It’s best to reframe conflicts as something which present you with opportunities for change
Even if a company’s culture is entirely healthy, based on mutual trust, teamwork, creativity, authenticity and constructive criticism, and there’s absolutely no shred of toxicity, conflicts can still arise. To ensure that a work environment functions as a well-oiled machine, you must become adept at conflict management and have a team that takes this task seriously as well. In the most basic sense, the concept refers to the use of tools, processes and skills that can create respectful and wholesome ways of managing disputes. Improved communication skills and active listening are two of the most important aspects, with the aim being to enhance learning and group outcomes such as performance efficiency.
Understanding the concept
When you hear the term conflict management, it might be easy to misinterpret what it actually entails. Having a clear and comprehensive picture of what conflict management refers to will allow you to have a more comprehensive picture of your goals. For starters, a common misconception is that conflict management automatically includes conflict resolution. Handling disagreements is meant to minimise the adverse outcomes as much as possible with the aim of improving learning. It is synonymous with mediating and coping with a difficult situation rather than finalising it completely. In simpler terms, it is the same as the old mantra of “agree to disagree”.
Conflict prevention is another side of the same coin, as the concepts are intertwined but not synonymous. Preventative measures aim to contain issues so that conflicts don’t crystallise in the first place or to solve smaller disputes before they have the chance to get out of hand. In conflict management, the positive aspects of a clash are seen as a good thing and a means to boost problem-solving abilities, increase involvement, clarify issues, and ultimately end up with a better outcome than you would have otherwise.
Negative emotions
Negative feelings and emotions such as resentment, anger, and frustration can create a tense work environment, exacerbate stress, and impact leadership decisions. However, it is crucial to learn how to respond to these situations instead of avoiding or letting them fester. This can lead to people having poor opinions of their co-workers in secret or even despising them. Some may hide underneath a friendly façade, while others might become more openly hostile, depending on their confrontation style. These emotions can often be the cause of a misunderstanding of the other’s words or actions, as well as a disagreement regarding workplace choices and plans.
For instance, someone may think it is worth looking into the Ethereum price USD in order to add them to the corporate portfolio, while another employee could see the holdings as too risky to be worth it. Lack of recognition, discrimination, unrealistic expectations, competition, imbalanced workloads, unclear responsibilities, resistance to change, different work styles and personality clashes are at the root of most workplace conflicts. So, what is the best way to deal with adverse emotions in your team? Business owners, supervisors and managers must be confident that their feelings are well-balanced before mediating conflicts between others.
Make sure you don’t go in with the aim of suppressing frustration or anger, and make sure to reframe the concepts themselves so that you can handle them with sensibility and empathy rather than dread and partial avoidance, as this approach is much less likely to yield positive outcomes. Anger is a normal and frequent human emotion, so acknowledging these feelings and showing your team that you’re willing to learn without interjecting your opinion will pay off. Once the situation has de-escalated, there is room for discussing strategies to channel frustration into more constructive resolutions. You might also want to take into account whether there were any blind spots in your leadership that may have contributed to the employees’ anger in the first place.
Management styles
There are several different types of conflict management you can choose from when you’re aiming to reduce the impact of quarrels in the office. Every workplace will have different needs, so you might have to go through a period of trial and error before finding the one that is most suitable for you. The five main approaches include:
- Accommodating: This type of conflict management is high in cooperation and low in assertiveness, so it could be the correct answer when it comes to more trivial disagreements from which you can move on relatively quickly.
- Avoiding: As the name suggests, this style refers to bypassing conflict. It typically works in instances when there are more pressing issues to deal with; you need time to think about the conflict first and come up with a solution, or the risk of confronting outweighs the benefits, and there’s a chance the situation will blow over anyway.
- Competing: This style is the direct opposite of accommodating, being lower in cooperation and significantly higher in assertiveness. It might seem unacceptable from an outsider’s perspective since you are essentially placing your own desires above those of the other people involved, but it is sometimes necessary when you’re in a position of higher authority and need a rapid solution to a dispute.
- Collaborating: This management model requires collaboration among all parties, as the resolution must be respectful and benefit everyone. If you have plenty of time to find a solution and are willing to work through its intricacies, the collaborating style is the perfect alternative.
- Compromising: Both assertiveness and cooperation markers are at a neutral level during compromising, and this is the solution you need if it’s impossible for everyone to get everything they need but if there’s a possibility that they will partially obtain what they need. Compromising is often not as creative and thorough as collaborating.
Managing conflicts in the workplace is no easy task. You must learn to manage emotions more efficiently, become an active listener, and develop your problem-solving abilities. Building confidence, better self-awareness, improving trust and respect, creating sustainable solutions in the event of future disagreements, and maintaining relationships are all crucial things to consider in the aftermath. Most importantly, it pays off to reframe conflicts as something that has positive aspects and which presents you with an opportunity for change.