"IF you lose you turn to ashes, if you win you become charcoal" is the literal meaning to the proverb that is meaningful in life and in an organisation. It reflects that any party that is in conflict and dispute will not reap any benefit or profit from the conflict that arises.

Conflicts can occur from a storm in a teacup. However, if it is let to persist, it will cause serious damage and destruction. If it happens in one's personal life, it can affect a relationship, ruin the family institution and leave a crack on a marriage. If it happens at the workplace, it can destroy a sense of harmony, the whole organisational operation and its performance.

Conflicts often lead the losers to step back and the winners to move on further, but it does not give any guarantee to the organisation's future. Sometimes, the employees who step back are the best ones who have experienced self-development and career with the organisation.

All of these incur certain costs for the organisation. The ones who stay will exert a certain pressure to other individuals and threaten on their comfort and convenience at the workplace. Thus, winning against the conflict does not mean anything as it can leave a scar to some people. 

Reality also has it that success will be short-lived when it is built upon distrust, sabotage, hatred, jealousy and hostility. A conflict is ignited from various factors such as power and responsibility ambiguity, causing the management of the organization to become unclear.

This lack of clarity in terms of the power and responsibility leads to the arising conflict linked with the chain of orders and communication. Apart from that, the different goals among the employees which make it hard for an organization to achieve the supposed objectives also cause conflict. This happens when the acceptance and the understanding differ from one individual to another towards the goals of the organization.

These different assumptions among individuals on a situation can also become the reason for a conflict. These varying assumptions are also accompanied by self-principles, which further solidify the conflict among employees. Next, the competition between individuals and groups can also trigger a conflict. It becomes even more obvious when employees or groups receive different treatments at the workplace.

A conflict cannot be avoided, but it can be minimized. How? One way is to use the avoidance strategy. In this situation, an individual does not carry out anything to fulfill his or her own want or desire, or even other people's wants or desire. They are not concerned with the issue that causes the conflict or no longer pay attention to the different opinions and the dispute. Normally, this strategy will fail to resolve the conflict.

The adaptation strategy can be employed if one party is willing to cooperate with others but not to fulfill only one party's desire. In this strategy, the conflicting parties tolerate with one another and try to reduce the attention on the needs of both parties, whether it requires high level of cooperation or coercion. This strategy can satisfy both parties as both may fail to resolve the conflict completely.

The coercion strategy is the stage of high competition where the conflicting party is able to focus assertively on the personal needs, views, and hopes and they do not give up easily. It can either resolve the conflict or it will end with failure.

Communicative and negotiation skills are the most ideal methods to resolve conflict. Studies on organizational behavior show that communication and negotiation are suitable when the conflict involves important issues, the needs or views of both parties prioritised, when a creative solution is required and when the commitment to the solution is crucial.

Whatever strategy is adopted to minimize the conflict, it will fail if individuals are not ready to let go of their own self-interests and principles. The sustainability and well-being of the organization will be affected if the conflict that starts from a storm in the teacup is deemed trivial or taken lightly.

Ongoing conflicts will not promise any good outcome to the conflicting parties. What will remain will merely be the ashes and the charcoal.

The writer is Professor of HRM and Organisational Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2021/02/665688/workplace-conflict-choice-between-ashes-charcoal