken social activity, encourage or suppress optimism, inspiration of people). All this has an emotional impact on the effectiveness of joint activities and can facilitate or complicate the process of managing an organization. Life presents countless facts confirming the functional diversity of conflicts in terms of direction, beneficial and harmful consequences.

There are explicit and latent (hidden) functions of conflict. Explicit functions of conflict functions of conflict are characterized by the fact that its consequences coincide with the goals that were proclaimed and pursued by opponents of the conflict. For example, the Russian government, starting military operations with “Chechen” bandit formations, announced their liquidation. The obvious function of the conflict is also the victory of the miners in their conflict with the administration, if they pursued precisely this goal.

Hidden(latent) functions of the conflict - those when its consequences are revealed only over time and which, to a certain extent, differ from the intentions previously declared by the parties to the conflict. Latent functions can also be expressed in the fact that its consequences may generally be unexpected and not meet the goals of the parties to the conflict. Thus, none of the participants in the “Chechen” conflict imagined that during it oil processing plants, of which there were a large number in the republic, would be destroyed, and as a result, there would be a danger of an environmental disaster not only in Chechnya, but also beyond its borders. The striking miners, who demanded that the government of the country in the late 1980s - early 1990s cancel the state order and give them the opportunity to freely dispose of profits, did a lot to reform society, but they did not even imagine that already in the late 1990s years will demand the return of the government order.

From the point of view of functions, conflict is enough controversial phenomenon. By entering into confrontation, people can achieve their goals. But it is often difficult to predict even the not very distant consequences that will follow. Moreover, the consequences can be both positive and negative for the parties to the conflict. An employee who has entered into a conflicting relationship with the administration can achieve his immediate goal, for example, payment of compensation for forced absence. But after some time, this may be followed by his dismissal from work under some plausible pretext. For a fired employee, this will most likely be a latent function of conflict and a negative one at that. But after this he can get a job that is more attractive than before. And then this will be a positive latent function of conflict. In this case, they often say “there would be no happiness, but misfortune would help.”

Thus, both explicit and latent functions of conflict can be both negative and positive, that is, they can have dual character. If the function of the conflict is positive for its participants, we speak of functional conflict, otherwise it dysfunctional conflict, the results of which are negative for its participants, and for which they did not count.

It should be especially emphasized that the assessment of the functions of conflict as positive or negative always carries specific character. From the point of view of one subject of the conflict, it can be considered as positive, from the point of view of another - as negative. In other words, there is subjective relativity in assessing the nature of the functions of the conflict. In addition, the same conflict in different relationships and at different times can be assessed from different or even opposing positions. This indicates the relativistic nature of the conflict functions. Thus, the October Socialist Revolution, as well as the victory in the early 1990s of the forces that acted under the slogan of reforms, in our country were viewed differently at different times and by different social strata.

All this indicates that conflict- this is a functionally contradictory phenomenon, and the relationship between its positive and negative functions must always be considered specifically. If we keep in mind objective criterion assessment of the functions of conflict, then in general terms we can apparently say that social conflict is functional in nature if it contributes to the development of a broader social system. For an intrapersonal conflict it will be a person, for an interpersonal conflict it will be a group, etc. However, in this regard, not everything is going smoothly. For one should always keep in mind the costs (the price of the conflict) that are associated with it. Thus, an organization that realizes its goals through the exorbitant intensification of people’s work and health; an army that wins due to heavy losses, etc. - these are examples indicating that victory in a conflict can be Pyrrhic. Thus, in this case, too, we are faced with the functional inconsistency of the conflict - not everything that benefits the development of a broader social system is functional for its constituent elements.

However, despite all the relativity of assessments of the functions of conflict, according to their meaning, significance and role they can be divided into two groups:

constructive (positive) functions of conflict;

destructive (negative) functions of conflict.

Constructive functions of conflict

All constructive (as well as negative) functions of conflict, with a certain degree of convention and for the sake of convenience of presentation of the material, can be divided into: general functions of conflict that take place at various levels of the social system; functions of conflict at the personal level, which relate to the impact of conflict directly on the individual.

Causes of constructive conflicts:

Unfavorable working conditions;

Imperfect remuneration system;

Disadvantages in work organization;

Irrhythmic work;

Overtime work;

Omissions in technology (especially those from which the employee’s earnings suffer, and through no fault of his);

Inconsistency of rights and responsibilities;

Lack of clarity in the distribution of responsibilities, in particular, ineffective, too vague or outdated job descriptions;

Low level of labor and executive discipline;

Conflict-prone (i.e., conducive to conflicts) organizational structures.

It seems appropriate to focus on the positive functions of social conflicts. The constructive functions are expressed as follows.

1. Conflict is a way of detecting and fixing contradictions and problems in a society, organization, or group. In addition, the conflict indicates that these contradictions have already reached great maturity and it is necessary to take urgent measures to eliminate them. Thus, every conflict fulfills informational function, gives additional impulses to awareness of one’s own and others’ interests in the confrontation.

Information function has two perspectives - signaling (the leadership pays attention to the brewing conflict and seeks to prevent its escalation) and communicative (the conflicting parties need information that allows them to draw conclusions about the actions of their opponent and the resources he has). The greater the amount of information about the factors and causes, interests and goals of the opposing entities, the wider the opportunities for finding ways to resolve the conflict.

