Conflict is not an uncommon thing. People experience it in their daily lives, with their friends, families, and even co-workers. As Richard Ghilarducci says, workplace conflicts can result in a great degree of frustration, discomfort and anger for the employees. However, in a working environment where people typically have disparate outlooks toward the same issues, disagreements are bound to happen. And when these conflicts do happen, business leaders must never just ignore them, but rather try to resolve and manage them in an effective manner.
Richard Ghilarducci briefly discusses how to resolve conflicts in the workplace
Conflicts at the workplace are often driven by disagreements, personal grievances, or misunderstandings. Business leaders should try their best to manage conflict in the workplace and improve the situation. To do so, they may follow these steps:
- Set the stage: Managers firstly need to create an atmosphere of openness at the workplace, and encourage constructive criticism and problem solving. They must express their sincere desire to understand the problem, and emphasize on working together to achieve a mutually satisfactory solution.
- Be proactive: Timely intervention is crucial when managing conflicts. Ignoring or delaying resolution can allow tensions to escalate, potentially causing more significant disruptions within the team. Managers should address conflicts promptly, and demonstrate a commitment to maintaining a healthy work environment and preventing the negative impact of prolonged disputes.
- Remain neutral and impartial: When mediating conflicts, managers must adopt a neutral and impartial stance. It’s essential to avoid taking sides and objectively assess the situation. This impartiality helps build trust among team members, demonstrating that the manager is committed to fair resolution rather than favouritism.
- Describe the conflict: Managers need to describe the conflict from their own perspective as objectively, clearly, and specifically as they can. They must engage in open and direct communication with the involved party, expressing emotions genuinely. It’s essential to choose words carefully, maintaining a courteous and professional tone throughout the conversation.
- Gain perspective: It is vital to ponder over what the employees are feeling and thinking. However, any kind of assumptions should also be avoided. Managers need to set aside their assumptions, and rather practice active listening and try to understand where the employees are coming from.
- Seek agreement: Managers need to identify potential points of mutual agreement and areas of disagreement. This is among the key steps for arriving at a solution.
- Identify solutions: After reaching an agreement, managers should try to explore possible solutions that can help further the goals and motivations of each person involved in the conflict. These solutions should be discussed openly with all parties.
- Develop an action plan: Managers need to establish an action plan to implement the solution. They also must appreciate the efforts and time of every person contributing to the problem-solving session, and show willingness to meet again to check on progress.
As Richard Ghilarducci mentions, while as a manager may initiate a constructive conversation as a leader, the effort to resolve a conflict always involves discussion among the people involved. To make the situation smoother, managers must try to maintain a positive attitude toward the conflict, and stay calm.
