Workplace conflict can be a stressful situation for many managers. Conflict is a common occurrence and humans tend to experience it regularly in their day-to-day lives.
Close to 10 million people experience workplace conflict each year, highlighting how it’s a significant problem affecting our workforce.
Managers report spending 18-26% of their time dealing with workplace conflict, and it’s very time consuming. Learn to reduce toxicity in the workplace to help avoid workplace conflict. Read here for our article on removing toxicity in the workplace.
This type of conflict is something which can cause much distress, frustration, anger, sadness, and discomfort. On some occasions, it can even result in staff turnover – so, as an employer, it’s important to understand how to resolve workplace conflict to reduce turnover and boost productivity.
20% of leaders say that workplace conflict is common, and 26% of employees agree. The most common cause for conflict is clashes between personalities, which has been determined by 49% of employees. Whereas the most common occurrence of workplace conflict is insults (27%), departmental conflict (18%), and Bullying (18%).
It’s important to recognise how to manage and resolve it to avoid the conflict from rising to a major problem. Here, we will discuss some tips on how to best deal with workplace conflict.
How to Resolve Workplace Conflict
Let’s look at how we can overcome the problem of workplace conflict…
Recognise the cause of the workplace conflict
You should always begin with clarifying the source of any conflict. This will help you understand how the issue came to grow, and you will be able to get both parties to agree on what the disagreement is. To do so, you must discuss the needs which are not being met on both sides of the issue. Try and develop a mutual understanding between the two or more parties. Gather as much information as possible and continue asking questions until you are confident that the conflicting parties understand the issue.
Detach from any biases
It can be easy to naturally have a bias in the situation, but as a manager, you must detach yourself from any biases you may have. 96% of employees think their managers have bias, so it’s important to not fall victim to favouritism! Once you acknowledge your own biases, it will be easier to identify the actual problem. Read here for our article on tackling unconscious bias.
Find a safe and private environment to discuss
Talking in a private and safe place can facilitate a peaceful discussion and make it more constructive. This also allows for a more honest and productive discussion about the issues at hand. Try and choose a place where there are no other employees who can eavesdrop.
Listen actively and allow everyone to speak
Let each person have the opportunity to talk to openly discuss their thoughts and concerns. Ensure that your bias isn’t allowing for one person to talk more than the other – and prevent people from talking over one another. Embrace a positive and assertive approach in the meeting, potentially set some ground rules before the meeting commences. This will encourage an open and honest discussion, where each participant can show some appreciation for the other’s views.
Investigate the problem
After listening to all parties, take your time to investigate the situation. Try and dig deeper than the information you already have to hand – discover more about the involved parties, the issues, and the feelings of the individuals. Try and take note of their statements and reiterate these back to them in a summary. This will clarify that you have understood their points. Try and uncover other conflict sources which may not be evident.
Determine how to meet a common goal
You must have a common objective when managing the conflict processes – guaranteeing that the issue has been resolved and will not resurface. After clarifying the source of the conflict, talking to both parties, and investigating the situation, you need to sit down with all parties and discuss the common ways you can all execute a plan to meet a common goal of resolving the issue at hand. Listen, communicate and brainstorm together until you have exhausted all options.
Agree on a best solution to reach the common goal
Encourage all parties to develop a conclusion on the best solution for the problem. You can do this by identifying all the mutual solutions which each party can live with. Determine what responsibilities each party has to resolve the conflict, and use this as your last chance to clarify the root cause of the issue to avoid it from happening again.
Keep an eye on the situation
You should not assume that the issue has been permanently resolved. Try and keep an eye on the situation after the meeting, and evaluate whether the resolution plan has really been effective. If the problem resurfaces, then it’s important to take action.
Know when to involve HR
If there is still an issue with workplace conflict between the parties, then it may be important to resort to additional resources. A HR team are specifically trained to deal with conflict, so referring the issue to them may be the best solution to the problem if you cannot manage it yourself. It’s best to communicate with HR when it’s a consistent issue.
Have any other ideas on Resolving Workplace Conflict?
We hope these tips can help you with any workplace conflict you experience as a manager, remember to not pick sides and to remain calm when approaching these situations.
Have any more ideas on resolving workplace conflict? Send us an email at [email protected], and don’t forget to subscribe to our RekkTalk Newsletter, visit our RekkBlog, and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn!