2. Conflict is a form resolution of contradictions. Its development helps eliminate those shortcomings and miscalculations in social organization that led to the conflict.

3. Conflict promotes relieving social tension and eliminating a stressful situation, helps to “let off steam”, defuse the situation and relieve accumulated tension.

4. Integrative function. Conflict can perform integrative, unifying function. In the face of an external threat, the group uses all its resources to unite and confront the external enemy. In addition, the very task of solving problems that have arisen brings people together. In search of a way out of the conflict, mutual understanding and a sense of involvement in solving a common problem are developed. Conflict affects the relationship between individual, group, and collective interests, promotes group formation, and the establishment and maintenance of group boundaries.

5. Conflict resolution leads to stabilization of the social system, for in this case the sources of dissatisfaction are eliminated. The parties to the conflict, taught by “bitter experience,” will in the future be more inclined to cooperate than to conflict. In addition, conflict resolution can prevent more serious conflicts that might have occurred if the conflict had not occurred.

6. Innovative feature. Conflict intensifies And stimulates group creativity, contributes to the mobilization of energy to solve the problems facing subjects. In the process of searching for ways to resolve the conflict, the analysis of difficult situations is intensified, new approaches, ideas, innovative technologies, etc. are developed.

Conflict is a kind of impulse to overcome obstacles to the economic and social development of an organization. Under the influence of confrontation or as a result of its cessation, a certain transformation of the state of interpersonal relations occurs. Properly resolved conflict improves psychological characteristics in the organization, develops social activity due to increased cohesion, increasing the level of identification of everyone with common goals and employee satisfaction with membership in the organization, mutual trust and respect.

7. Conflict can be a means clarifying the balance of forces social groups or communities and thereby can warn against subsequent more destructive conflicts.

Modern management science is based on the fact that even in organizations with effective management, some conflicts are not only possible, but even desirable. Of course, conflict does not always have positive consequences, but in many situations it helps to reveal a diversity of points of view, provides additional information, etc. This makes the group’s decision-making process more effective, allows employees to express their positions (thus satisfying people’s need for recognition), and helps optimize the implementation of plans and projects.

Conflict can serve as a means for emergence of new norms of communication between people or help fill old norms with new content. The conflict also influences personality characteristics.

Conflict can perform cognitive function towards the people who take part in it. It is in difficult critical (existential) situations that the true character, values ​​and motives of people’s behavior are revealed; It is no coincidence that they say “a friend is a friend in need.” The ability to diagnose the enemy’s strength is also related to the cognitive function.

self-knowledge And adequate self-esteem personality. It can help you correctly assess your strengths and abilities, as well as identify new, previously unknown aspects of a person’s character. It can also strengthen character and contribute to the emergence of new qualities, such as a sense of pride, dignity, etc.

Conflict can help get rid of from undesirable character traits, for example, feelings of inferiority, humility, servility, etc.

Conflict is the most important factor socialization person, his development as a person. In a conflict, an individual in a relatively short period of time can gain as much life experience as he may never receive outside of the conflict.

Conflict is a significant factor adaptation person in a group, since it is in conflict that people reveal themselves to the greatest extent and one can say with confidence who is who. And then the personality is either accepted by the group members, or, on the contrary, rejected by them. In the latter case, of course, no adaptation occurs.

Conflict can help resolve mental tension in a group, relieve stress for its participants if the conflict is resolved positively for the person. Otherwise, this internal tension may even intensify.

Conflict can serve as a means of satisfying not only primary, but also secondary needs of the individual, as a way of self-realization and self-affirmation. It is no coincidence that A.S. Pushkin wrote that “there is rapture in battle.”

To quote Samuel Huntington, author of the famous theory of the conflict of civilizations:“It is not the society that is capable of revolution that is sick, but the one that is not capable of it.” Is it because we are not able to protest that we are a sick and perhaps even dead society! Therefore, such an important indicator of the social well-being of a society as the frequency and scope of protest actions should be considered more as an indicator of the viability of the emerging civil society, within which basic democratic rights and freedoms are ensured, than an indicator of people’s readiness for a violent overthrow of the ruling regime.

Destructive functions of conflict

All destructive functions of conflict can also be divided into general functions and functions of conflict at the personal level. They manifest themselves at various levels of the social system and are expressed in the following consequences.

The conflict may be related to by violent means its resolution, there may be great loss of life and material losses as a result. In addition to the parties involved in a military conflict, civilians may also suffer.

A conflict can lead the opposing parties (society, social group, individual) to a state of destabilization And disorganization.

Conflict can lead to slowdown the pace of social, economic, political and spiritual development of society. Moreover, it can cause stagnation and a crisis of social development, the emergence of dictatorial and totalitarian regimes.

Conflict can contribute disintegration society, the destruction of social communications and sociocultural alienation of social entities within the social system.

The conflict may be accompanied by an increase in public sentiment pessimism and the decline of morals.

Conflict may lead to new, more destructive conflicts.

Conflict in organizations often leads to reduction level of organization of the system, decrease in discipline and efficiency.

The destructive functions of conflict, manifested at the personal level, are expressed in the following consequences.

Conflict can have negative impact on the socio-psychological climate in the group. Thus, feelings of depression, pessimism and anxiety may appear, leading the individual to a state of stress.

