Conflict Arises From Differences.

When individuals come together in workteams their differences in terms of power, values and attitudes, and socialfactors all contribute to the creation of conflict. It is often difficultto expose the sources of conflict. Conflict can arise from numerous sourceswithin a team setting and generally falls into three categories:communication factors, structural factors and personal factors (Varney,1989). Barriers to communication are among the most important factors andcan be a major source of misunderstanding. Communication barriers includepoor listening skills; insufficient sharing of information; differences ininterpretation and perception; and nonverbal cues being ignored or missed.Structural disagreements include the size of the organization, turnoverrate, levels of participation, reward systems, and levels ofinterdependence among employees. Personal factors include things such as anindividual's self-esteem, their personal goals, values and needs. In orderfor conflict to be dealt with successfully, managers and team members mustunderstand its unpredictability and its impact on individuals and the teamas a whole.

Conflict in work teams is not necessarily destructive, however. Conflictcan lead to new ideas and approaches to organizational processes, andincreased interest in dealing with problems. Conflict, in this sense, canbe considered positive, as it facilitates the surfacing of important issuesand provides opportunities for people to develop their communication andinterpersonal skills. Conflict becomes negative when it is left to escalateto the point where people begin to feel defeated, and a combative climateof distrust and suspicion develops (Bowditch & Buono, 1997). Nelson (1995)cautions that negative conflict can destroy a team quickly, and oftenarises from poor planning. He offers this list of high potential areas fromwhich negative conflict issues commonly arise:

Resolving Conflict in Work Teams

A major advantage a team has over an individual is its diversity ofresources, knowledge, and ideas. However, diversity also produces conflict.As more and more organizations restructure to work teams the need fortraining in conflict resolution will continue to grow. Varney (1989)reports that conflict remained the number-one problem for most of the teamsoperating within a large energy company, even after repeated trainingsessions on how to resolve conflict and how to minimize the negative impacton team members. One reason for this may be that mangers and other leaderswithin organizations are not giving the issue of resolving conflict enoughattention. Varney's research showed that although most managers are awareof disagreements and have received training in conflict resolution, theyseldom assign a high priority to solving conflict problems. With this inmind, it is critical that team members possess skills to resolve conflictamong themselves.

Beckham Back To Real Madrid

David Beckham is back in the reckoning at Real Madrid after Fabio Capello reversed his decision to sideline the former England captain and included him in the squad for Saturday's league match at Real Sociedad.
Capello said Beckham's continued professionalism had persuaded him to backtrack on his pledge that the midfielder would never again play for Real following his announcement that he would be joining LA Galaxy at the end of the season.
We had doubts after he signed such an important contract with the American side," Capello told a news conference at Real's training base in Valdebebas.
"We doubted he could train with the same enthusiasm after that, but he has been training perfectly. He has always had the full support of his team mates. He has behaved like a great professional and is now returning to the squad.
"I'm counting on him until the end of the season."
Capello, whose position is under threat after back-to-back defeats in the league, said that the decision was his own and that he had not been pressured by either the players or the club's directors.
"It was down to Beckham's hard work and attitude. The intelligent thing to do is to correct things when mistakes are made. I spoke with him a week ago and again today. We are
very happy and he is too."
Club captain Raul, midfielder Guti and several other first team players had come out in support of Beckham in recent weeks saying he should continue playing until the end of his contract.
Beckham was embraced by several team mates including Raul after being given the news of his inclusion in the squad.
The 31-year-old midfielder said earlier this week he was desperate to play for Real again. "It is very hard for me because I would like to help the team," he told sports daily Marca.
"I'm desperate to play again ... I don't know if I will but I've got to keep on training. I want to leave this club on a high."
Spanish media have pointed to the fact that other players such as Barcelona's Javier Saviola and Valencia's Roberto Ayala, whose contracts also terminate at the end of the season, are still playing for their respective clubs. Beckham's last appearance for Real was when he came on as a substitute in their 2-0 defeat at Deportivo Coruna on January 7 a few days before announcing he had signed a five-year deal with LA Galaxy worth $250 million (128 million pounds

Beckham go MLS

Former England captain David Beckham is likely to make his Major League Soccer debut on August 5 when the Los Angeles Galaxy travel to Canada to take on the league's newest franchise Toronto FC.
According to the MLS schedule released on Tuesday, Beckham and the Galaxy will make stops in every league city except Dallas after he completes his contract with Real Madrid in mid-July.
Beckham has signed a five-year $250-million deal with Los Angeles.
Dallas could become the first North American city to welcome Beckham with the Galaxy scheduled to take on FC Dallas in a Super League clash in late July.
With the MLS schedule now confirmed, the announcement is likely to trigger another rush on ticket sales as fans look to catch a glimpse of the world's most recognizable soccer player.
News of Beckham's signing sparked a surge in ticket sales in Toronto with the club selling more than 3,000 seasons tickets in the days following the announcement.
The 12th MLS season will kick off on April 7 when four-times MLS Cup champion D.C. United visit the Colorado Rapids.