$6.$ Functional vs$.$ Dysfunctional Conflict $($Keyboard Navigable Alternate Version$)$

Functional vs$.$ Dysfunctional Conflict

Conflict is a part of our everyday life and is defined as a situation in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. This does not mean, however, that conflict is always a bad thing. Conflict can be either functional or dysfunctional. This activity is important because distinguishing between functional and dysfunctional conflict is critical in making you more effective at school, work, and home.

The goal of this activity is to challenge your knowledge of functional and dysfunctional conflict.

Read each scenario. Identify whether it is an example of functional or dysfunctional conflict.

$1.$ Shahadat loves to cook, especially dishes from his native country, Bangladesh. The recipes, however, often include curry, which David does not like the smell of$.$ When Shahadat brought in a Bangladeshi dish to eat for lunch, he and David had a lengthy discussion about how to share the break room space. They decided that David would go out for lunch that day so that he did not have to smell Shahadat$$s food and Shahadat would have lunch in the break room.

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$2.$ Both Rajesh and Larry had great ideas for the new marketing campaign, and their boss liked them both. During their discussion of which campaign would be more effective, Larry brought up the fact that Rajesh$$s last campaign did not work out at all and that all his own campaigns had been very successful.

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$3.$ Both Nicole and Mike were very passionate about their small business venture. When they were trying to decide on a location for their new store, Nicole and Mike had a very lengthy debate and somewhat heated discussion about the merits and drawbacks for each of the locations.

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$4.$ Tom was having a great year in terms of his sales. His sales team, however, seemed to be struggling to hit their numbers. During a discussion Tom was having with Marty about how to hit his sales numbers, Tom mentioned that he felt Marty was not as serious about his job as the other salespeople and perhaps should work on prioritizing his personal life.

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