Conflict can lead to disappointment in their capabilities and abilities, to de-identify the individual.

Conflict can cause feeling of uncertainty in oneself, loss of previous motivation and destruction of existing value orientations and patterns of behavior. In the worst case, the conflict may result in disappointment and loss of faith in previous ideals. And this can have very serious consequences - deviant behavior and, as an extreme case, suicide. There is no doubt about the close relationship in our society in the 1990s of such phenomena as the increase in the number of social conflicts, deviant behavior and suicide. In terms of suicide, in particular, our country today ranks among the first in the world.

Conflict can lead to negative assessment a person of his partners in joint activities, disappointment in his colleagues and recent friends.

As a reaction to conflict, a person can “turn on” defense mechanisms demonstrating behaviors that are negative for communication, such as:

retreat - silence, lack of enthusiasm, isolation of the individual in the group;

frightening information - criticism, curses, demonstration of superiority over other members of the group;

strict formalism - formal politeness, literalism, the formation of strict norms and principles of behavior in a group, monitoring others;

turning the matter into a joke (this principle is in many ways the opposite of the previous one);

conversations on unrelated topics instead of business discussions of problems;

constant search for those to blame, self-flagellation or blaming team members for all troubles.

The manifestations of the destructive functions of conflict are extremely diverse. Intrapersonal conflict, for example, gives rise to a state of psychological discomfort, which in turn entails a series of various negative consequences and, in extreme cases, can lead to the destruction of the individual. At the group level, conflict can disrupt the system of communications and relationships, weaken value-orientation unity, reduce group cohesion and ultimately reduce the efficiency of the group as a whole. Similarly, the destructive functions of conflict manifest themselves in intergroup relationships. Note that the destructive influence of a conflict can occur at each stage of its evolution: the stage of an objective conflict situation, the stage of its awareness by the parties, the stage of conflict behavior, as well as at the stage of conflict resolution. The destructive effects of conflict are usually especially acute at the stage of conflict behavior and conflict actions.

These are the main dysfunctional consequences of the conflict, which (like the functional consequences) are interrelated and are specific and relative in nature. Here it is appropriate to recall a well-known position: there is no abstract truth, truth is always concrete. The victory of one most often means the defeat of the other.

You can also highlight a number of functions, having, in particular, the most significant significance in the management of the organization and the behavior of personnel.

Personnel integration . Achieving an integrating effect affects the sustainability and stability of the social system, the formation and consolidation of groups, the relationship between individual and collective interests, and the re-adjustment of the management mechanism. Integration wins in those specific situations when the conflict leads to the unification of joint efforts based on the coordination of mutual interests, and loses if the conflict causes difficult-to-repair damage to the organization and unity of the team.

Let's refer tonext example . A quarrel broke out in the company's marketing department, which escalated into an acute emotional conflict: one of the employees called another - a specialist with an engineering and economic education and extensive practical work experience - the offensive word "hack", meaning that he, not content with his high salary, He is constantly concerned about making extra money on the side and shifting part of his direct responsibilities to his colleagues. The department employees provided the “troublemaker” with friendly support, and the company’s management was forced to transfer his opponent to another job.

The conflict, obviously, did not come without a negative consequence - the need to find a suitable replacement for an experienced employee. But a positive result prevailed, since the employees of the department showed solidarity with those colleagues who acted as a spokesman for common interests, condemned dishonest attitude to business and the desire to benefit for themselves at the expense of others. And this further strengthened their cohesion and increased the importance of the rules of group behavior. This happens often in life.

Intragroup conflict usually has a positive ending, allows you to learn useful lessons from the mistakes and blunders of group members, stabilize their relationships, strengthen cooperation, orient everyone to adhere to common standards of behavior, raise the bar of social optimism and business ethics, which ultimately ensures coherence and increased productivity collaboration.

Conflicts of this kind clearly demonstrate the tendency towards individual aspirations or collective action. In this regard, it is appropriate to recall that individualism in behavior and life position most often makes itself felt when a person’s natural desire for self-affirmation is elevated to an absolute, and ostentatious individual nobility overshadows selfishness, self-will, and susceptibility to anarchy. The opposite of individualism and even narrow-group corporate isolation is collectivism, cultivated on a healthy basis, which does not accept the opposition of an individual person to one or another community, proceeds from the recognition of the need to harmoniously combine group (collective) and private interests, condemns and rejects selfishness, selfishness, selfishness.

Activating social connections . Making the interaction of people and their relationships more dynamic and mobile affects the pace of socio-economic development both in society and within an individual organization, and determines one or another degree of business spirit.

The formation of a community as a really existing, empirically fixed, relatively unified and independently acting collection of people is a consequence of direct contact of two or more individuals. Individuals are drawn to unity by the need for real or potential relationships, including meeting needs, using resources and achieving goals, including cooperation in work activities, coincidence of interests, mutual sympathy or, conversely, general antipathy towards someone else. There are both mass associations in the form of social movements, professional and other associations, and group communities, which, taking into account the aspirations of everyone, are held together by the calling to act together.

For any group, cohesion, a measure of attraction to each other and to the group as a whole, are important. The basic basis of such attraction is formed, firstly, by the attractiveness of the association’s goals, and secondly, by the similarity of views and value orientations of its members, the effectiveness and ease of group ties. “Those in the same boat,” at a minimum, should be guided by generally accepted principles of solidarity and business cooperation, adding to them the specific requirements of this particular group.

