Conflict Resolution at Work For Dummies
Overview
A practical workplace guide to handling conflict effectively
Managing employees and encouraging them to work together toward a common goal is an essential skill that all leaders should possess. Conflict Resolution at Work For Dummies provides the tools and advice you need to restore peace, train your colleagues to get along better with others, prevent conflicts from ever starting, and maintain better productivity while boosting morale.
- One of the only trade
publications that takes the manager's perspective on how to address conflicts, resolve disputes, and restore peace and productivity to the workplace
No manager should be without Conflict Resolution at Work For Dummies!
Read More
About The Author
Vivian Scott is a Certified Mediator in private practice and volunteers at the Dispute Resolution Center of Snohomish & Island Counties. She is a member of the Washington Mediation Association.
Sample Chapters
conflict resolution at work for dummies
CHEAT SHEET
Conflict at work can be physically and emotionally exhausting, regardless of how directly you’re involved. Discover how to mediate a conflict in your workplace by following a set process and asking the right questions. And be prepared to use internal and external resources to help you resolve the conflict.Asking questions to help resolve a workplace conflictWhen you’re dealing with a conflict between yourself and a co-worker (your boss, a peer, or a subordinate), your focus is on resolving the conflict and improving the situation.
View Cheat Sheet
View Cheat Sheet
HAVE THIS BOOK?
View Book Companion Site
Access practice tests
Additional Book Resources
Articles from
the book
Human Resources
Confronting someone you supervise because the two of you are in conflict isn't fun, yet it’s a necessary part of being a manager. When you’re meeting about a conflict that you’re directly involved in, and that meeting is with one of your subordinates, you need to adapt your approach. Here’s how:
Keep in mind that, even though the person you’re addressing is below you on the organizational chart and you may not want to give her concerns credence, the two of you are in this conflict together.
Human Resources
When you’re dealing with a conflict between yourself and a co-worker (your boss, a peer, or a subordinate), your focus is on resolving the conflict and improving the situation. Invite the other person to sit down with you, and ask these questions:
What would you like to see happen? What does that look like for you?
Human Resources
One way to decrease employee conflict is to encourage stronger relationships among employees. Team members build stronger bonds when they have common ground, through either shared interests or similar experiences. Anything that helps co-workers relate to one another is useful in team building, so use what you can to create shared experiences that may lessen the impact of problems in the future.
When you’re dealing with conflict in the workplace, consider the underlying causes. Conflict is rarely as simple as it seems on the surface. Problems at work are often caused — or exacerbated — by the following:
Ambiguous roles and responsibilities: Being vague with an employee about his job and the tasks associated with his duties creates a situation in which he’s left to decode your expectations.
Human Resources
How you conclude a conflict-resolution meeting depends on the outcome: the conflict is settled, temporarily settled, or not settled. Whatever the outcome, be sure to offer feedback and clear direction for the future.
Coming to a settlement
When things go smoothly, celebrate! And put your employees’ efforts at the forefront.
Human Resources
In your role as facilitator for a large conflict-resolution discussion at work, be prepared, be present, and be ready to listen. Introduce yourself and describe your role as a facilitator. Explain how you’ll be assisting the group in the discussions and goals for the day. If you have guests or assistants, introduce them and describe their roles, as well.
Human Resources
Resolving conflict at work starts with the employees, but some situations call for additional resources. If you find yourself in a situation that needs a little extra help, look to your organization’s internal experts or consider hiring an outside professional for conflict resolution.
Internal expertise:
Human Resources: Partner with HR to ferret out the resources your organization currently has in place and what the company may be willing to find or create for you.
Human Resources
Conflict at work can be physically and emotionally exhausting, regardless of how directly you’re involved. Discover how to mediate a conflict in your workplace by following a set process and asking the right questions. And be prepared to use internal and external resources to help you resolve the conflict.Asking questions to help resolve a workplace conflictWhen you’re dealing with a conflict between yourself and a co-worker (your boss, a peer, or a subordinate), your focus is on resolving the conflict and improving the situation.
Human Resources
Allowing employees to present their perspectives is an important part of conflict resolution at work. From the moment the first person speaks during a conflict mediation meeting, your job is to move her from blaming to eventually creating solutions. Do this by listening to both parties, pulling out pertinent information, acknowledging emotions, and neutralizing statements.
Human Resources
How you handle yourself as a manager during a workplace conflict speaks volumes and influences how your team will handle conflicts in the future. You’re definitely leading by example, so model the behaviors you expect from your staff:
Be invested in the people. Your team needs to know they can trust you and that you have their best interests in mind.
