Conflict Resolution In The Workplace

admin | Apr 10, 2011 | 1 comment

There is one thing in particular that we share with nearly everyone close to us at some point in our lives, whether that someone is a parent or sibling or is a wife or children, and this one thing is Conflict. But the most difficult conflicts to resolve are usually not those we have with the people close to us, but are the ones we have in the workplace. We are better equipped to handle familial conflicts because of the foundation of relationship that is already in place, both before and after the conflict. In the workplace, however, conflicts often deal with people we hardly know (or, at least, with people we wish we hardly knew!), and this can make them much more explosive. There is no magic elixir that can make workplace conflicts go away completely in an infallible manner, but there certainly are specific things you can do that will enable you to diffuse workplace conflicts before they spin out of control, no matter how close they are to spinning out of control already.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when dealing with conflict, especially in the workplace, is assigning blame. If you tell someone on your project team, “You don’t do any work,” they are far less likely to listen to you, and you are therefore far less likely to resolve the conflict, than if you express, “I feel like I am doing all the work.”

The “us versus the problem” is an especially positive approach to take when dealing with conflicts. Instead of pitting two individuals against one another, the “us versus the problem” approach essentially says, “Yes, there is a problem, so let’s identify it and work it out together. By working together against the problem, you can also easily avoid placing blame, as the problem has now become the issue in question, rather than it being one person or the other.

Finally, think long and hard about the prudence of involving your superiors in a conflict before you do so. When you involve your superiors, it can quickly create bitterness between yourself and the coworker with whom you had conflict. Furthermore, even if you are in the right and your coworker is in the wrong, no one looks very good when a conflict is brought to the boss.

Conflict resolution is often necessary, even if it is not always easy. Instead of fighting and making your conflicts worse, learn how to solve them.