An example of this is the work collective, which is, as a rule, a compact, relatively stable social community that arises within a separate enterprise (organization, institution). It usually brings together people interested in concerted efforts to achieve socially beneficial and personally significant goals. Its main features are, on the one hand, the so-called combined labor, i.e. joint activity that meets the needs of society and each member of the team, and on the other hand, integrating goals, moral principles and norms, organizational and functional unity, generally acceptable conditions and methods of interaction.

However, it should be borne in mind that the achieved cohesion, the unifying principles within the team, carry the risk of replacing individual egoism with group egoism, which is expressed by antipathy, hostility, enmity and even hatred towards other groups (collectives). Psychologists define this phenomenon as the “group favoritism effect,” i.e. a certain form of favor, patronage and patronage, meaning a practically manifested tendency to somehow favor one’s own group as opposed to, or even to the detriment of, another, to draw, as it were, a dividing line between “us” and “strangers”. This often becomes a cause of social tension and leads to clashes between groups.

They even try to justify collisions of this kind, arguing approximately as follows: any, especially formal, association has a need for intra-group consent. At the same time, in the course of its functioning it inevitably encounters restrictions that prevent the strengthening of solidarity; a “way out” of negative emotions is needed, and it is found in manifestations of ill will and even hostility towards the “foreign” group.

The current situation in Russia, taking into account the crisis state of the country's economy, failures in the state's social policy, and the moral deformation of society, creates an extremely contradictory background that encourages intergroup disintegration. Ever expanding market relations, differences in volumes and forms of ownership, conspicuous differentiation of incomes fuel competition within and between teams, intensify contradictions between workers in various sectors of the economy, give rise to envy of those who have achieved greater prosperity, which naturally leads to an increase in manifestations of aggressiveness and hostility.

Within an enterprise (organization), primary work groups and individual divisions associated with different parts of the overall technological chain, as well as marketing and other management subsystems, can be drawn into the orbit of intergroup conflicts. The sources of such conflicts lie mainly in the need to distribute almost always limited resources, primarily material and financial, in the imperfection of the chosen organizational structure, in the imbalance of the functions of individual departments, in the poor coordination of their interaction. Differences in views on work motivation, forms of material and moral incentives, participation of workers in production management, fulfillment of the requirements of humanization of labor, etc. also become a field of divergence between groups and their conflictual confrontation.

This is where the “eternal” problems arise, say, between those involved in direct production and those in charge of marketing products and studying consumer demand; between line and staff management personnel; between essential workers and clerical workers; between the owners, the administration of the enterprise and the trade union organization, the council of the labor collective; between the goals of formal groups and informal associations. In other words, the entire complex, intertwined network of social connections is covered.

More often than others, the subjects of confrontation in intergroup relations are employees of various inspection services, which carry out, in particular, technical control, including product quality, sanitary and environmental supervision, occupational safety and work safety inspection, audit and other forms of financial and economic revisions. Due to the duties they perform, they find themselves at the epicenter of many conflicts, they are reproached, their actions are constantly appealed against, and endless disputes and litigation are waged against them. Employees of logistics services, energy supply, transport departments and social infrastructure are also constantly put forward as “scapegoats”. Although it is known that disruptions in the supply of raw materials and components, in the supply of water, heat, gas and electricity, and in social services for workers currently occur most often through no fault of the mentioned services. They are a consequence of more general reasons - the decline in production in the country, lack of investment, deformation of financial and credit relations, destruction of the previous system of economic relations and the provision of social services.

There is no doubt that intergroup conflicts, strengthening social ties, shade the relationships and interactions of people in different ways. They carry a multipolar charge, which can be positive, increasing the consistency and effectiveness of joint efforts, and negative, disrupting the working rhythm and work spirit in the organization. The consequences of a particular conflict are also consistent. It can promote social mobility, cause significant changes in the social status of an individual or group, accelerate or slow down the process of socio-economic, spiritual and moral development.

Alarming about hotbeds of social tension . Conflicts can act as a diagnostic tool, as they allow one to track dysfunctional areas in an organization and reveal those contradictions that otherwise would go unnoticed and would continue to destroy and destabilize the organization. This diagnostic value of conflicts was already pointed out by scientists who conducted research at the Glacier company. Conflicts in themselves are not a problem in an organization. They become a problem when their management is aimed only at their eradication, and not at using them to diagnose deeper organizational contradictions and resolve precisely these contradictions.

So, a conflict encounter allows not only to discover unresolved problems and serious mistakes in the conduct of business, but also provides an opportunity for open expression of the needs, interests and aspirations of people, their dissatisfaction or protest. Typically, the emergence of a conflict situation warns of an unfavorable situation in a given organization, revealing and making public, for example, intolerable working conditions, arbitrariness of the administration, abuses of individual officials, deviations from industrial democracy, etc.

Thus, an employee, concerned about a decrease in his earnings, comes into conflict with the management of the site, workshop or enterprise. At the same time, he points out unsatisfactory working conditions, unfairness in awarding bonuses, etc. It happens that in such cases the egoistic goal takes over at any cost to satisfy one’s selfish interest. But more often, behind a similar situation lies something more: the desire to streamline work and improve working conditions, objectively contribute to the successful operation of the enterprise and increase profits. It is important, having understood the cause of the conflict, to evaluate its functional orientation.