Human Resources
When working through employee conflict, some questions can bring the meeting to a screeching halt, or make it difficult for your employees to work constructively. Good questions expand, explore, and create, while unproductive questions tend to minimize, limit, and place blame. The following kinds of questions should be avoided.
Human Resources
To successfully resolve conflict among employees, a manager must first have the confidence and skill in being a good manager. Owning up to the possibility that you may not have every skill or quality it takes to be an effective manager is tough. If you don’t have all the information, be willing to ask for help.
Human Resources
Without a doubt, one of the most common topics in workplace-conflict mediation is the breakdown of communication. Such a breakdown may be the root of a conflict itself or a byproduct of it, but, in either case, if you notice deterioration in the way your employees are communicating, step in and help repair it.
Human Resources
Before your conflicting employees are ready to sit down with you and discuss their dispute, you have some work to do. By preparing the space for your meeting, you maximize your potential for a successful conversation.
Choosing a neutral location
You must maintain the appearance and substance of neutrality at all times throughout your conversation.
Human Resources
Asking an employee to meet and talk about a workplace conflict is often unsuccessful. He may resist a meeting because workplace difficulties are often fraught with conflicting emotions and deep issues. Here are a few general guidelines to keep in mind when attempting to set up a conflict-resolution meeting with a reluctant employee:
Be specific and upfront about your intent for the meeting when you approach the person, and then tailor your reaction to her resistance as a way to let her know you’re sincere in your attempt to resolve the conflict.
Human Resources
Summarizing and rephrasing complaints during conflict mediation not only allows the speaker to know that you’ve heard and understood what he had to say, but it also gives the other employee the opportunity to hear the concerns from a new source (you) and with new ears.
There’s probably not much chance your employees are going to hear anything new if the same old script keeps running.
Human Resources
Mediating a workplace conflict that ends in successful resolution can be hard work — and the work doesn't stop there. Follow up by watching for positive changes in employee relationships to ensure long-term success. Any behavior that indicates employees are more open, positive, and understanding with each other helps the team function better.
Human Resources
Conflict in the workplace decreases efficiency and productivity, and that means lost profit. Taking a broad view of a conflict and considering both hard costs (like lost inventory) and soft costs (like team morale) helps you determine whether it’s time to step in. You may find some benefit to giving a conflict time to work out on its own, but you won’t know whether you’re doing the right thing without investigating to see whether your strategy has an impact on your teams’ productivity and the bottom line.
Human Resources
Implement multiple avenues for employees to offer their perspectives on workplace conflict. Productively communicating concerns gives your staff a constructive way to ask questions or vent. And by communicating that an employee’s ideas and concerns are important to you, you increase the likelihood that he’ll use one of the methods you establish rather than keep the rumors going.
Human Resources
When resolving employee conflict, you might encounter resistance to your mediation skills and strategies, regardless of how hard you work to keep an open, safe, and respectful environment. No magic formula exists for moving through resistance to conflict resolution. Every one of your employees is unique and carries his own experiences, personalities, and core values.
Human Resources
Avoid conflict at work, by heeding the adage, "Never assume anything to avoid making an @$$ out of yourself." Inaccurately processing the information in your work environment or seeing only what you want to see can lead to incorrect assumptions. Acting on or perpetuating the assumptions by sharing them with others can start and escalate conflict.
Human Resources
Stirring the pot means that you may (perhaps unknowingly) be causing existing problems to escalate rather than to settle down. Every person on a team isn’t going to get along 100 percent of the time with every one of his co-workers — that’s a given. Doctors take an oath to “first, do no harm,” and you, as the leader of a group, will benefit from doing the same when it comes to setting the tone for workgroup relationships.
Human Resources
If you communicate in unclear ways to employees, then conflict will occur. Employee expectations and goals must be clearly understood to prevent inefficiency. The directives you give on a daily basis that have the potential to cause problems between your employees, include:
Using hazy terms to give what you consider to be clear instructions.
Human Resources
Micromanaging, or taking an inappropriate, controlling and bothersome role in employee projects, adds unnecessary friction to already stressful situations. A person who micromanages causes conflict. Why? Because when an employee feels that his time has been wasted or that his work was for naught, he blames you.
Human Resources
Being in a conflict-resolution meeting can be nerve-wracking for the employee — and for you. Your employee will be worried or stressed because she’s not sure what to expect, which topics will be covered, or what approach you’ll take. And with all the preplanning and prepping you’re doing, you’re likely to feel a little nervous yourself!
