Conflict in the workplace is a painful reality and a key reason for poor productivity and frustration. Do you have people in your workplace that cause problems for everyone else? Do they create additional work for others? One point is clear—conflict does not magically go away and only gets worse when ignored.
Certain types of workplace conflict are readily identified. Other forms of conflict may not be so easily detected. Small, irritating events such as negative attitudes occur repeatedly over time and can cause people to strike out at each other. In many cases, conflict occurs at the senior level of the organization.
In these situations some kind of intervention is needed. What type of business workplace conflict requires intervention? Anything that disrupts the office, impacts on productivity or poses a threat to other employees needs addressing. The degree to which you tolerate a situation before intervention may vary. A manager may not feel it necessary to intervene when a minor exchange of words occurs between employees—unless such an incident becomes a daily occurrence and expands beyond the employees initially involved.
However, a situation where one employee threatens another requires immediate action. When handling conflict, some basic guidelines apply. Few situations are exactly as they seem or as presented to you by others. Before you try to settle the conflict insure you have investigated both sides of the issue.
I remember an exchange between two board members. One member was frustrated with the direction the organization was taking. Acknowledging the frustration and concerns is an important step in resolving the conflict.
To avoid confrontation and conflict, some managers will delay making a deadline or avoid making a decision. They might physically separate the opposing parties or remove themselves from the situation altogether. However, often, the deliberate delay will cause the unresolved conflict to cause resentment and frustration from employees. Conversely, in other situations, it can give both parties time to potentially readjust their attitudes and perspectives and the conflict could resolve on its own. When to consider using the avoiding style:.
When it has caused distraction from team productivity. Example: Josh and Allison disagree on the best plan for implementing a new advertising campaign. They have tried to find a compromise, but their disagreement is becoming angrier and more distracting each minute. Their supervisor tells them to set the campaign aside and work on other projects for the rest of the day.
Taking a break from the project gives both Josh and Allison time to work through the conflict on their own. They continued working on the campaign the next morning with more positive and collaborative attitudes.
The competing style of conflict management addresses conflict directly as the goal of the competing style is to end the conflict as quickly as possible. While the competing style may get fast results, it can also be detrimental to the morale and productivity of a team.
If you always compete with others rather than compromise, you may stifle helpful input from your coworkers and damage your workplace relationships. When to consider using the competing style:. Example: Cody has worked at the Edgefield Electric company for sixteen years. Casey is a recent hire and has needed extensive training. While Cody is showing a process to Casey, Casey suggests an alternate method. Cody has done nothing technically wrong, but Casey now feels belittled and ignored.
The accommodating style is the opposite of the competing style and it resolves the conflict by giving in to the opposing party. You might need to use an accommodating conflict style or attitude when interacting with someone with a strong or abrasive personality.
When to consider using the accomodating style:. Example: Jill loves working at her local fitness center. She enjoys her job and gets along with all her coworkers except for one. She agrees to trade with Maddie to keep the peace. When you address conflict with this style, you encourage each side to make some significant sacrifices. By definition, this means that neither side gets exactly what they want. Ideally, after compromising on one or more minimal issues, both of the conflicting parties could then agree on the larger issue.
This can foster short-term productivity, but it rarely completely solves the underlying problems. When to consider using the compromising style:. They disagree on how to make the best use of their newly increased savings. After arguing for several days, Brian suggests that they increase both budgets by just 10 percent. In theory, each person involved in the conflict states their needs. After that, they brainstorm a resolution that meets those needs.
When both parties agree on the resolution, it's time to implement it. As time goes on, your team will become comfortable enough with the process to handle it themselves, seeking your guidance only when they feel stuck. However, the process is not straightforward in practice. Real-life is messy, and real people are emotional. You should set some ground rules to make sure conflict management sessions remain focused and don't spiral into finger-pointing behavior. Give your team some autonomy in this process by allowing them to give input on the ground rules.
The list doesn't need to be long, but it needs to cover what co-workers expect from each other when there's a problem. Set this up ahead of time, before anyone loses their cool due to a conflict. For example, "I" language is recommended for conflict management instead of "you" or "they," which typically precedes a statement of blame.
Instead, if team members focus on saying "I," they take ownership of the situation and narrow in on what they can do to solve it. Another ground rule might be to only focus on the issue at hand and not to bring up past examples of similar problems.
This allows the conversation to remain solution-oriented. After all, the goal of conflict resolution in the workplace is to help everyone do their job.
There's no point in turning a conflict into a personal vendetta. Not every decision is a personal strike against someone. For successful conflict resolution, focus on the job and what's needed to accomplish it. Although you should train your employees to handle conflict according to the guidelines established as a company or team, you play a pivotal role as a manager in curtailing conflict and resolving it.
Have you ever considered that you may inadvertently create conflict within your team? Success starts with giving clear instructions and ensuring your team understands your expectations.
Be as specific as you can when assigning tasks and covering the who, what, when, where, why and how. Be sure not to trespass into micromanagement territory when you do.
Learn how to be an active listener. Listen with the intent to understand, not to reply, and use your body language to show the speaker that you are attentive and following along. Remain professional and unbiased in all of your interactions to earn and maintain the respect of your team.
Avoid meeting with people individually. Group meetings ensure there are no doubts about special treatment behind closed doors. If there's a chance that someone might misconstrue your message or tone in an email, pick up the phone. If you're setting unreasonable deadlines and creating a bottleneck somewhere, fix it. You might not realize that you contributed to a problem until you're mediating a conflict resolution session, in which case you should speak up and state your own needs and become an active participant in the collaboration session.
Bring in someone else to act as the mediator if needed, as this will showcase your integrity and earn your team's respect. Sometimes everyone needs to take a break before they can come together, follow the ground rules and collaborate to get things done.
If you feel like emotions are running higher than normal, suggest that everyone take a minute break to let off some steam before beginning the conflict resolution session. A brisk walk outside, some alone time listening to music or deep breathing techniques can calm nerves.
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