A means of innovation, promoting creative initiative . In conflict conditions, people are more clearly aware of both their own and those alien to them interests, objective trends and contradictions of social development, the need to overcome obstacles to progress and achieve maximum benefit.

Original, newly formulated ideas, rejection of ingrained habits and outdated traditions very often encounter rejection, resistance, and a negative reaction. Innovations - be it an invention or a rationalization proposal, more advanced forms of labor organization and management - are almost always accompanied by conflicts at any stage, since success in the struggle for something new requires overcoming various kinds of obstacles, adherence to old values, inertia and conservatism. They cannot do without fear of incurring material damage and fears of a prestigious nature, primitive envy of a successful innovator.

Typically, conflict stimulates initiative, creative activity, the mobilization of creative forces, the search for non-standard approaches to solving complex problems, the optimal choice from alternative options - a choice that ultimately leads to increased efficiency of joint work. At the same time, conflict can also intensify manifestations of ill will in the relationship between those involved in the confrontation, causing dissatisfaction with the results of interaction, depression of spirit, “withdrawal,” and decreased efficiency at work. Often, an indomitable desire for something new, determination to overcome conservatism, various types of scientific, technical and artistic creativity are perceived as manifestations of deviant behavior.

Transformation (transformation) of interpersonal and intergroup relations . The conflict, while polarizing opposing forces, simultaneously creates the preconditions for their unification and cohesion on a new basis, and helps strengthen mutual respect and trust.

Let's refer to example . The head of the district administration was an active supporter of the establishment of private property, carrying out privatization with the expectation of creating maximum advantages for the owners of land, enterprises, and all movable and immovable property. The chairman of the district assembly (Duma), on the contrary, was known as a supporter of public property, carrying out privatization in such a way as to preserve the priority of collective property in all its forms - state, municipal, cooperative. For a number of years, the conflict between the leaders of the two branches of local government hampered not only the progress of privatization, but also the entire socio-economic development of the region. In the end, the parties realized this fact and came to mutual recognition of the effectiveness of a mixed economy, a mixed economy, and equality (without any advantages) of all forms of ownership.

Undoubtedly, this conflict had negative consequences, which were expressed in curbing privatization and slowing down the pace of development of the economy and social sphere of the region. But in the end, a functionally positive moment prevailed - the achievement of mutual understanding and agreement on the basis of a compromise, the awareness of the need to equalize the chances of all forms of ownership.

Conflict, if it proceeds on a healthy basis, strengthens the basis of solidarity and cooperation of people engaged in a joint business, satisfying their needs for self-respect and social recognition, thereby ensuring the choice of rules of behavior acceptable to the majority. Within a specific organization, such a conflict improves the socio-psychological climate in the team, weakens or completely eliminates tension, brings a preventive effect of cleansing the atmosphere of interpersonal and intergroup relations, and creates conditions that are conducive to the good mood and social optimism of staff.

If negative principles predominate in the conflict, such a conflict turns the warring parties away from cooperation, erects artificial barriers to mutual understanding, fueled by the desire to continue the confrontation and, regardless of anything, to insist on one’s own at any cost. As a result, the moral and psychological atmosphere deteriorates, relations between partners in a common cause are complicated, and their confidence in their moral security when communicating with colleagues is weakened.

Information about the state of the organization, the qualities of people engaged in joint activities . Conflict, of course, enriches the horizons of the participants in the conflict and increases their level of awareness of each other, and can serve as a source of life experience, a means of training and education, as well as probing the mood in a particular group. A conflict situation creates additional opportunities for making public more complete and reliable information both about the problems that need to be solved and about the people on whom the adoption of appropriate measures depends, about their inherent intellectual, emotional and volitional qualities. Clash in conflict allows opponents to get to know each other better, find mutual understanding and a “common language,” and enrich the practice of business cooperation.

More complete awareness, achieved through the unfolding of the conflict, contributes to the establishment of normal communication, the identification of common ideas about the true state of affairs, and the coordination of mutual interests and obligations of the parties. And this, in turn, can give rise to friendly relations, equal dialogue, openness in the exchange of divergent opinions, which is necessary and almost always useful so that everyone better understands the other participants in the conflict, the motives of their behavior, the potential abilities with which they have.

Prevention (prevention) of destructive confrontations. By achieving a detente between the parties to the conflict, resolving emerging and aggravated disagreements, it is possible to avoid collisions with significant material damage and moral losses, long-term discord in the team, knocking the entire organization out of its normal rut. For example, insufficient attention to the timely resolution of collective labor disputes, social conflicts due to delayed payment of wages, and underestimation of conciliation procedures can result in a general social and labor conflict up to its extreme form - a strike.

Table 1 gives a summary of the functional orientation of conflicts in an organization.

