Team Dynamics and Conflict Resolution
Team Dynamics and Conflict Resolution
The idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts is becoming more than simply an adage for many in the workforce. Team based-work has begun to permeate business organizations like never before, and according to the University of Phoenix (2004) teamwork is "Among the more noteworthy and promising approaches for achieving the dual goals of higher productivity and increased worker satisfaction ." (p. 2) Even as more and more companies shift their organizations to fit a team-based structure, Cole, Schaninger and Harris (2002) note that the management research field lacks extensive background material on the subject. In an effort to address this deficiency, they present the Workplace Social Exchange Network (WSEN). The WSEN attempts to understand not only the social exchanges between the individual, their supervisor, and their work organization, but to also include exchanges between the individual and his or her work team that enhance positive employee decisions.
With the WSEN as a framework for understanding team dynamics, predicting a variety of factors that can affect the effectiveness of the team becomes possible. Still, some additional influences from an individual's background can also affect team dynamics. Lack of communication, different work ethics, and interpersonal conflicts are just a few examples. More importantly, broader groups of individuals categorized by race, sex, and even age can have profoundly different views on which social exchanges are most important. Does the WSEN model account for these background influences? By comparing workers from two different generations using the WSEN model, the answers may be forthcoming.
The decision to focus on differences between the generations that currently make up the workforce is twofold. First, generational influences tend to cross the lines of race and gender. Every generation has characteristics they share in common that supersede other
The idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts is becoming more than simply an adage for many in the workforce. Team based-work has begun to permeate business organizations like never before, and according to the University of Phoenix (2004) teamwork is "Among the more noteworthy and promising approaches for achieving the dual goals of higher productivity and increased worker satisfaction ." (p. 2) Even as more and more companies shift their organizations to fit a team-based structure, Cole, Schaninger and Harris (2002) note that the management research field lacks extensive background material on the subject. In an effort to address this deficiency, they present the Workplace Social Exchange Network (WSEN). The WSEN attempts to understand not only the social exchanges between the individual, their supervisor, and their work organization, but to also include exchanges between the individual and his or her work team that enhance positive employee decisions.
With the WSEN as a framework for understanding team dynamics, predicting a variety of factors that can affect the effectiveness of the team becomes possible. Still, some additional influences from an individual's background can also affect team dynamics. Lack of communication, different work ethics, and interpersonal conflicts are just a few examples. More importantly, broader groups of individuals categorized by race, sex, and even age can have profoundly different views on which social exchanges are most important. Does the WSEN model account for these background influences? By comparing workers from two different generations using the WSEN model, the answers may be forthcoming.
The decision to focus on differences between the generations that currently make up the workforce is twofold. First, generational influences tend to cross the lines of race and gender. Every generation has characteristics they share in common that supersede other