Innovative Ideas on How to Manage Conflict in the Workplace

 

Conflict – How better would life be without it! According to the dictionary, conflict is defined as “ a serious disagreement or opposition of ideas and interests”. Whether it's at home, in school or in the workplace (or even in a bar) conflicts are a part and parcel of life. And when it happens, there would be a tendency for someone's morale to be broken, and bigger issues could arise from a simple conflict, like decreased productivity and bitter fistfights. The good thing however is that there are a handful of effective conflict resolution steps for handling workplace disagreements or tensions.  

Face, and Confront the Tension

Before we discuss the first of many helpful  conflict resolution steps, let's first talk about the various sources of conflict. Among the major root causes of conflicts includes differences on values, poor communication and personality clashes.  Various communication styles often lead to serious misunderstandings (which in the workplace can lead to conflicts among co-workers or between bosses and staff). 

Since conflict can yield a mindset that is difficult to manage, conflict resolution experts stress that we must confront any issues head-on rather than allow them to fester since we failed to address the cause when it first became apparent.

Although workplace conflicts can be quite nasty (and bothersome) it could actually be an enabler of growth (especially for the professional growth of all the people involved) as the most authentic relationships often don't begin until people experience some form of tension with each other.

Respect Each Others Differences

Instead of people imposing their influence or ideas on others (especially in the workplace) they should instead respect the unique differences among each other, and learn to see things from differing viewpoints, so that everyone can better understand how to avoid conflicts in the future. 

But, regardless of what kind of  conflict resolution steps you wish to undertake, keep in mind that resolving conflicts at work is rarely black and white, and the truth is that there are more grey areas to it, since the workplace has now become more generationally and culturally diverse than ever. 

Beyond focusing on how the conflict could have been averted or avoided, it would be best instead to respect each other's differences and allow diversity to thrive in the workplace. 

Recognize Your Boundaries

Even if you're trained in implementing standard conflict resolution steps, but you and your co-workers do not know the limitations of your boundaries, you won't be able to address the root causes of the workplace conflict. 

As everyone deals with conflict quite differently, each employee in the workplace must know the risks and rewards of resolving conflicts within the boundaries of each individual. Thus, it would be best to help others realize when they tend to cross the line via careful observation, as well as identify tendencies in behavior which may trigger certain attitudes, or provoke sudden shifts in mindset. 

Timing is Everything

In implementing sensible conflict resolution steps, timing is everything, and the best time to act would be when there's ample proof that an employee has a track record of wrongdoing that's having a bad effect on the performance of others. 

In summary, how we deal with adversities like conflicts can make or break us, but more than anything it could simply reveal just who we really are.