Dysfunctional dimension of Conflicts

In the last byte, we looked at the functional dimension of conflicts. In today's byte, we look at the dysfunctional dimension of conflicts.

Dysfunctional conflict as we mentioned is an unhealthy, destructive disagreement between two or more people. The issue with such a conflict is that it takes way the focus away from the work to be done and places the focus on the conflict itself and the parties involved.

Such excessive conflict drains energy that could be used more productively. The key aspect is identifying a dysfunctional conflict is that its origin is often emotional or behavioral. Disagreement that involves personalized anger and resentment directed at specific individuals rather than specific ideas are dysfunctional!

People with a dysfunctional behavior could generally be found to act before they think and they often rely on threats, deception, and verbal abuse to communicate.
 

In dysfunctional conflict, the losses to both the parties may exceed any potential benefit from the conflict. This emphasizes the interest in being able to diagnose such conflict early; we shall deal about this in the next byte.