Construction of Instrument for Identifying Conflict in Working Team

In modern society all spheres of our work and life are permeated with communications, which influence, determine and construct our indicators of success, satisfaction. The process of communication can be transformed in different directions, from the formation of long-term, trusting relationships, to conflict confrontation, resistance. In this regard, it is important to expand the knowledge of effective tools for identifying, regulating and forming constructive relationships between teams, groups, neutralizing the negative consequences of incipient or existing conflict. In this article, we present the problem of studying the different communication styles between members of work groups, which often leads to an increase in intergroup conflicts. This is detrimental to interpersonal relationships and work productivity. The subject of the study is the study of team interaction styles that are predictors of tensions leading to inter-group conflict. The task for developing this instrument is based on the assumption that different communication styles between group members lead to group dynamic tensions that may be stimulating and helpful for the team development, but also for generating conflict. The main research question is: “How can team developers and conflict counselors identify different communication styles in work groups and treat conflicts at a very early stage?” The purpose of this paper is to develop a tool for examining communication styles in work groups. The construction of the instrument and quality control is described, from theoretical justification to factor-analytic reduction of 12 items into 4 scales and quality control of the scales. The result is an easy-to-use tool with satisfactory quality that can be applied to groups with many members. It allows group members to carefully evaluate different communication styles and identify relevant differences. Based on it, group members can directly discuss the differences between communication styles and, if a tense situation or conflict arises, deal with them constructively. As a result, this will indicate better group work, trainings, examinations and further optimization of interaction tools.

Bales, R.F., Cohen, S.P. (1979). SYMLOG — A system for the multiple level observation of groups. New York,The Free Press.