Resolving Conflict
Mary Bedard
Conflict may be
a recurring part of life and in some cases, conflict can be a good thing. Like, for example, in teams, when managed conflict can lead to better solutions. But in many cases and far too often, conflict in the workplace becomes a problem that needs to be addressed.
What causes conflict at work? That’s a great question. The truth is that almost anything can cause conflict in the workplace. It could be scheduling issues, poor management or even poorer communication between employees or between employees and their supervisors. Whatever the cause conflict can lead to a lot of negative impacts and consequences. This might include a lowered morale and decreased motivation among the staff group, or an increase in absenteeism. If left untreated, conflict can also lead to a poisoned or toxic workplace and a higher turnover in staff, especially star employees who simply do not want or need the hassle.
What is conflict resolution?
Conflict resolution can be described as the process of finding a solution to a disagreement between two or more people. At the workplace that conflict can be worker to worker or between manager or supervisors and employees. The employees in question could also be two managers, which is a particularly difficult situation to resolve. Almost all conflict resolution will involve communications and some form of negotiation. So, strong skills in these areas as an asset to resolving any conflict. The absence of these abilities or an inability to communicate, discuss and negotiate will make resolving any conflict, big or small, difficult to impossible.
Conflict resolution can lead to not just resolving a dispute or disagreement, but being able to practice conflict resolution skills that can utilized for all kinds of other benefits later on.
It can also open up new lines of communication between employees, within teams and to and from the management team. People get to know each other a little better when you’re engaged in conflict resolution and that gives everyone some additional perspective and knowledge. Even more importantly, having a successful conflict resolution can build and strengthen working relationships that can actively prevent other conflicts from arising in the future.
Steps to resolving conflict
Understand the conflict
First, we seek to understand. Inspirational author Deepak Chopra said: “Conflict can be healthy when it leads to a deeper understanding and respect for one another”. That’s why our initial efforts in conflict resolution must be to try and understand the conflict. Get both sides of the story before you do anything else. Maybe it’s just a miscommunication that can easily be resolved. Let everyone know that you are willing to listen and then follow through. Let people have their feelings and then you can start talking about a possible solution.
Seek a solution
One way to start this part of the process is to ask the parties in conflict to offer up their possible solution. Most likely, their first response will be that the other party has to change.
And apologize for hurting them. If you can, try and not be the one who makes suggestions on a solution right away. There may be time for that later. Right now you want them to focus on trying to fix the problems by themselves. If it’s helpful, you could combine their possible solutions into a composite and see if that works, and if it doesn’t it might be time to try and come up with an answer that could be in the middle of what both sides have offered up. Keep trying to get them to come up more solutions if their initial offerings are not successful. Sometimes the time and effort will wear them down and make them more open to a compromise.
Focus on communications
If you can get people talking to each other, you have a chance to resolve conflict.
Communications and improving communications is a key part of any conflict resolution process. It may be difficult at first as those in conflict may want to express their feelings and emotions before they can talk about a solution, but with time and space most people will at least make an effort. Take advantage of any opening you see and try to keep communications going even when people are mad or upset with each other. This is a great opportunity for you to practise your active listening skills. Be open, listen carefully, ask questions and give back summaries to keep the conversation going. As long as they are talking, you have a chance at success. If they stop, you may need outside assistance.
Getting outside assistance
You may need help from someone outside your organization if the conflict is entrenched and the parties refuse to move closer to a solution. The most common way to do this is by engaging a mediator. This is an impartial third party who assists you and the employees in dispute or conflict using specialized communication and negotiation techniques. Their job is to provide a safer space to listen to both sides and propose a resolution that's seen as fair to everyone.
The mediator could come from inside the organization, although it has to be someone who both parties trust. In some organizations they utilize a manager from another section or Human Resources, while others prefer to go outside and hire a professional mediator.
Improve your conflict resolution skills
This is true for both individual managers and the company or organization as a whole. We all need to up our game when it comes to these type of skills. This includes problem-solving techniques that allow you to think critically and come up with unique solutions to difficult conflicts. It also obviously includes improving communication skills. Being able to be open, honest, caring and a great listener can help resolve any conflict, today and into the future. We also need to develop better overall people skills like emotional intelligence that allows us to show and practice empathy as a way to see both sides of a conflict and to care about every person involved.
Prevent conflict from destroying your organization
While conflict at work may be inevitable, you can take some steps to reduce the damage it can cause. You can do that in a number of ways. First by dealing with conflict early and not allowing it to escalate. Second, you can develop and implement an organization-wide policy and a set of procedures for dealing with conflict when it happens. Third, you can foster a workplace and a culture that is respectful and treats all employees fairly. You can also engage in proactive training for all managers in conflict resolution skills and active listening. The better equipped they are, the better chances you will have of resolving conflict more easily. If you take these steps, you will not eliminate conflict from your workplace, but you will have a better and healthier workplace. One that can withstand the natural conflict that can arise when people work together and be well-placed to deal with any situation that may happen in the future.
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