Human Resources
The days and weeks following an employee-conflict mediation meeting provide ample opportunities both to reinforce positive behaviors in employees and to address relapse and coach through conflict. Look for chances to encourage the positive changes and intercede when negative behaviors arise. You can assist staff in a number of ways as they try on new working relationships.
Human Resources
A clear goal statement gives purpose and focus to a conflict-resolution meeting. More important, it serves as the criterion by which to consider all ideas and solutions to the workplace conflict. Be a strong facilitator and determine the goal of the first meeting; then assist the team in setting the goal statement for any additional meetings.
Human Resources
It’s common for employees to want to save face and try to resolve a conflict without their manager’s involvement. So, if those involved all feel confident they can handle the situation on their own, let them work it out.
Even though you aren’t guiding them through the conflict resolution process, you can help employees prepare for the conversations that they’ll have with each other.
Human Resources
One of the keys to successful conflict resolution in the workplace is having all of the information you need. You may already know most of the details about how a workplace conflict escalated, or you may be new to the situation — either way, tactfully approach those impacted and see if you can get at what’s really going on.
Groups that work well are an important component of the workplace. Often, nothing is more satisfying from a managerial perspective than the positive energy of a group accomplishing goals. On the other hand, when employees join forces against each other, spread rumors, make false assumptions, and gossip, these actions can deplete morale and breed conflict.
How you approach a work colleague about an ongoing conflict depends on a number of factors. Take into consideration how well you know her, how often you interact, and how important the working relationship is to you.
On the surface, it may seem easy enough to treat an equal like an equal, but when you’re angry or frustrated, not building armies (coalitions) or creating competitive situations around personal conflicts with another manager can be tough.
Human Resources
Every employee meeting starts with an invitation, and conflict mediation is no different. You have some decisions to make regarding the way in which you’ll notify your employees about the meeting — and the option you choose depends on your relationship to the parties involved.
This step of your strategic process can vary, depending on the kind of workplace you’re in and the policies surrounding dispute resolution.
Human Resources
After you've mediated an employee conflict, follow up with discussions to readdress issues and discuss new problems. Post-mediation discussions are also an opportunity to work through any glitches that are surfacing because of specific agreements made in previous meetings.
If the mediation or group facilitation agreement you’re monitoring calls for follow-up meetings, make sure that the events make their way to the participants’ calendars and that they’re seen as a priority.
When you're in a conflict-resolution meeting being held between an employee and yourself, you’ll wear two hats, that of mediator and that of contributor. Granted, you’re not acting as an objective third party in this instance, but coming prepared with an understanding of the mediation process gives you an opportunity to step back a bit and make room for both perspectives while following a structured and proven method.
Human Resources
The most important action you can take after resolving an employee conflict is simply to pay attention. This isn’t the time to assume that everything’s fine. Be alert for the positive and negative changes in the environment as you keep your finger on the pulse of the workplace.
You can monitor the situation without being obtrusive.
Human Resources
When you need to manage a group conflict at work, you can toss everyone into a room and wing it, or you can put some thought into planning a meeting. The more upfront planning you do, the better your odds are for a fruitful outcome, so set yourself up for success. Prior to the meeting, do the following:
Create a goal statement: Start with a broad idea of what you’d like to tackle, and then get specific before you communicate the goal of the meeting to the attendees.
Human Resources
As concerns about the workplace conflict are shared, listen closely to how he describes the situation. How each of you interprets the events gives you insight into how the conflict developed, what’s keeping it going, and what approaches you can collectively take that will lead you to solutions.
Bear in mind that even though both of you likely experienced the same incidents, he’ll probably describe the impact differently than you do.
Human Resources
If you’re a manager dealing with a conflict in the workplace (and what workplace doesn't have some conflict?), you need a strategy to approach and defuse the disagreement. You can effectively mediate the conflict by following this process:
Do preliminary planning, scheduling, and room setup.
Getting the right people in the right room at the right time is a good first step to creative problem-solving.
Human Resources
Mediating a conflict at work sometimes calls for a private meeting, or caucus, with each individual involved. A private meeting is an excellent opportunity for you to provide a different venue for participants to discuss the conflict on a different level. If you opt to call a caucus, you have some choices to make.
Human Resources
Problem solving is a skill that all managers need to do well. But there are some problem-solving methods that can create conflict that you should avoid when it comes to developing your employees. Moving projects forward, meeting deadlines, and getting some tangible results under your belt are all seemingly reasonable justifications for fixing a mess yourself instead of putting the onus for solutions on employees.
