Conflict is unavoidable. No matter where you work, sooner or later you will find yourself at odds with someone. We’ve all heard of disputes erupting into expensive and divisive lawsuits. A simple personality conflict between two team members can cripple productivity and ultimately leave the entire team feeling angry and betrayed. The following strategy describes a successful approach to resolving conflicts.
We are taught at an early age to delegate to someone else, to take our problems to the teacher, to mom and dad, to the police. At the same time, trying to address potential disputes before they arise with detailed policies of appropriate behavior is also ultimately unsuccessful. The suggestion is that if we have enough rules, somehow things will be fair and everyone will be treated fairly. Uniformity does not necessarily produce fairness, and the rules cannot address all real situations. For managers to assume that they have addressed a workplace problem because they have passed a rule or policy is, at best, a naive assumption.
So the question is not “How can we avoid conflict?” but “How can we handle it?” If the conflict cannot be eliminated, we can at least deal with it constructively.
Conflicts between employees at work can arise from any number of sources; lack of communication, unfulfilled expectations, feelings that one’s contributions have not been recognized. Conflicts and disputes rarely have a simple cause, but they do arise when people choose to turn their differences into disagreements.
If conflict is the result of individual choices, managers who want to successfully manage and resolve conflict must create an environment in which employees can make the right decisions. the optimal strategy depends on building the correct group norms in the first place. If employees are open to differences effectively to make good decisions, then employees will be able to express differences appropriately and resolve them effectively.
The following elements must be addressed and managed to successfully manage conflict.
Get comfortable dealing with conflict
Being open to disagreement is sometimes difficult. Most people are afraid of conflict. That’s the reason for the rules in the first place. But rules designed to eliminate conflict can allow situations to escalate and then flare up if employees don’t have a chance to voice their concerns. Much of the way he does it is not by trying to quell conflict and get everyone to calm down, but by allowing everyone to air their concerns. You can usually move people to a place where they’re like, “Okay, now what are we going to do about it?”
Acting quickly to air issues is also psychologically better for all employees. People don’t like to get into conflict or have arguments, so the sooner it’s over, the better for everyone and the quicker you can move on.
Find the source of the conflict
The tendency to resort to some higher authority to resolve disputes often leads to unsatisfactory conclusions. Therefore, the ability of employees to resolve problems close to the source, at the team level, will also contribute to a healthy conflict resolution process. For example, if a factory manager walks by a couple of times a day to check if people are missing safety glasses, there will be people who will try to hide what they are doing. On the other hand, if a co-worker who is working below you is the security contact person, you cannot hide what he is doing. And when that person says, “Look, don’t be silly,” he’s much closer to the source. It’s a completely different kind of interaction.
Also, bringing in an outside authority can too quickly turn the process into a fact-finding investigation that puts everyone involved on the defensive. The person who made the accusation says, “Why are you looking at me?” And the person accused of inappropriate behavior says, “You’re trying to get me fired.” For these reasons, attempting to resolve disputes at the team level is more likely to lead to a constructive outcome.
Addressing the interests of the conflicting parties is also more likely to lead to a successful resolution. Too often people put things in positional terms, “I want to get him fired.” By actively listening, dispute managers and mediators can help move disagreement away from lawsuits and toward a discussion of each party’s legitimate interests.
Learned lessons
When employees can learn from disagreement and apply the lessons learned to new situations, they will be able to resolve those new situations more efficiently. This can be the most difficult element to work with, especially at an organizational level. Most organizations have what can be considered a severe learning disability. But at the team level, the opportunity to learn may be less difficult. For example, you may have teams that had a problem with unfair job promotion, so some people had more opportunities to qualify for higher pay raises. In those cases, where the conflict has surfaced and then been resolved and addressed by the team, there’s a much better chance that the next time someone starts showing favoritism like that, the team will be able to say, “No. we took care of this last year.
Conflict
Practice a little self-recognition. Rarely does a conflict arise without the contribution of both parties. Very often, people tend to project it and say, “I was made to do this.” Employees should try to recognize when they are angry about a situation and what their role in creating the situation really is.
Be careful what you put in writing. Despite the advice of many attorneys, memos, letters, and emails can exacerbate and escalate conflict.
conflict do not
Involve more people in the process than necessary. Gossip about a conflict can derail attempts to resolve it amicably.
Bring up the subject while you’re angry. The resulting discussion will probably not be very constructive and may have negative effects. Find an appropriate time to engage with the other person.
Summary
While conflict is inevitable, it doesn’t have to be destructive. Management experts point out that you can’t assume everyone is happy just because no complaints are being aired. Conflicts can be seen below the surface, resolving them openly can create new opportunities for your employees.
The wonderful thing about dispute and conflict resolution is that when handled effectively, it not only helps address many conflicts that can bring you down, but it also releases all kinds of energy. Conflicts that are addressed constructively not only prevent something that would otherwise have been acrimonious and difficult, but also often lead to insights and opportunities that might otherwise go unseen.