Organizational Behavior

Module 7: Effective Workplace Communication

Conflict and Negotiation
Module Learning Outcomes
Discuss appropriate technological tools, methods, and styles of communication in
the workplace; strategies for managing conflict and negotiation in the workplace
7.1: Describe the key components of effective communication in contemporary organizational
life
7.2: Discuss the importance of technology and various methods of communication available
7.3: Discuss the other issues in workplace communication
7.4: Describe why conflict resolution, "crucial conversations," and other higher stakes
communication is necessary to study in organizations
7.5: Discuss the history of negotiating techniques within organizational behavior
1. Key Components of Communication

Describe the key components of effective communication in

contemporary organizational life
• Define the functions of organizational communication
• Describe the communication process
• Analyze direction of communication within an organization
• Discuss types of communication within an organization
• Analyze barriers to effective communication
v

Control Emotional
Expression

Motivation Information
v
v

Horizontal
(between peers)

Downward Upward
(from leader to (from subordinate to
subordinate) leader)
v
• Interpersonal communication
• Oral communication
• Written communication
• Non-verbal communication
• Facial expressions
• Gestures
• Proximity to receiver
• Touch
• Eye contact
• Appearance
• Tone and inflection
v
v

Perceptual bias Organizational barriers

v
Practice Question 1
What purposes does communication serve within
an organization?

A. Control, motivation, information, emotional

expression

B. Clear, concise, objective, consistent, complete

C. Sender, message, receiver, noise, feedback

D. Encoding, decoding, noise, feedback

Practice Question 2
How is “decoding” defined in the communication feedback loop?

A. When encoding and decoding don’t happen seamlessly and the meaning is
misunderstood

B. When the speaker puts his thoughts into words, verbally or on paper

C. When the receiver translates the speaker’s message

D. When the receiver clarifies the message he received with additional questions
Practice Question 3
If Georgie makes suggestions on how a particular work process can be improved,
and his manager doesn’t listen because he feels that Georgie is usually lazy and
uninformed, then what barrier has gotten in the way of successful communication?

A. Perceptual bias

B. Organizational barriers

C. Inactive listening

D. Effective feedback
Practice Question 4
What is the definition of downward communication?

A. A message between people at the same level in an organization.

B. A message from a manager to a subordinate.

C. A message from a subordinate to a manager.

D. A message between a business and the outside world.

2. Communicating with Technology

Discuss the importance of technology and various methods of

communication available
• Discuss written technologies useful for communication
• Compare and contrast common tools for audio communication
• Compare and contrast common tools for video communication
• Compare and contrast common tools for screen / web sharing
• Explore multifeature online platforms / virtual office spaces
v
• Email
• Instant Messaging
• Intranet
• Social Media
v • C
e ll
sm pho
• V artph ne an
oic one d
Inte e O s
Pro rnet ver
( V O t oc ol
• C I P)
onf
pho eren
• C ne s c e
onf
s e r e re n
• G vices cing
oog
le V
oic
e
v
• Camera
• Computer
• Video conferencing platform
v
• Screen sharing/web sharing
• Multi-feature online platforms
Other Concerns in Workplace
Communication
3. Other Concerns in Workplace Communication

Discuss the other issues in workplace communication

• Discuss ethics in communication
• Discuss the importance of staying connected with colleagues and other
professionals in the digital age
v

• Honesty
• Refrain from doing harm
• Fairness to all stakeholders
v

• Document and work sharing tools

• Private messaging and “chat” tools
• Video communication tools
Practice Question 6
Tobacco companies are required to communicate that the practice of consuming
their products may lead to physical conditions like emphysema or lung cancer. This
is an example of which element of ethical communication?

A. fairness to stakeholders

B. refrain from doing harm

C. honesty

D. clarity
Quick Review
• Organizational communication provides four functions – control, motivation, information and
emotional expression
• When communicating, one must consider not only the sender, receiver and message, but
noise that distorts the message and feedback given for clarity
• Organizational communication travels in three directions – upward, downward and horizontal
• Individuals can communicate verbally, non-verbally and in writing
• Perceptual bias and organizational barriers often prevent clear communication
• Types of technology affect communication and all have pros and cons
• Ethics are important – remember honesty, refrain from harm and fairness to all stakeholders
in every communication
4. Conflict Management

Describe why conflict resolution, "crucial conversations," and other

higher stakes communication is necessary to study in organizations
• Define conflict
• Differentiate among types of conflict
• Identify stages of the conflict process
• Discuss the appropriate use of various conflict management styles
• Identify organizational sources of conflict
v
Conflict is perception: it only exists
if the person experiencing it feels
that it is conflict
v
Benefits of Conflict
• High energy
• Task focus
• Cohesiveness within the group
• Discussion of issues
Disadvantages of Conflict
• Teams losing focus of common goals
• Winning eclipses any other goals of the
group
• Distorted judgment
• Lack of cooperation
• Losing members lack motivation to
continue participation
v
• Traditional view

• Humanistic view

• Interactionist view
v
• Interpersonal

• Intrapersonal

• Intergroup

• Intragroup
v
v
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• Goal incompatibility and
differentiation

• Interdependence
• Uncertainty and resource scarcity
• Reward systems
Practice Question 1
Which view is the way we view conflict today, and how we view it in discussions of
this module?

