1. What types of conflict is the team experiencing in the challenge video?
2. What aspects of the negotiation process would best resolve the conflict and why would this work?
3. What conflict resolution behaviors would you use as a manager to address this situation? Explain your answer.
Imagine being part of a team of two other coworkers experiencing negative task conflict as they try to finalize the design of a new toy before an imminent deadline. One team member is focused on making the toy of maximum quality and the other is focused on the conflicting goal of making the toy at the lowest cost. One of the team members is getting frustrated and feels that the team should be making better progress. The coworker asks you if there is anything the team can do to be more effective. What do you say or do? Go to this chapter's "Now What?" video, watch the challenge video, and choose a response. Be sure to also view the outcomes of the two responses you didn't choose.
OB Concepts Applied: Negative task conflict; goal conflict; shared goals; perspective taking; creating solutions; expressing emotions; reaching out; avoidance.