Table 2.Functional orientation of conflicts in the organization

Functions conflict	Direction and consequences of conflicts
	positive	negative
Personnel integration	Relieving tension in interpersonal and intergroup relations; coordination of individual and collective interests; formation and consolidation of formal and informal groups; deepening and stabilizing common interests	Weakening of organization and unity of the team; imbalance of interests between individuals and groups; manifestations of dishonesty and the desire to benefit for oneself at the expense of others; indulgence in selfishness, self-will, anarchy
Activating social connections	Making employee interactions more dynamic and mobile; strengthening consistency in achieving goals, functional and social partnership	Inconsistency in the actions of people engaged in joint work; weakening of mutual interest in common success; erecting obstacles to cooperation
Alarming about hotbeds of social tension	Identifying unresolved problems and stimulating work; detection of deficiencies in working conditions and labor protection; implementation of the needs, interests and values ​​of the team	A sharp expression of dissatisfaction with the actions of the administration; protest against the abuses of individual officials; increasing job dissatisfaction
Innovation, promotion of creative initiative	Increasing activity and motivation to work; stimulating the growth of qualifications; promoting creativity, new and optimal solutions	Creating additional interference with labor and social activity; suppression of business spirit, enthusiasm and creative initiative; avoiding alternative solutions
Transformation (transformation) of business relationships	Creating a healthy socio-psychological climate; affirmation of respect for work and business entrepreneurship; increasing the level of mutual trust	Deterioration of the moral and psychological atmosphere: complication of the process of restoring business relationships and partnerships
Information about the organization and its personnel	Increasing the level of awareness of employees about the state of affairs in the organization; finding a “common language”	Increased unfriendly behavior; avoidance of cooperation; barriers to dialogue and exchange of opinions
Prevention of confrontations	Resolving disagreements on a mutual basis; weakening confrontation in social and labor relations	Increased tension and hostility; evasion of conciliation procedures

Only through the prism of careful analysis and awareness of the consequences is the predominant function of a particular conflict determined. Moreover, the consequences of the conflict depend on many objective and subjective factors, the nature of the parties’ behavior, methods for overcoming differences, and the skills of those who managed the conflict.

Thus, the main positive functions of social conflict are:

conflict does not allow the existing system of relations to freeze, ossify, it pushes it towards change and development, opens the way for innovations that can improve it;

it plays an informational and connecting role, since during the conflict its participants get to know each other better;

conflict contributes to the structuring of social groups, the creation of organizations, and the rallying of like-minded teams;

it relieves the “submission syndrome”, stimulates people’s activity;

it stimulates the development of personality, the growth of people’s sense of responsibility, their awareness of their importance;

in critical situations that arise during a conflict, previously unnoticed advantages and disadvantages of people are revealed, conditions are created for assessing people by their moral qualities - fortitude, courage, etc., for the promotion and formation of leaders;

the outbreak of conflict relieves underlying tension and gives it an outlet;

conflict performs a diagnostic function (sometimes it is even useful to provoke it in order to clarify the situation and understand the state of affairs).

The most important negative functions of conflict include:

deterioration of the social climate, decrease in labor productivity, dismissal of some employees in order to resolve the conflict;

inadequate perception and misunderstanding of each other by the conflicting parties;

decreased cooperation between conflicting parties during and after the conflict;

a spirit of confrontation that draws people into struggle and makes them strive more to win at all costs than to solve real problems and overcome differences;

material and emotional costs of conflict resolution.

the idea of ​​defeated opponents as enemies;

excessive involvement in the process of conflict interaction to the detriment of work;

difficult restoration of business relations (trail of conflict).

Whatever the outcome, the consequences of the conflict have a certain impact on the organization and its personnel. In this impact, as if in focus, the functions and significance of the conflict, its high expediency or, on the contrary, extreme inexpediency are manifested. It is important, while maintaining a scientific approach and objectivity, to avoid exaggeration in assessing both the positive and negative consequences of the conflict that occurred. The main task is to give the conflict as functional a positive character as possible, to minimize the inevitable damage from its negative consequences.

Causes of constructive conflicts. Usually these are shortcomings in organization and management. Let us list the shortcomings that most often lead to conflicts:

Unfavorable working conditions;

Imperfect remuneration system;

Irregularity of work (downtime, “storming”);

Overtime work;

Gaps in technology;

Lack of resources for tasks;

Inconsistency of rights and responsibilities;

Lack of clarity in the distribution of responsibilities, in particular ineffective, too vague or outdated instructions;

Low level of labor and performance discipline;

Conflict-prone (i.e., conducive to conflicts) organizational structures.

A positive resolution of a constructive conflict is, first of all, the elimination of shortcomings and the reasons that led to it. And since these reasons are objective, reflecting the imperfection of organization and management, then eliminating them means improvement. And business resolution of constructive conflicts is one of the ways to develop an organization.

^ Causes of destructive conflicts. Destructive conflicts are most often generated by subjective reasons. Such subjective reasons include: incorrect actions of the manager and subordinates; psychological incompatibility of individuals. The manager usually sees the unlawful actions of his subordinates better than his own erroneous actions (the overwhelming majority of people are designed that way, first of all they see mistakes in others).

In addition, the manager is the authority that must neutralize the mistakes of subordinates. Therefore, we will focus specifically on the erroneous actions of leaders that lead to destructive conflicts.

Erroneous actions of managers can be grouped into three groups: violations of official ethics; violations of labor legislation and unfair assessment by the manager of subordinates and the results of their work.

