From the author: This article was published in the journal "Energy Strategy", No. 5, 2016. Conflict is a normal state of society; in any society, conflict situations have always existed, exist and will exist at all times. V.A. Yadov Conflicts are inevitable in a person’s life, even if he strives for harmonious coexistence with other members of society. In this regard, it is very important that conflicts do not interfere with building relationships, but, on the contrary, help to find common interests and coordinated approaches to resolving problem situations. Each leader in his arsenal must have various options for resolving tense issues, be able to go beyond the usual actions, develop the ability to think outside the box, breaking existing patterns. If you ask managers how they feel about conflicts, most will answer that conflict is an evil that interferes with work. Meanwhile, the development of an organization is impossible without conflict situations caused by the struggle of opposites. In the life of a production team, conflicts are a reflection of the struggle of opposites at the level of the individual, social groups and the team as a whole. Therefore, it would be more correct to consider conflict as a norm of industrial relations. Types of conflicts According to their content, conflicts are usually divided into two types: constructive (creative) and destructive (destructive). Constructive conflict is based on objective contradictions, in the process of resolving which new ideas arise and progressive changes occur in the organization. Constructive conflicts are expressed in principled disputes, discussions, talking through the situation, and listening to each other. In the process of the emergence and resolution of a constructive conflict, employees have the opportunity to freely express their opinions, and not just agree with management. A destructive conflict can arise based on both objective and subjective reasons. From the business sphere it is often transferred to the zone of interpersonal relations and leads to the formation of groups opposing each other and an expansion in the number of its participants. Destructive conflicts have a destructive effect on the team, leading to minor squabbles, gossip, and squabbles. According to sociological studies, destructive conflicts and post-conflict experiences lead to a loss of about 15% of working time and a decrease in labor productivity by 20%. Since a conflict is a clash of different interests, opinions, positions, attitudes and aspirations, it never arises suddenly, so the manager It is very important to clearly understand the stages of conflict development. Stages of conflict development The first stage is a conflict situation, which does not necessarily lead to conflict. When a conflict situation arises, tension arises between the parties in the process of communication, when issuing tasks, and making decisions. Such tension requires additional efforts from the manager where they were not previously required. This may be the first alarm bell, warning that the subordinate has a rejection of the manager, which can develop into a real conflict. Conflict has a latent period, during which it is important for the manager to be able to identify signs of an increase in the conflict situation. The most obvious of them are the following: the employee does not pay due attention to the quality of work; the employee often takes time off from work; the employee’s critical reaction to the actions of the immediate supervisor and the administration as a whole is intensifying; the authority of the manager is being questioned. By monitoring these conditions, the manager has the opportunity to timely prevent the escalation of a conflict situations into conflict. However, often the manager does not fix his attention on such signals. It is important to know that for a conflict situation to develop into a conflict, the following conditions are necessary: ​​time period of development; emotional support of the employee by othersparticipants in the situation or outside observers; the employee has his own, different from the prevailing, idea of ​​how work should actually be organized. If the conflict situation is not resolved, the second stage begins - conflict, which is expressed not in confrontation, but in open confrontation .Initially, the conflict arises at the local level, that is, the entire team does not participate in it, even if it consists of several people. But, like a fire, the conflict is terrible in its growth. Its participants are looking for sympathizers, “recruiting” new supporters, and each of them, of course, is interested in winning over the leader himself in order to strengthen his position. When a conflict expands, not only new people are involved in it, but its area also expands, more and more new problems and personal interests are included in it. Then comes the third stage - an expanded conflict, when the focus of interaction between the conflicting parties shifts from the issue of differences in points of view towards relationships . False images of opposing sides arise, and distrust and suspicious attitudes towards the enemy grow. Within the group, “black and white” thinking prevails, and those who try to overcome such thinking are declared unreliable and expelled from the group. New supporters are listed the merits of the opinion of the group to which he has joined, and the enemy is described in a negative light. Over time, the fourth stage begins - a general conflict in which there are no longer indifferent, almost all members of the team are involved in strife, and the root cause of the conflict is often forgotten. At this stage, all means of putting pressure on the opposite side are used, including threats, and one’s own opinion becomes the only true and unshakable one. In such a situation, the participants in the conflict exclude any possibility of finding a common solution, all actions are aimed only at destroying the enemy and depriving him of his strength. According to the direction of impact, conflicts are divided into horizontal, when disagreements arise between team members, vertical - between a leader and a subordinate, and mixed – simultaneously between the manager, subordinates and team members among themselves. If we consider horizontal and vertical conflicts from the point of view of their negative impact, then the vertical conflict is most harmful for the productive work of the team, since in this case the actions of the manager are assessed from the point of view of the conflict that has arisen, and a biased attitude is seen in any of his actions. It is very difficult to work in such a tense environment, so the manager must try not to enter into such conflicts. In order to prevent conflicts from arising in the team, the manager must be able to recognize and prevent conflicts even at the stage of a conflict situation. Knowledge of the objective and subjective reasons leading to conflicts can help with this. Objective reasons Objective reasons are determined by many factors existing in various areas of work activity. Let's consider them in more detail. Managerial factors. Conflict may arise as a result of an imperfect organizational structure of an enterprise; in a situation where responsibilities and rights are not clearly distributed, the functional responsibilities enshrined in job descriptions contradict the requirements for the employee; rights are disproportionate to responsibility for the result of the work performed. Organizational factors appear in cases where there is no clear organization of work activity, the work and rest regime is violated; labor and performance discipline are at a low level; when an employee is overloaded with work, and therefore does not have time to complete it on time, begins to rush and make mistakes; in situations where non-specific tasks make it difficult to choose the means to complete them and cause uncertainty in actions; as well as in the absence of transparency