The Lawyers Weekly - April 1, 2011

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
April 1, 2011 | 13

There’s a lot of conflict in our organization and it seems to be getting worse. I’ve heard of designing a system to manage conflict. What is that? How do I know whether my organization needs that? — A manager

An organization can manage conflict effectively so as to reduce costs, increase the satisfaction of employees, contractors and suppliers and thus improve the competitive advantage of the organization.

Just like conflict between individuals, organizational conflict is a fact of life, neither good nor bad. Organizational conflict is a barometer, a measure of dissatisfaction. A dispute or cluster of disputes is one product of unresolved conflict but is not the only one. Organizational conflict may also show up as unhealthy aggressive competition or withholding information between divisions or between individuals; sabotage; lack of productivity; or low morale.

Resolving individual disputes will likely contribute to a more comfortable work environment for the individuals involved. At the same time, it will not likely lead to overall improvement in the organization’s management of conflict. The problem is being defined too narrowly. It’s like treating only the wounds on a person with cancer who was injured in a car accident. You need to stop the bleeding and concurrently keep your attention on the overall health of the entity.

KATHRYN
MUNN

Whether you are a manager, employee, union representative or a legal professional advising them, you may have found yourself experiencing the concern of the manager quoted at the top.

Costs of conflict

An organization instinctively tends to respond to conflict with a fight or flight response, whether it is consciously identified or not. A fight response might be spending money on extensive lawsuits or not bothering to deal with an unhappy group of employees because they are considered undeserving of the investment. A flight response might be transferring “problem” employees to another department or blindly ignoring all manifestations of conflict in the organization.

Organizations are increasingly analyzing their dispute resolution costs in time and money, as well as the negative effects on relationships inside and outside the organization. In difficult economic times, there is even more pressure to consider alternatives.

Conflict management systems

Every organization has a sys-
tem by which it considers and
resolves dissatisfaction. Whether
it is done consciously or not, that
is a conflict management system,
one of many systems within the
organization and linked, how-
ever effectively, with the other
systems in the organization.

Improving conflict
management systems

The first step is to identify what exists in the organization for all aspects of its management of conflict. Hovering in a metaphoric helicopter over the organization creates the opportunity to examine the conflict management system within the whole organization.

Conflict can be a difficult topic,
and for some people it is more
comfortable to deal with other
systems like the financial man-
agement or work process systems.
This may be a reason why the
conflict management system is
sometimes left out of organiza-
tional improvement efforts, even
though efforts at organizational
improvement often spark
increased conflict.

Kathryn Munn of Munn Conflict Resolution Services is a mediator, facilitator and arbitrator based in London, Ont., experienced in the prevention, management and resolution of conflict for businesses and nonprofit organizations.

We want to hear from you! Email us at: tlw@lexisnexis.ca 

Arbitrators ‘do have other ways’ to remedy unfairness

Turner
Continued From Page 9

The matter ended up before the B.C. Supreme Court, which dismissed Premium’s appeal, holding that it should be up to the Legislature to “effect the necessary legislative changes to remedy this deficiency.” The Court of Appeal also dismissed Premium’s arguments that the power or jurisdiction to dismiss for want of prosecution can and should be inferred from the obligation, confirmed expressly in the Act, of an arbitration tribunal to observe the rules of natural justice.

“In my view, the Domestic Commercial Arbitration Rules of Procedure are sufficient to meet the requirements of natural justice, and it is unnecessary to introduce what would amount to an inherent jurisdiction into the arbitral process — a means of dispute resolution that is intended to be distinct from the processes followed by courts of law and administrative tribunals,” said Justice Mary Newbury.

Unlike B.C., some Canadian
provinces such as Alberta, New
Brunswick and Ontario have
enacted an express provision
that permits an arbitration tri-
bunal to dismiss the matter
before it for want of prosecution,
noted Kenneth Glasner, a barris-
ter and solicitor with more than
40 years of experience in arbitra-
tion and mediation.

Gus Richardson is pleased to offer his services as an arbitrator and mediator throughout the Maritimes and Ontario from his Halifax practice, Ad+Rem ADR Services. + With over 20 years litigation experience at all levels of courts in Nova Scotia and Ontario, Gus is also a Nova Scotia Small Claims Court adjudicator. Gus brings those skills to his practice as an arbitrator and mediator in labour, insurance, personal injury, commercial and condominium disputes.