How to Manage Conflict in the Workplace
Conflict at work is inevitable. With the heady blend of personalities, goals and stresses that come with the modern workplace, frustrations are bound to mount from time to time. It’s essential for every manager to understand how to manage conflict and how to have difficult conversations at work.
Tips For Conflict Resolution at Work
Stanford academic Jeffrey Pfeffer has some fantastic tips on this topic. You can read his article in HBR or read my summary of his top five tips below:
1. Stay focused on the most essential objectives.
When you feel cross or frustrated it is easy to lose sight of what you were trying to achieve when the conflict began. Try not to do this and focus on achieving your aims.
2. Don’t fight over things that don’t matter.
Choose your battles. Don’t expend time and emotional energy on things that aren’t very important.
3. Build an empathetic understanding of other’s point of view.
There are many reasons for conflict at work, and it’s usually not because the other person is being difficult for the sake of it. If you try to see things from their point of view and understand their objectives, finding a solution will be much easier.
4. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
To understand what your adversary is thinking you have to engage with them.
5. Use humour to defuse difficult situations.
Some mild doses of humour are a helpful tool, without alienating those with concerns.
If you or your team need help managing conflict and how to approach difficult conversations at work, we have a range of challenging conversations training sessions that can help build better, more collaborative workplaces.
Click here to find out more about training for difficult conversations.