in the organization of labor activities. Professional factors are expressed in lowthe professional level of employees, which hinders the effective completion of tasks; improper selection and placement of personnel; absence or uncertainty of prospects for professional and job growth. Sanitary and hygienic factors are expressed in violation of the work and rest regime, the creation of unfavorable working conditions. Material and technical factors arise in situations where the employee is not adequately provided with the necessary means and equipment, and is also forced to perform work on technically outdated equipment. Economic factors arise in situations where wages are delayed or the payment and bonus system is imperfect. Subjective reasons Subjective reasons are directly related to the personal qualities of both the leader himself and his subordinates. These reasons can be divided into three groups: violations of work ethics, violations of labor legislation and unfair assessment of the professional potential of subordinates and the results of their work. Violations of work ethics include: rude, arrogant and disrespectful attitude towards subordinates; imposing one's own opinion; failure to fulfill promises and obligations; a high level of intolerance to criticism, which can lead to the dismissal of creative and active workers and the creation of an atmosphere of flattery and ingratiation with the manager; inability to adequately and correctly criticize the actions of subordinates; unfair distribution of social benefits and other shadow activities of the leader; concealment of information necessary for the effective performance of professional duties by subordinates. Violation of labor legislation is expressed in the manager’s attempts to act autocratically, regardless of existing laws. In such situations, he can fire an objectionable employee, violating procedural norms, as a result of which the conflict only flares up, since the dismissed employee, as a rule, appeals his dismissal in court and returns to work as a “hero.” Unfair assessment of subordinates is quite common and the forms of this phenomenon very diverse. Here are some of them:▪ Inappropriate use of rewards and punishments. Typically, many organizations prioritize punishment over rewards. However, it has been reliably established that rewards are much more effective than punishments, since the need for encouragement is one of the most important human needs. The psychological “law of eight strokes a day” is well known, which says that in order to feel good, every person needs at least eight strokes a day (this means not only and not so much physical contact, but also and praise, and other welcoming words and actions). In the workplace, an employee also needs at least three positive reinforcements for his activities within a month, that is, it is very important for a manager to notice positive aspects in the work of his subordinates and express his gratitude to them. If a manager uses incentives for his subordinates, he arouses their respect and desire to do their work even better.▪ Unfair distribution of work among performers. It is known that there are profitable and unprofitable jobs that require different amounts of effort, but are valued approximately equally. If one employee always does only profitable work, and the other only does unprofitable work, tension inevitably increases and, as a result, conflict arises.▪ Imbalance of contribution-salary balance. If one of the employees contributes less to the work than other employees, but the salary is higher, then a conflict situation inevitably arises. An employee who receives undeserved material rewards evokes a negative attitude from other employees, dissatisfaction in the team grows, which leads to an escalation of the conflict.▪ The manager’s painful attitude towards the authority of a subordinate and a deliberate underestimation of his merits. If a manager tries to demotethe authority of the subordinate in the eyes of others, the injustice of these assessments immediately catches the eye and undermines the authority of the leader.▪ Indiscriminate criticism of subordinates. Such criticism is always vague, offensive, unfair and causes the team to strive to rally against the accuser. Often such criticism takes place at the first meeting of a new manager with the team, when he says something like the following: “You will no longer work the way you worked until today!” Such a statement directly leads to the emergence of a vertical conflict, as it shows that from now on the guilty will be sought only among subordinates.▪ Psychological incompatibility. With insufficient attention of the manager to the socio-psychological aspects of management and inability to take into account the compatibility of employees, interpersonal conflicts usually arise. Interpersonal conflicts are the most protracted and destructive, so the most correct way out of them is to separate psychologically incompatible workers into different jobs so that their actions do not overlap. Approaches to conflict resolution Competent behavior of a manager at various stages of a conflict allows one to find the most effective way out of the current situation. At the stage of a conflict situation, the most effective “council strategy” is when the manager first assesses the position of each employee in relation to the problem, and then organizes a meeting at which he provides an opportunity for all team members to express their opinions in a favorable atmosphere. In conducting such a meeting, there are certain rules that should be followed: the manager must remain objective and neutral, without taking sides; the manager should not speak first, voicing his opinion; first of all, the opportunity to speak is given to less authoritative members of the team (new employees, young specialists ); the opportunity to speak must be given to all team members. At the same time, the leader analyzes the point of view of everyone, thereby expressing his respectful attitude towards the opinion of the speaker; the leader speaks last, summarizing all the information received and integrating all opinions. At the stage of conflict, that is, in a situation of active confrontation between the parties, the leader needs to maintain a neutral position and not to be drawn into the conflict yourself. Often, a leader, relying on his authority, objectivity, and power, intervenes in a conflict, thereby strengthening the position of one of the parties. The disadvantaged party in such a situation begins to seek support from other members of the team, which can lead to the escalation of the conflict and its transition into an expanded conflict. In order to prevent this from happening, the manager should show wisdom: prepare the team itself or its representatives to develop a certain opinion and designate positions, and then rely on this opinion. At the stage of extended conflict, as a rule, the manager has already been removed from work or transferred to another division. Therefore, it is more appropriate here to talk about where a new manager should start working, because an extended conflict negatively affects the performance of the entire team, destroys healthy relationships between employees and disrupts the favorable psychological climate in the team. The new manager needs to formulate some kind of program for his activities that would help reunite the team. In this situation, it is very important to begin work by establishing an objective, equal attitude towards all members of the team. It is also necessary to use individual work and persuasion, which allow each employee to feel his importance and gives rise to his desire to build new relationships with team members. Such approaches will help the manager establish real cooperation with subordinates, create an atmosphere of respect and trust. At the stage of general conflict, neither the manager’s program nor his personal example of cooperation is no longer valid. In this case, new.