At one point or another in the course of your professional career, it is more than likely you will have witnessed or even been subject to some sort of conflict in the workplace. Conflict in the workplace is never a good thing and will have a negative impact on all involved. If you are in a position of responsibility and/or leadership within your work then it is your job to prevent any conflict and resolve any conflicting issues. Doing this can be a hard thing to accomplish but if you follow these three simple tips you should find it a lot easier – our comprehensive Leadership Skills course also covers resolving conflict.
Be aware of what is going on.
Take an active interest in what is going on in workplace, don’t let any potential rifts continue that could have easily been amended sooner. Being aware of what is going on is an important step to controlling and understanding the issue at hand in turn will allow you to find a resolution quicker.
Act fast.
Don’t allow the situation to get out of hand in the hope that it will resolve itself, take responsibility of the situation and directly address the conflict between the two opposing sides. The longer you leave it the more likely it is to get worse and become more of a deep rooted and unresolvable problem.
Address the situation directly.
Hold a meeting between the two conflicting sides and come to an agreement in a calm and controlled manner. The situation must still be workable and make sure that there are no feelings of harbored resentment after the conflict has been resolved. The quality of work should not be affected and you need to make sure of this through monitoring the situation to check for any reoccurring issues.
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Posted by Colin Welch in Leadership Skills on April 17th, 2009 | No Comments »
Learning to behave assertively will greatly improve your life.
- You will gain self-respect and be respected by others.
- You will gain confidence and feel less anxious when facing conflict.
- You will be able to say no when you want to.
- You will be able to ask for what you want.
- You will be able to accept and give compliments and praise.
- You will have the courage to say difficult things
Imagine life without the resentment of not saying what you mean or getting consideration for your needs, having your opinions listened to. Remind yourself of the benefits of practising assertiveness skills.
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Posted by Heather Buckley in Assertiveness on March 6th, 2007 | No Comments »
Conflicts are an inescapable fact of life. They occur when the needs of one person differ from the needs of another, and the parties disagree on how to meet their needs. Conflict can be unpleasant and uncomfortable and it can hurt relationships. However, if handled effectively, it also provides the opportunity to enrich and deepen relationships and help us learn more about ourselves. Accept that conflict will arise in your working life whether it is with your manager, your staff, peers, your customers or other professionals and learn ways to manage it.
Conflict in management can be defined simply as:
two or more people who want a different outcome
Causes of conflict in the workplace
Almost all conflicts involve communication problems, as both a cause and an effect. Misunderstandings, resulting from poor communication, can easily cause a conflict or make it worse. Further, once a conflict has started, communication problems often develop because people in conflict do not communicate with each other as frequently, as openly, and as accurately as they do when relationships are not strained. Thus communication is central to most conflict situations.
Recognising sources of conflict in the workplace is the first step toward being able to do something about them. Apart from communication, there are other causes of conflict in business:
- Assumptions
- Competing for resources
- Putting personal agenda ahead of team agenda
- Individual differences
- Competing priorities
Think about the conflict situations in your working life. Who are they with? What is the real issue? How can you improve your handling of these situations? Find out from colleagues what their strategies are for handling conflict.
How to resolve conflict
Resolving conflict requires effective communication skills, tolerance, and the desire to find creative solutions. Here is a five-step process that you can follow to resolve conflict and improve your work relationships.
1. ACTIVE LISTENING for facts and feelings. Make sure you understand what the other person really wants and needs. Listen for more than facts. Set aside your assumptions of what you think is going on. Pay attention to non-verbal messages. Check that you have understood and repeat back to the person what you think he/she said. This will prevent misunderstandings and will ensure that you are both clear about the issues.
2. USE ASSERTIVE COMMUNICATION. State your wants and needs in a respectful and clear manner, while recognising that the other person also has legitimate wants and needs. Discuss the specific behaviour that is creating problems and do not focus on personal characteristics.
3. BE EMPATHETIC. Try to get into the other person’s shoes. Consider their viewpoint. Ask yourself: “What does she want?” “What might he be afraid of?” Adopt the position that people aren’t purposefully trying to be difficult, manipulative etc. They may not know how to communicate effectively to resolve conflict.
4. BE FOCUSED on the issue. Use effective listening skills. Stick to facts and don’t allow irrelevancies and emotions into the discussion which could escalate the conflict. If you find the conflict is getting worse, take a break and agree to come back and discuss the problem at a later time – when you both have had a chance to calm down.
5. KEEP POSITIVE. Approaching a conflict situation with a negative attitude will result in a self-fulfilling prophecy. You will put out non-verbal messages that you know the person won’t respond to reason and they will pick this up and respond to accordingly. Instead, tell yourself “there is a solution to this situation and we can work together to find it.”
Learn effective ways to manage workplace conflicts with our Conflict Management training course
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Posted by Heather Buckley in Management Skills on April 15th, 2007 | No Comments »
