GRADUATE SCHOOL

EDUC 307 – Management of Behavior in Organization

Prepared by:

RAYMOND D. GARCIA
MAED – EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Submitted to:

MARIA MERLINA R. MARIANO

PROFESSOR
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INTRODUCTION

Being a manager or a head of a school is not an easy task, a responsibility

which deals with different behaviors of your subordinates or co-workers. Engaging them

to be more productive to achieve and accomplish the goal of the organization is not as

easy as pie. Expectations drives behavior. Workplace tension is inevitable and increases

as demands and stress rise. Every organization has conflict, there’s no such thing as

perfect organization who doesn’t have a variance. At one time or another, all of us engage

in disagreement or conflict at work. It can range from an argument with a co-worker to a

strategic disagreement with our school head that goes too far. The common thread is the

insidious impact workplace conflict has on employee engagement, morale and

productivity. That’s why a good leader has to be good in handling and managing the

behavior of his or her subordinates managing personalities and creating a cohesive work

environment. When conflict arises in the workplace it is inevitable. It takes some careful

crafting of policies, as well as genuine self-reflection, to set the mood/tune back on track.

In this case study, I am going to find out and identify what are the common

conflicts aside from behavior that can affect an organization/school and on how to deal

with this problem positively to be able to resolve the conflicts and create a conducive

work environment.
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My Workplace

Pinagbayanan Elementary School is my fourth school assignment since I was got

permanent as Teacher I in DepED Nueva Ecija. Ever since in my past station I can easily

get hang out with my other co-teachers and get to know them easily, but my present

school which is Pinagbayanan is not much as the same with my past stations. My co-

teachers in Pinagbayanan E/S is unlike my other school assignment wherein most of the

teachers here are too old and superior. Being the youngest and newbie “salta” in the

school, the burdens comes to me when it comes to school reports, submission of test

results, item analysis and even their personal files to be typed and computerized and I

have nothing to be accompany. I work as one in many activities during the school days,

coordinators of different subject areas wherein I am also the one who attend most of the

meetings even I don’t handle that coordinator ship. It is very hard to fulfill not because I

work alone but we don’t have yet a principal or a school head to supervised us in the

school due to that the principal in this school is not yet installed. Aside from being the

“utusan”, they always reason out that I am young and have the skills they don’t have

because they are old and nearly to retire. They always told me, “ Ikaw na gumawa nyan,

bata ka pa naman, saka ikaw ang magaling sa computer”. As a new teacher in that school,

I can’t say NO to them because of respect and I want to be good to them so I would be

belong in the family. But sadly, they rely on me most of the time, and I can’t even do my

other things to be done.

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Last October, we have been given and installed a new school head in our school,

gladly a better way to fix and arrange the duties inside the school. It is good thing for me

and I will be benefited to that, it will lessen my workloads YES!. But as under the new

administration of the school head, my co-teachers has been shocked or “nawindang” on

her style of management. Some are good with that but some didn’t like her way of

managing the school especially when it comes to their subject coordinator ships and

reports. Times goes by, I felt that the school workplace environment is not balance and

there is a tension between the head and with the other co-teachers because of the

changes that they can’t controlled, duties and responsibilities that they don’t want to do

in the past. As a result, their emotions and feelings persuade their productivity at work.

When it comes to meeting, there is always who is against with the plan who is agreed by

majority, there is an opposite who criticize the plan. With that kind of workplace, how a

teacher can do this best if the workplace is pure of tension and conflicts against the head

and its co-teachers.

In line with this, I want to elaborate the things that trigger the workplace conflict

and think of the best possible solution to fix and resolve the conflict inside the

organization that I am belong.

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The Sources of Conflicts

Three factors are determined that are discord caused of conflict in the

school organization and workplace:

First, is the personal conflict between the teachers to other co-teacher,

school head versus the teachers/subordinates. Personal conflict between two

people, most often from a mutual dislike or personality clash. Causes for

workplace conflict can be personality or style differences and personal problems,

organizational factors such as leadership, management, budget, and

disagreement about core values can also contribute. Interpersonal level includes

disputes between peers as well as supervisor-subordinate conflict. This occurs

typically due to how people are different from one another. We have varied

personalities which usually results to incompatible choices and opinions.

Apparently, it is a natural occurrence which can eventually help in personal

growth or developing your relationships with others.

Second, Intrapersonal conflict occurs within an individual. The experience

takes place in the person’s mind. Hence, it is a type of conflict that is

psychological involving the individual’s thoughts, values, principles and

emotions. Furthermore, this type of conflict can be quite difficult to handle if you
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find it hard to decipher your inner struggles. It leads to restlessness and

uneasiness, or can even cause depression.

Third, is the intragroup conflict - Conflict arises in groups because of the

scarcity of freedom, position, and resources. People who value independence

tend to resist the need for interdependence and, to some extent, conformity

within a group. People who seek power therefore struggle with others for

position or status within the group. Rewards and recognition are often perceived

as insufficient and improperly distributed, and members are inclined to compete

with each other for these prizes.