Human Resources
Professional mediators understand the dynamics and subtleties involved when dealing with conflict in the workplace. Taking the right approach to conflict resolution goes a long way. Here are some pointers and techniques professionals use while helping to resolve employee conflict:
Value the process as much as the outcome: Striving to improve a working relationship gives you more than a momentary solution.
Human Resources
Organizations often delay in requesting outside help for a workplace conflict because they’re hesitant to allocate the money. Conflict-resolution trainers, mediators, coaches, and consultants usually don’t work for free, but don’t let the cost dissuade you from considering outside help. You won’t know how much an expert costs until you do the research, and you may be surprised by what you find.
Professional mediators hear a lot of excuses for managerial inaction when it comes to employee conflicts. If you find yourself repeating one of these statements, find the resources you need, hone your coaching skills, have a productive conversation with a colleague, or try a new approach to an old problem.
“I don’t really know how.
Human Resources
Conflict-resolution training
One of the most proactive steps you can take as a manager is to make use of conflict-resolution trainings for yourself and for your staff. Look for existing trainings to send one or more of your employees to, or look for a trainer who can customize a course specifically for your needs.
When you’re attempting to resolve conflict in the workplace, you want to see signs that the situation is starting to improve. Your mediation strategies are working when you begin to notice that your employees
Have relaxed conversations and interactions
Cooperate on tasks and projects
Change their word c
Human Resources
Settling a workplace conflict means developing good, solid agreements that satisfy everyone’s needs. These agreements hold up over time and have specific qualities that are important for you to look for in each of the proposals you discuss. Think of this part of the mediated meeting as a litmus test to identify these particular attributes.
Human Resources
Finding resolution is ideal, but what do you do to maintain your sanity when a conflict drags on? If you can’t count on others to work with you to resolve the problem, look for things you can control. Finding the power to change what you can provides relief and comfort during a difficult time. Plus, it gives you something positive to focus on.
Human Resources
A number of factors can contribute to workplace-conflict problems when you’re facilitating the solution/agreement portion of your mediation. Be aware of these factors and pay attention to how they can affect the overall quality of your process.
Vague language
Although using open-ended language is a good idea, when it’s time to write up agreements, be as clear and specific as you can be.
Human Resources
When conflict arises among coworkers, understand that everyone has a set of core values — things that are fundamentally important to them. Knowing that values are common motivators for people gives you greater insight into why certain conflicts happen. Identifying the values in a conflict helps you as a manager find resolution to the conflict.
Resolving workplace conflicts — or even exacerbating them — lies in the balance of power and how it's used. The most easily understood indication of power in the workplace is title or hierarchy. The CEO, the owner, the HR director, the boss, or the manager are common representations of the traditional view of power.
Human Resources
So you've concluded a conflict-resolution situation between two of your employees. You’re hopeful that the conflict is behind them and that they’re both moving on. So how will you know if things are on track or if you need to step in with another course of action? You have to pay attention to determine what’s next.
Human Resources
Not slowing down long enough to understand the broader picture or focus your attention in the other direction shortchanges your staff and weakens your reputation. When you have your head down in front of the computer or when you’re barreling along to meet a deadline, you may cause ripples in the pond without even knowing you threw the pebble.
Human Resources
People react to and manage conflict at work very differently. Three people in the same situation may have three distinctly different reactions. And to make matters more complex, not only do people act differently in workplace conflict, but the same person may respond one way in one situation and react another way in a different situation.
Human Resources
A productive meeting with your boss can be a relief and can motivate you to be the best you can be. But if you’re not sure you’re ready to tackle a discussion about the conflict between the two of you, here are some motivations for a meeting you may want to consider:
You’re determined to stay with the organization.
Human Resources
Each workplace conflict has a number of unique variables that move even the most adept managers to call experts for help. Some conflicts are easily handled, and others, well, are not so easy. You may want to call in a professional to manage the resolution because
You’ve assessed the conflict and it’s beyond your abilities.
Human Resources
In times of conflict, think of your Human Resources (HR) department as a partner that can help you create an action plan. HR professionals know what employee conflicts can cost a company. Most employees see HR as a compliance office — the place that makes sure everyone is following the rules and regulations. But that’s not all HR does.
Load More Articles
Related Books
0:00
0:00
https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6630d85d73068bc09c7c436c/69195ee32d5c606051d9f433_4.%20All%20For%20You.mp3
Frequently Asked Questions
No items found.
