1. What are several sources of conflict in an organization?
Different understandings are at the root of many sources of conflicts. A misunderstanding in a directive by a supervisor may result in a conflict. For example, we were instructed this past week by the family planning nurse practitioner to process all of the patients as they arrived for the walk-in clinic. Intake specialists were under instruction to accept the first six (6) patients on Thursday afternoon, process them all immediately and give each patient an appointment time based on their order of arrival. We were able to process them all within about forty-five (45) minutes. We delivered their files in order to the nurse practitioner. We told each patient their appointment times and told them to be back within twenty (20) minutes of their designated time. As the nurses came out to get each patient that had been processed, they soon realized that some of the patients had left the building as their wait time in the clinic might be a couple of hours. We had only instructed them that they needed to be back before their appointments, not that they had to wait in the clinic. The nurses were upset as every other patient they were calling back to the clinic was not there. The clinic supervisor soon became upset as he did not understand why the patients were not there when they were called. The nurses were upset also. On our part, we had done as we were told and made “walk-in appointments”. There was a distinct disconnect in exactly what the “walk-in” part was supposed to mean that particular day. We understood our directives differently than they were actually intended.
Actions of an individual that are threatening or disruptive are sources of conflict. This seems to be a very petty conflict, but it is a continual source of disruption in my department. We have a policy (!) that if everyone is present in the department, that there must be two (2) check-in areas open at all times. This...