Lastly, is the intergroup conflict, one of the most prominent reasons for

intergroup conflict is simply the nature of the group. Other reasons may be work

interdependence, goal variances, differences in perceptions, and the increased

demand for specialists. Also, individual members of a group often play a role in

the initiation of group conflict. Any given group embodies various qualities,

values, or unique traits that are created, followed, and even defended. These

clans can then distinguish "us" from "them." Members who violate important

aspects of the group, and especially outsiders, who offend these ideals in some

way, normally receive some type of corrective or defensive response.

Relationships between groups often reflect the opinions they hold of each
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other's characteristics. When groups share some interests and their directions

seem parallel, each group may view the other positively; however, if the

activities and goals of groups differ, they may view each other in a negative

manner.

Possible Ways of Managing Conflict/Problems in the

School Organization/Workplace

Conflict may seem to be a problem to some, but this isn’t how conflict

should be perceived. On the other hand, it is an opportunity for growth and can

be an effective means of opening up among groups or individuals. However, when

conflict begins to draws back productivity and gives way to more conflicts, then

conflict management would be needed to come up with a resolution.

1. Understand and evaluate people's emotional responses When employees have strong

emotional reactions to a workplace dispute, their whole internal defense mechanism

may resort to a fight or flight reaction, and their ability to think and reason will typically

take second place. The best strategy is to communicate with those involved after the

anger and upset has dissipated. Arguing with someone who is emotionally triggered

usually leads nowhere.

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2. Be self-aware Are you a conflict avoider or an aggressive leader? Be aware of who you

are, how you deal with conflict, and the significant impact you are having on the

situation. Not everyone may respond well to your style and there will be times where

you may need to adapt and demonstrate better leadership.

3. Consider the views of all parties involved No one wants to be told they are wrong. In

fact, dialogue is often halted when someone is made to be wrong. Are the leaders in

your organization creating conflict by not allowing others to have a voice or make

contributions? Are team members too righteous to foster team work? It's important to

always consider different points of view.

4. Get to the root of the issue Sometimes a conflict is a manifestation of a deeper issue,

either at the management level or on the ground. A great resource is the 1981 classic

bestselling book Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger

Fisher and William L. Ury. It provides a simple step-by-step method for getting to the

source of the issue and moving beyond it.

5. Accept people for who they are and who they are not People process information and

make decisions differently. Knowing how your team members approach their work

provides invaluable understanding, allowing them to draw on the strength of others

rather than discredit their work styles or habits.

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6. Implement regular feedback meetings Consider implementing weekly "open sessions"

for the sole purpose of brainstorming what is working and what isn't. This will allow you

to address issues when they are small before they escalate.

7. Have the team create a conflict resolution protocol where everyone buys in People

tend to accept what they helped to create. Investing the time to create a conflict

resolution protocol will pay huge dividends in the long run.

8. Have the team adopt communication guidelines Not all forms of communications are

acceptable in the workplace. Have your team recognize unacceptable and

counterproductive manners of communication and create guidelines that they are

willing to abide by. Include yourself in this exercise because you may be communicating

in a way that is not fostering open dialogue, which in the long run may be the source of

much conflict within the organization.

9. Be vigilant and enforce the measures that the team developed No one likes to deal

with conflict or reprimand people. However, once there are clear conflict resolution and

communication guidelines, they must be implemented in a strategic and consistent way.

10. Do you have the right people? If a team member is not functioning well or is creating

conflict, evaluate if that person's skills would be better suited for a different team or

position, or whether that person fits in at your organization.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

Conflict is often inevitable in many situations. They may concern petty ones to the
more serious ones which can lead to hostility among individuals. The fact of the matter
is, conflict is something that we live with. You cannot expect two people or groups to
agree all the time. In one way or another, we are faced with many types of conflict in our
day to day lives. However, conflict should not be seen as purely negative. It can become
an opportunity for better things and open up opportunities, if dealt with properly. It isn’t
as easy as it seems though. Hence, this is where conflict resolution comes in.

The initial question would concern what conflict resolution is. What is it anyway?
It actually is an end which has been brought about by conflict management. It is seen as
a peaceful solution to individuals and groups that are in conflict. There are a lot of means
and strategies involved in dealing with conflict, and all of these aim to come up with a
resolution to it. Resolving a conflict may take time and this will ultimately depend on its
scale. Hence, a person who intends to acts as a mediator to parties in conflict need to
have skills and know the strategies necessary to resolve conflict. There are even available
trainings for those who intend to acquire these skills.

Oftentimes, when we find ourselves in conflict with other people, we seem to get
into a regressive and aggressive state. In such a case, we tend to become irrational and
just unreasonable so that we could get out of the conflict based on what we deem is right.
This kind of behavior is quite understandable but it shouldn’t be something to be
tolerated. Hence, it is important for the parties involve to pay attention to how a conflict
can come to an end in a healthy manner. In line with this, there are ten strategies for
conflict resolution shared to us by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment
which you could check through this link. The strategies stated on the link would be
efficient guidelines to anyone who needs to be guided on how conflict should be dealt
with.

Conflict is a concept familiar to most of us. Hence, we are aware of the

consequences that it can cause if it is mishandled. Thus, knowing how to go around a
conflict by efficiently implementing conflict management is important for it to be
resolved. Keep in mind that with the resolution of conflict comes an opportunity for
growth, may it be personally or professionally.

Resources: http://www.typesofconflict.org/conflict-resolution/