Supportive behavior consists of two-way communication between the chairperson and the faculty members. Leadership styles consists of both directive and supportive behavior. Conflict and Faculty Morale. Conflict happens in someone else's department. But should it occur in your department, it festers and grows.
Conflict is a struggle for control of another person's behavior.
Conflict can be reduced if the lines of communication are open, and the lines of authority and responsibility are clarified. Difficult people include any one whose words and actions evoke unwanted and unpleasant emotions. Conflict within a department can reduce faculty morale. Resolving issues with difficult people require that we be open to new ways of viewing the situation. To understand our encounters with difficult people, we eventually have to accept the fact that we are them.