A. The Traditionalist View

B. The Competitive View

C. The Human Relations View

D. The Interactionist View

Practice Question 2
What are the four types of conflict?

A. Interpersonal and intrapersonal, intergroup and intragroup

B. Incompatibility, intentions, behavior and outcome

C. Interactionist, Traditionalist, Competitive, and Human Relations

D. Personal, group, competitive, and organizational

Practice Question 3
Which is the stage at which conflict truly becomes evident?

A. Outcomes

B. Cognition and personalization stage

C. Behavior

D. Intentions stage
Practice Question 4
Which is the only approach to conflict management that provides a win-win
situation for both parties?

A. Compromise

B. Collaboration

C. Competing

D. Avoiding
Practice Question 5
If the finance department is told by senior management to balance the budget to the
penny, and then the sales department is told to wine and dine clients to get their
business at almost any cost, this could be an example of what kind of organizational
conflict?
A. Goal incompatibility and differentiation
B. Interdependence
C. Uncertainty and resource scarcity
D. Reward systems
5. Negotiation
Discuss the history of negotiating techniques within organizational
behavior
• Discuss how negotiating is different from managing conflict
• Describe the stages in the process of negotiation
• Compare various types of negotiating strategies
• Identify issues in negotiating
• Discuss third-party negotiations
v
• The parties involved are somehow
interdependent

• The parties are each looking to achieve the best

possible result in the interaction for themselves

• The parties are motivated and capable of

influencing one another

• The parties believe they can reach an

agreement
v
• Distributive negotiation:
aims for maximizing
personal benefits

• Integrated negotiation:
aims for mutual gain
v
v

• Separate the people from the problem

• Focus on interests, not positions

• Invent options for mutual gain

• Insist on using objective criteria

• Understand your “BATNA”

v
• Value the perceptions and emotions of others

• Think of yourself as the least important person

in the negotiation

• “Make emotional payments”

v

• “Tactical empathy”

• Engage in solving the other person’s

problem

• Mirroring

• Baiting the “no”

v

• Personality

• Gender

• Cultural differences
v

• Selective disclosure
• Misrepresentation
• Deception and lying
• False threats and false promises
• Inflicting direct or indirect harm
v

• Winner’s curse

• Mythical fixed pie

• Overconfidence

• Irrational escalation of commitment

v

• Arbitrators

• Conciliators

• Consultants

• Mediators
Practice Question 6

A negotiation takes place, and one person walks away with everything she wants at
the cost of the other individual’s settlement. What kind of negotiation is this?

A. Distributive negotiation

B. Integrative negotiation

C. Interdependent negotiation

D. Under these conditions, negotiation cannot exist

Practice Question 7

If a negotiator wants to take the opportunity to education the other party on her
position, she should do this during which stage of the negotiation process?

A. Planning and preparing

B. Clarification and justification

C. Bargaining and problem solving

D. Closure and implementation

Practice Question 8

In Diamond’s and Voss’ negotiation strategies, which of Ury and Fisher’s principles
has a stronger and more important focus?

A. Focus on interests, not positions

B. Invent options for mutual gains

C. Insist on using objective criteria

D. Separate the problem from the people

Practice Question 9

When a negotiator continues to negotiate for a solution long after it’s been proven to
be the wrong solution, this is called ______________.

A. Overconfidence

B. Mythical fixed pie

C. Irrational escalation of commitment

D. Winner’s curse
Practice Question 10

Which kind of third-party negotiator acts as a go-between and relates information to

one side from another, without any real involvement in the negotiation?

A. Mediation

B. Consultation

C. Conciliation

D. Arbitration
Quick Review
• Conflict Management
• There are four types of conflict
• Conflict has five stages– no matter what type of conflict you’re experiencing
• Choose your conflict management style by weighing the importance of the relationship vs. the
importance of the outcome
• Negotiation
• Negotiating and conflict management are different
• Negotiation also has five stages
• A negotiator can approach a situation with several different strategies, but s/he should definitely
focus on people
• Third party negotiators are available to assist with difficult negotiations