29 Jul

Confronting Conflict In The Workplace

Posted in News, Synergy Suggestions on 29.07.13 by John Meloche

iStock_000001145681XSmallYou’re a business owner. It’s your job to do everything that is in the best interests of your company. Sometimes, that means you’re not going to be everyone’s best friend. You’ll make decisions that don’t necessarily make everyone in your organization happy. After all, you’re the boss. You’re bound to have an employee or two who isn’t a big fan of yours. It’s all part of the job.

That being said, there’s no way that having constant conflict in the workplace could ever be a good thing. Having peace and harmony on the job is essential to your staff all doing their jobs well. So what to do when conflict arises? Is conflict even avoidable? According to Mike Myatt on Forbes.com, “leadership and conflict go hand-in-hand.” In fact, he goes so far as saying that “leadership is a full-contact sport.”

Therefore, it’s important to brace yourself for impact anytime you are dealing with your employees. The greatest leaders, according to Myatt, are the ones who are able to quickly recognize conflict, understand its nature and bring about a swift resolution. There are many businesses that don’t succeed simply because their owners did not know how to handle conflict.

“Conflict rarely resolves itself,” writes Myatt, “in fact, conflict normally escalates if not dealt with proactively and properly. It is not at all uncommon to see what might have been a non-event manifest itself into a monumental problem if not resolved early on.” So there have got to be ways to properly address problems quickly, right? The key to doing this is to realize the two main reasons for conflict: communication and emotions.

Communication. A lack of information, poor information, no information or misinformation are all reasons for conflict to arise. Myatt insists that clear, concise, accurate and timely communication of information will help to reduce conflicts as well as their severity when they occur. It’s important to understand that misunderstandings play a big part in the creation of problems.

Emotions. Too often, people let emotions dictate their decisions. When this takes place in the workplace, drama is bound to ensue. Some people place their egos before the greater good of the company. This can only lead to bad news. Fits of rage allow for people to spew regrettable utterances that they can’t take back. Jobs are lost, productivity is halted and futures are tarnished.

So how do we ensure that we have communication that is clear without allowing our emotions to cloud our intentions? Writes Myatt, “While having a conflict resolution structure is important, effective utilization of conflict resolution processes is ultimately dependent upon the ability of all parties to understand the benefits of conflict resolution, and perhaps more importantly, their desire to resolve the matter.”

In tomorrow’s blog, we’ll list a number of tips provided by Myatt that will help for business owners to more effectively handle conflicts in the workplace. They are, after all, bound to happen. This is normal no matter what industry you work in. These problems – when controlled and handled well – can actually help to turn things around and turn your business into the success you want it to be.

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