Back to The Office With Over a Year of Experiences That Changed Us
Last week, I shared some initial thoughts on how we should manage conflict that may crop up in our new-look workplace environment. We bring people back to a centralized location after they have developed new routines and become accustomed to “alone time” at work.
I have three brothers, and when we are together, we don’t always see eye-to-eye. So put many people together in a workplace who come from different backgrounds and see the world through different lenses; there will be differences of opinions.
These differences are actually the very essence of a healthy and psychologically safe workplace. The key is to manage them positively and healthily.
Last week I shared with you four ways that managers can have a positive influence on how you manage conflict in the workplace. Here are three more.
Work to Find Common Ground
This is where we need to adopt the basic philosophy of Stephen Covey’s; to seek that Win-Win solution.
Instruct the conflicting parties to set aside what they disagree on and establish aspects of the situation on the same page. By exploring and naming what points they agree on, you can help them find a middle ground or neutral territory on which to relate.
Although the role of the leader is often a crucial one, conflict resolution is not always about a leader intervening and making necessary changes. Often, the most effective conflict management comes from employees doing the work of resolution.
Allow Enough Time To Gather Information
Don’t rush. Take time to think through carefully and considering the conflict. Fast resolution is not necessarily a lasting solution.
The specific direction will ultimately be dictated by the type of conflict that is being experienced.
Be flexible with your thoughts. What you think the root cause of the conflict could be light years away from the actual cause.
Once you have listened to and gathered the information, and everyone has had an opportunity to listen and to be heard, then you are in a better position to help guide the next steps.
The Endowment Effect
It is far better if those involved can be encouraged to develop a working solution to the conflict themselves.
The Endowment Effect says the more vested a person is in something they have created or own, the higher the value they will place on it. Meaning, employees will value their own solutions more than yours – if they can find them.
You might want to meet with the parties separately to help them with their resolution framework – provided there is no favoritism or variance in objectives and content of the meeting. You can’t have a favorite point of view!
Or you could mediate a solution with the parties present and you the independent and objective moderator. Again, this works as long as progress is being made.
These Are My Branches!
In my policing career, I can’t tell you the number of times that this system worked for neighborhood disputes with the parties that lived across the hedge from one another. If I imposed the solution, It was guaranteed that I would return for Round 2 before I even got back to the police station to write the report up! When neighbors found their way together, well, let’s say that Robert Peel would have been proud!
A solution that considers and respects all parties’ perspectives is the right outcome to any workplace conflict.
And this takes time to think through and get it right!
Be Proactive
One of the most effective tools in any organization’s conflict-resolution toolbox is proactive behavior. Nip things in the bud before they have an opportunity to escalate. Encourage opportunities for employees to get to know one another as people. We have more room to make peace with “friends” than we do with the guy in the cubicle down the hall.
Disagreements that are managed healthily are opportunities to develop and strengthen relationships.
Remember, after the Pandemic and so much work at home, people have become accustomed to an isolated work world. They spoke through email and on the phone, spent endless hours in front of zoom, but much of what builds relationships was missing. Spontaneous interaction. Learning about the lives of one another. Finding our commonalities.
I strongly suggest that managers and senior staff struggling with workplace conflict enroll in training programs. Learn more about creating effective socialization strategies.
The coming reset is a massive opportunity to start over.
Your tool belt has a few more options now – or at the very least, I have reminded you of why those tools that you already own work so well and how you should use them.
And if you are unsure, please reach out to your Human Resource professional for help. It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to ask for help.
