“it is easier if you are a part of the conflict” : About team members‘ experiences of conflict management

Då konflikter i princip är oundvikliga i projekt och på arbetsplatser, är det en central fråga för organisationer (Tonnquist, 2016). Redan 1995 beskrevs det att konflikter kommer bli allt mer förekommande inom organisationer, oavsett branschtillhörighet, på grund av lojalitetsbrist mellan arbetstagare och arbetsgivare (Wall & Callister, 1995). Idag är teamarbete mer regel än undantag (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003) och arbetsformen team beskrivs som ytterligare en bidragande orsak till uppkomsten av konflikter (Wall & Callister, 1995). Då det saknas forskning som belyser teammedlemmens perspektiv och dennes upplevelser av konflikthantering är det ett ämne som är intressant att studera. Syftet med studien är således att bidra till ökad förståelse för hur teammedlemmar upplever konflikthantering. Teorier om konflikttyper, konflikthanteringsstilar samt temporalitet har i kombination med ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv använts för att uppfylla studiens syfte. För att bidra till ökad förståelse för fenomenet har en komparativ fallstudie om fyra fall genomförts. De fall som har studerats har varit teammedlemmar och empiri har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Fenomenet har studerats i kontexten team och organisation och för att sammanställa och analysera det empiriska materialet användes tematisk analys respektive tvärfallsyntes som verktyg. I studien framkommer bland annat att teammedlemmar upplever konflikter som någonting positivt, då konflikter kan bidra till utveckling av individers förmåga att förstå människor eller utveckling av teamets prestation. Det har argumenterats för att anammandet av vissa konflikthanteringsstilar leder till uppkomst av nya konflikter (DeChurch, Hamilton & Haas, 2007) men i denna studie framkommer att dessa stilar också kan användas för att motverka uppkomsten av dessa konflikter.As conflicts more or less are inevitable in projects and workplaces, it is a central issue for organizations (Tonnquist, 2016). As early as in 1995, conflicts were described as becoming increasingly prevalent, due to lack of loyalty between employees and employers (Wall & Callister, 1995). Today, teamwork is the exception that proves the rule (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003) and teamwork as a way of working is described as another contributing factor to the emergence of conflicts (Wall & Callister, 1995). As there is no research that highlights the team member’s perspectives and their experiences of conflict management, this is an interesting subject to study. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to contribute to an increased understanding of how team members experience conflict management. Theories about types of conflict, conflict management styles and temporality, in combination with a phenomenological perspective, have been used to fulfill the aim of the study. In order to contribute to an increased understanding of the phenomenon, a comparative case study of four cases has been carried out. The cases that have been studied have been team members and empirical data have been collected through semi-structured interviews. The phenomenon has been studied in the context team and organization. To compile and analyze the empirical data, thematic analysis and cross case synthesis were used as tools. The study reveals, among other things, that team members experience conflicts as something positive, since conflicts can contribute to the development of individuals' ability to understand people or a team's performance. It has been argued that the adoption of certain conflict management styles leads to the emergence of new conflicts (DeChurch, Hamilton & Haas, 2007) but this study shows that these styles can also be used to counteract the emergence of these conflicts. Furthermore, this study shows that managers as third parties have an important role in the management of conflict situations and by taking part of this study, managers can become aware of the consequences of their actions. Finally, the study reveals that when team members manage conflicts themselves, they use their precious experiences concerning conflicts. It has previously been discussed that temporality should be included in the theories used (Hernes, Simpson & Söderlund, 2013) and this study also acknowledges that the time perspective should be integrated into existing theories of conflict and conflict management