Conflict resolution is a necessary skill set to survive in today’s business world. The ability to recognize conflict, understand the nature of the conflict, and be able to achieve a quick and fair resolution of the conflict will serve you well as a senior executive or business owner. In today’s blog post, I’ll share my perspective on the art and science of conflict resolution.
How many times over the years have you witnessed smart professionals self-destruct because they didn’t get involved out of fear of conflict? Burying your head in the sand and waiting for the conflict to pass is not the most effective approach to solving problems. Conflict rarely resolves itself… In fact, conflict often escalates if not dealt with proactively and appropriately. It’s not at all uncommon to see what could have been a non-event manifest into a monumental problem if not resolved from the start.
Developing effective conflict resolution skill sets is an essential component of building a sustainable business model. Unresolved conflicts often result in lost productivity, stifle creativity, and create barriers to cooperation. While conflict is a normal part of any social and organizational setting, the challenge of conflict lies in how one chooses to deal with it. Hidden or avoided, conflict is likely to fester and escalate into resentment, lead to withdrawal, or trigger factional infighting within an organization.
So what creates conflict in the workplace? Opposing positions, competitive tensions, power struggles, ego, pride, jealousy, performance discrepancies, compensation issues, just someone having a bad day, etc. While the answer to the above question seems to lead to the conclusion that almost anything creates conflict, the reality is that the root of most conflicts stems from miscommunication or an inability to control one’s emotions. Let’s examine these 2 main causes of conflict:
Communication: I have heard that 90% of all problems in business could be avoided with better communication. My personal opinion is that the number is closer to 50% (the remaining 50% is caused by uncontrolled emotions). If you reflect on the conflicts you have faced over the years, you will quickly recognize that many of them were the result of a lack of information, poor information, lack of information, or misinformation. Let’s assume for a moment that you were lucky enough to have received some good information but you didn’t know what to do with it… That is still a communication problem, which in turn can lead to conflict. The communication of clear, concise, accurate and timely information will help alleviate both the number and severity of conflicts.
emotions: Another common workplace communication mistake that leads to conflict is letting emotions drive decisions. I have seen countless examples of people risking their future to protect their emotions, when what they should have done was protect their future by showing control over their emotions. I’ve witnessed smart executives put the need for emotional superiority before achieving their mission (not that they always understood this at the time). For example… have you ever seen an employee throw a fit of rage and resign from him in the heat of the moment? If so, what he really saw was a person comforting his emotions instead of protecting his future.
The very bane of human existence, which in fact is human nature itself, will always create gaps in thought and philosophy, and no matter how much we wish it weren’t… it is. So the question becomes how to effectively deal with conflict when it arises.
It is essential to the health and performance of the organization that conflict is accepted and addressed through effective conflict resolution processes. While having a dispute resolution structure is important, the effective use of dispute resolution processes ultimately depends on the ability of all parties to understand the benefits of dispute resolution and, perhaps more importantly, , his desire to resolve the matter. The following tips will help you more effectively manage conflict in the workplace:
Define acceptable behavior: You know what they say about assuming… Simply having a definition of what constitutes acceptable behavior is a positive step in avoiding conflict. Creating a framework for decision-making, using a published delegation of authority statement, fostering collaborative best practices, team building, leadership development, and talent management will help avoid conflicts. Having clearly defined job descriptions so people know what is expected of them and a well-articulated chain of command to allow for effective communication will also help avoid conflict.
Hit conflict head on: While conflicts cannot always be prevented, in my experience, the secret to conflict resolution is, in fact, conflict prevention when possible. By actually looking for areas of potential conflict and proactively intervening in a fair and decisive manner, you are likely to prevent certain conflicts from arising and, if a conflict does arise, you are likely to minimize its severity by dealing with it quickly.
Understanding the WIIFM factor: Understanding the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) position of other professionals is essential. It is absolutely essential to understand the motivations of others before giving your opinion. The way to avoid conflict is to help those around you achieve their goals. If you approach conflict from the perspective of taking action that will help others better achieve their goals, you will find few obstacles standing in your way regarding conflict resolution.
The importance factor: Pick your battles and avoid conflict for conflict’s sake. However, if the problem is important enough to create a conflict, it will surely be important enough to resolve it. If the issue, circumstance, or situation is important enough and the stakes are high enough, people will do whatever it takes to open lines of communication and close positional gaps.
Bottom line… I believe that you can usually find a solution to conflicts where there is a sincere desire to do so. Turning the other cheek, compromise, forgiveness, compassion, empathy, finding common ground, being an active listener, service above self, and many other approaches will always allow one to succeed in building a relationship if the underlying desire is Strong enough.