Having a clear understanding of your own personal values will help you to manage these conflict situations.
It can be challenging when your personal values conflict with those of your organization, or when there are conflicting values between individuals or sub-groups. Value differences can exist, for example, about how to perform jobs, the nature of reward systems, or the degree of intimacy in work relationships. Having a clear understanding of your own personal value will help you to manage these conflict situations. If you are clear about your own values, you can act with integrity and practice what you preach regardless of emotional or social pressure.
To address a conflict situation, first make sure you are aware of, understand, and are tolerant of the value differences held by the other parties. This will help you to determine whether the value conflict is, in fact, irresolvable and will require personnel changes, or whether compromises and adjustments can be made to accommodate the different perspectives.
Values can be classified into two types: terminal and instrumental. Terminal values (your “ends” in life) are desirable ends or goals, such as a comfortable, prosperous life, world peace, great wisdom, or salvation. Instrumental values (the “means” to those ends) are beliefs about what behaviors are appropriate in striving for desired goals and ends. Consider a manager who works extra hours to help deliver a customers rush order. The attitude displayed is a willingness to help a customer with a problem. The value that serves as the foundation for this attitude might be that of service to others.
ACTION POINT: Understand the roles that values play in conflicts.
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