An example I’ve experienced using collaborative conflict has to do with my sorority, once again. We have an annual budget and we are all responsible for paying for our monthly dues so that the house and each member are able to run and be involved as much as possible. Deciding on the final budget takes a lot of time, energy, and commitment on all ends of our house, from our national head quarters to our advisors to us as individual members. Girls who live in the house pay different then those out and also use different amenities more then those living out, but we all have a key. It takes us many weeks and many meetings to decide where all our money is going to go and how we are going to dispense it into our certain positions, like social chair or philanthropy (who are in charge of our fundraiser and all our events we do on and outside of campus) we also have alumnae brunches and lots of reimbursements do individual girls who buy new microwaves or curtains for the house. We must also consider the current economic changes and how that will also affect our budget and spending. After several weeks of voting and fixing and sending to headquaters and fixing again we are able to finalize our vote for the annual budget, but only after a lot of hard work on all ends. Also some girls may not feel we need $600 dollars for two dances when we can pinch pennies and put that towards more fundraisers for arthritis research. So in the end we are all satisfied with the results since we were all able to vote and put in input.
In comparison with collaborative conflict resolution, my sorority often has times where competitive conflict resolution comes into play. For example if a girl wants to run for a position in the house, she is asked to fill out a pref sheet which outlines what she will do in the position and her goals for the year, so we can see if she may or may not be suitable for the job based on individual feelings towards what she wants to do with the position. Then we get down to voting and (let’s just say three girls are going up against one another for the spot) those 3 ladies will be asked to leave the room and the chapter then opens discussion on each individual lady with 3 pros and 3 cons (but always ending on a pro) sometimes no one gets any cons and sometimes no one gets any pros, but this way we are all able to find out a little more and make a better decision. But for the 3 girls running they don’t have any say and either win or lose the position. Everyone votes including the 3 ladies, but there isn’t much room for a girl to state her case if there was a really bad con, like constantly missing class.
I was definitely and still am more satisfied with collaborative, yes it takes more time and energy, but I feel there aren’t as many conflicts that can be caused by using this methods as their could be with competitive. Also all parties end up satisfied (most the time) unlike competitive.
Hey bing. Good job on your post for this week. I thought that you did a really good job discussing collaborative conflict and competition conflict. I really liked that you related the concepts to your sorority because I really wasn't aware of how a sorority is run. You really gave me a good look into how things are run. I thought that your example for competition conflict was really good. I know that it can't be easy to have to choose between friends for one position. All three of the girls are probably your friends and you probably don't want to hurt their feelings. Unfortunately that is how things happen sometimes and you can't do much about it. I agree with you that collaborative conflict is a lot easier to solve problems. Again, good job on your post.
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