3. Behavior strategies in specific situations

When you are in a conflict situation, in order to more effectively solve the problem, you need to choose a certain style of behavior, taking into account your own style, the style of others involved in the conflict, as well as the nature of the conflict itself.

K-W. Thomas and R.H. Kilmen identified the following five typical strategies (styles) of behavior in conflict situations:

1. Adaptation (changing one’s position, restructuring Behavior, smoothing out contradictions, etc.).

2. Compromise (settlement of disagreements through mutual concessions).

3. Cooperation (joint development of a solution that satisfies the interests of all parties: albeit long-term and consisting of several stages, but beneficial to the cause).

4. Ignoring, avoiding conflict (the desire to get out of a conflict situation without resolving it).

5. Rivalry, competition (open struggle for one’s interests, persistent defense of one’s position).

Your style of behavior in a particular conflict is determined by the extent to which you want to satisfy your own interests (acting passively or actively) and the interests of the other party (acting jointly or individually). Below are recommendations for the appropriate use of one or another method of conflict resolution, depending on the specific situation. After indicating each behavioral strategy, situations in which this strategy is appropriate are listed.

1. Device:

the most important task is to restore calm and stability, not to resolve the conflict;

The subject of disagreement is more significant for the opponent than for you;
- the opportunity opens up to solve more complex problem situations compared to the one being considered now, but for now it is necessary to strengthen mutual trust;
- there is an opportunity to allow subordinates to act at their own discretion so that they acquire skills and abilities, learning from their own mistakes;
- it is necessary to admit that you are wrong;

Defending your point of view requires a lot of time and significant intellectual effort;

You are not particularly concerned about what happened;

You understand that the result is much more important than another person’s dachas than for you.

2. Compromise:

Both sides have equally compelling arguments;

It takes time to resolve complex issues;

It is necessary to make an urgent decision when there is a shortage of time;

Collaboration and directive assertion of one's point of view do not lead to success;

Both parties have equal power and have mutually exclusive interests;

You may be satisfied with a temporary solution;

Satisfying your desire does not matter too much to you, and you can slightly change the goal set at the beginning;

3. Cooperation:

It is necessary to find a common solution if each of the approaches to the problem is too important and does not allow for compromise options;

The main purpose of the discussion is to gain joint work experience and obtain broad information;

Integration of points of view and convergence of employee opinions is necessary;

It seems important to strengthen personal involvement in activities and group cohesion;

You have a close, long-term and interdependent relationship with the other party;

You have time to work on the problem (this is a good approach to resolving conflicts based on long-term plans);

You and your opponent want to bring some ideas to the table and work on

working solution.

4. Ignoring:

The source of disagreement is trivial and insignificant compared to more important issues;

It takes time to restore calm and create conditions for a sober assessment of the situation;

Studying the situation and seeking additional information about the nature of the conflict seems preferable to immediately making any decision;

The subject of the dispute is not relevant to the case, it leads to the side and at the same time is a symptom of other, more serious problems;

Subordinates can successfully resolve conflict themselves;

The tension is too great and you feel the need to ease the tension;

You know that you cannot or even do not want to resolve the conflict in your favor;

You have little power to solve the problem or to solve it in the way you want;

Trying to solve a problem immediately is dangerous because
Open discussion of the conflict can only worsen
situation.

5. Rivalry:

Quick and decisive action is required in case of unforeseen and dangerous situations;

When solving global problems related to operational efficiency (if the manager is confident that he is right);

There is interaction with subordinates who prefer an authoritarian style;

The outcome is very important to you, and you place a big bet on your solution to the problem;

You feel that you have no other choice and that you have nothing to lose.

Conflicts arise as a result of a mismatch in cooperation or family of various emotional states, methods of action, motives and needs.

Through conflicts, a person works through many problems - either personal or industrial. Therefore, the conflict cannot be assessed as an unambiguously negative phenomenon.

Constructive and destructive conflicts: characteristics

A conflict resolved in a timely manner significantly improves mutual understanding, and it is called constructive. And a long-term, ever-growing confrontation, which threatens to break all forms of communication, is precisely a negative phenomenon. Such situations should not be allowed either in the family or in the work team. But how to do that?

In many ways, conflict situations improve relationships in a group and strengthen relationships. From time to time, in any team, a “debriefing” is even necessary. Especially if this is a company where, in order to achieve a common result, the motives and goals of disparate departments must be taken into account.

A qualified manager knows how to manage conflicts; without control and proper leadership, no company will achieve either success or a strong position in the market.

A destructive conflict occurs when one of the participants crosses the social boundaries of what is permitted or deliberately aggravates an already acute situation.

The characteristics of destructive conflict are:

• all participants have mutually exclusive goals, finding a common denominator is extremely difficult;
• the parties make efforts to incite contradictions, and not to resolve them;
• there is no regulation, no one is puzzled by the search for regulating principles of behavior in this situation.

These are the main signs by which a constructive dispute is distinguished from a destructive one. The third point is considered the most important. Because in a constructive situation there is always a third party - arbitration, which is designed to improve relations.

So, what are the positive functions of mismatch situations identified in industrial conflictology?

• Team building. Having learned to value their work team, people are in no hurry to find another place. There is no staff turnover in production.
• Each participant begins to better understand the motives of the other and in the future learns to be guided not only by their own, but also by common goals. This means that the staff solves all problems more efficiently.
• Relieving tension. In a tense team, none of the participants enjoy their work.
• Incentive for development. Each team member learns, in the process of resolving a conflict, to find a balance between personal and social interests, which will undoubtedly be useful in later life.
• Subordinates get rid of the so-called obedience syndrome. It is easier for them to express their opinions, and people do not feel like “pawns”.

The destructive functions of conflict are as follows:

• Decreased motivation to work. Excessive and prolonged emotional stress of participants, which can lead to neuroticism of workers.
• Decreased discipline. When the showdown drags on, the work process stops.
• Deterioration of the emotional climate. It is very difficult to re-establish normal working relationships.
• One or more employees may quit.

It is difficult to single out only positive aspects in a tense confrontation. Usually one conflict has both positive and negative meanings for its participants. After all, they both have to compromise and lose something in the process of building relationships.

Development of a destructive conflict situation: stages

For both sides, the development of a destructive conflict is undesirable. Therefore, we will find out the mechanism of its development so that everyone knows how to avoid such incidents.

How does such a conflict develop? There are several stages, smoothly transitioning into one another, by which we can characterize the degree of neglect of the collision.

1. The emergence of a situation where the interests of the parties are in opposition to each other.
2. Awareness of conflict.
3. Development. At this stage, hidden confrontation can turn into open. Supporters may also be involved.
4. Expansion of the conflict. Increase in negative statements addressed to the other party.
5. Ending a conflict situation.

The mechanism for the development of constructive conflict is similar. Only in it the parties always come to mutual agreement as a result of a dispute. At the same time, both opponents change their attitudes and values.

A positive conflict occurs without an expansion stage. In most cases, it is resolved through calm negotiations.

But in the event of a destructive conflict, one of the parties ends up defeated and can accumulate strength for further confrontation in the name of “revenge.”

Signs of conflict escalation

When a conflict escalates, the atmosphere becomes so tense that the parties, in principle, cannot see any positive qualities in the other side.

In such a clash of interests, everyone considers the enemy an enemy. Naturally, mistrust arises, as well as the desire to blame the enemy for all failures. All participants on the opposing side are removed from the list of persons deserving ordinary human sympathy and participation.

These factors have an extremely negative impact on the psychological state of the warring parties. Also considered signs are the generalization of the conflict, the attraction of new participants to one’s side and the use of violence when other methods of influence are not enough.

Types of behavior in conflict

What models of behavior in conflict exist? There is a constructive model, a destructive and conformist one.

Destructive behavior in conflict is noted

• the desire to expand the conflict and involve new participants;
• humiliation of the personality of another (as a method of influence);
• violation of communication ethics;
• intimidation of an opponent;
• focusing on one’s own position and authority;
• using flattery and ingratiation.

The latter always shows passivity in a dispute and agrees with all demands, even contrary to her own values. This model is also not considered constructive, because when a person refuses his own position, responsibility for himself, he unintentionally becomes the cause of conflict.

Accentuation of character and type of behavior in conflict

During adolescence and adolescence, some distinctive character traits become clearly expressed. Then these characteristics (accentuations) leave an imprint on a person’s entire life, on the way he interacts with others and on his productive activities.

Accentuations are closely related to human behavior in a conflict situation. Typically, types with stronger emotionality and a desire for communication and dominance behave more aggressively in an argument and show rivalry. These are excitable, exalted and hyperthymic types of accentuation.

Cycloid types are more likely to compromise with their opponents. But opportunism and avoidance are chosen mainly by emotive individuals. Since their functions are to preserve public peace and be responsive to the problems of others.

Conflict resolution strategies

There are several types of strategy in conflict management. And depending on what strategy the opponents chose and how they showed themselves in the dispute, constructive and destructive conflict resolution are distinguished. In both cases the conflict is resolved. But a mutual solution as such in the event of its destructive completion was not found, or there were not even attempts to look for it, since one of the parties simply “broke” the opponent.

According to the strategy developed by Kenneth W. Thomas, there are only five ways to find a solution:

• avoidance;
• device;
• competition;
• compromise;
• cooperation.

Cooperation and compromise are the most successful strategies that allow all parties to the dispute to further actively develop. And avoidance and adaptation are more likely to aggravate confrontation than to resolve the issue.

An unmanaged conflict threatens both parties with a negative scenario for the development of relations in the future. If this is a conflict between 2 individuals, for example between a husband and wife, then over time it leads to a depressed state and disorganized behavior of each of them. A depressed person gets tired faster and copes worse with everyday responsibilities, which leads to an escalation of conflict and then the cessation of any relationship.

If we talk about the enterprise, there are several other extremely negative consequences. This is the loss of interest of employees in the direct production process, the inability to cooperate and dismissal.

How to resolve a long-term conflict?

Prolonged intense confrontations between groups completely destroy relationships. All members of the other group are considered enemies. This was confirmed by an experiment conducted in the early 1950s by a group of sociologists led by M. Sherif. The artificially created conflict situation between two camps of boys aged 9-12 years continued even after emotional release (they were allowed to swear). The only way to reconcile the guys was general occupational therapy. Common activity is the only method that experts have tested that has helped restore friendly relations between groups.

Social conflicts - constructive and destructive - are equally resolved by restoring mutual respect and trust. And this is possible precisely in work activity.