The office isn’t the place to lose your cool...no matter how warranted or frustrating. There’s a right way—and a wrong way—to handle work drama.
Conflict resolution in the workplace is an art that’s important to learn sooner rather than later. The nature of being human means we’re bound to deal frequently with misunderstandings, frictions, and conflicts. And, since many of us spend large parts of our lives at work, these things happen there as well.
It’s not as bad as it sounds, though. When handled correctly, conflict can be an extraordinary tool for growth, both personally and professionally. Employees that deal with disputes in a healthy way at work contribute to companies performing better overall. So, it’s a win for everybody.
In this article, you’ll learn about:
•why arguments in the office can happen
•how people tend to react to conflict
•what skills and strategies you need to master to solve conflicts
Why We Argue at Work: Workplace Conflict Examples
While you might clash for all sorts of reasons in the office, there is a list of common causes of conflict in the workplace. These causes are most likely to occur with the people you work most closely with, such as your coworkers, colleagues in other departments, and your manager. Knowing what these are can make it easier to spot when they occur and handle them as soon as they arise.
Poor Communication
At work, we continuously collaborate to achieve a common goal. However, when instructions and expectations are left to be guessed at or are not expressed clearly, conflicts based on misunderstandings quickly arise.
Unclear Roles and Responsibilities
When workplaces don’t have a clear structure in place, disagreements about who does what are often going to be on the agenda. In these environments, knowing strategies for resolving conflict in the workplace can be a lifesaver.
Clashing Personalities
People are driven by so many factors, stories, objectives, and perspectives. Building workplace conflict resolution skills is a must for navigating the inevitable issues you’ll run into in a diverse workplace where everyone is coming from a different point of view.
Unresolved Past Disagreements
When conflicts are not addressed properly, they are likely to accumulate and escalate over time, creating a snowball effect that can have negative effects on your work environment.
Successful Conflict Resolution: Skills You Need
Before going into depth on the best strategies you can use to encourage effective conflict resolution in the workplace, it’s important to understand that strategies go hand in hand with certain skills that you need to learn first.
When you master and practice these skills, you’ll have all the necessary tools to handle conflict in the workplace like a pro:
1. Assertive Communication
Speakers that use assertive communication can assess and express their own perspectives to others in a positive, yet firm way. Although this communication style is the opposite of passive aggression, and is instead active and transparent, don’t confuse it with aggression.
Assertive communication means being able to defend your perspective while maintaining respect for all involved. If it sounds difficult, that’s because it is. Only a very small percentage of people can naturally master this skill. The good news is that anyone can become good at this. To do so, focus on:
•openly expressing your wishes and encouraging others to do the same
•accepting responsibility
•avoiding blaming or shaming by being factual rather than emotional in your communication
2. Active Listening
Active listening is a powerful skill to own for resolving conflict. To put it simply, active listening means being attentive and focusing on what the other person is saying to really understand them, rather than promptly giving an answer. It requires being fully in the moment, withholding judgment, and avoiding making assumptions about what someone will say. The best ways to exercise this skill are by:
•Entering conversations with an open mind.
•Not being afraid to take time to reflect once the person is done speaking.
•Asking questions and rephrasing what is being said to make sure you understand the real intentions correctly.
3. Emotional Intelligence
Once again this is a great tool for handling conflict resolution in the workplace. Emotionally intelligent individuals are able to recognize both their own and other people’s emotions and react accordingly to achieve the best result together.
It’s not about controlling your counterpart in a conversation, but rather it’s about making them feel heard and understood. This eases communication and helps prevent escalations. You can exercise your emotional intelligence muscles by:
•Being observant of others, both to what they say and how they say it, and to their non-verbal communication.
•Making meaningful eye contact with the people you speak with to foster trust.
•Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes to understand their motives and actions.
4. Problem-Solving
Problem-solving is one of the most sought-after soft skills not only for conflict resolution in the workplace but for pretty much any sort of challenge you’ll encounter in and outside your career. Problem-solving is the art of identifying issues and actively building a roadmap to solve them.
It’s methodical, focuses on facts rather than feelings and relies on creativity to seek solutions. You can promote this skill in your life by:
•Making sure you truly understand what the problem at hand is by engaging in active listening.
•Distancing yourself from your emotions about the problem to think more clearly.
•Spending time on activities that promote a think-outside-of-the-box mindset such as puzzles, escape rooms, or treasure hunts.
Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies for Work
When clashes of any nature occur in the workplace, people tend to react essentially in four different ways by:
•ignoring the issue
•giving in to fix the problem at least in the short-term
•pursuing the “win” at all cost.
•collaborating or compromising
The first two tactics can certainly achieve conflict resolution in the workplace in specific situations, such as in response to a one-time problem or where it’s not important enough to you to push it further. However, if you employ them constantly, they’re likely to cause you to accumulate frustration and resentment, which can contribute to burnout over time.
The third approach, seeking to win the argument at any cost, might bring you what you want at that moment, but it’s not an effective long-term strategy. This is because by completely ignoring your counterpart’s requests, you’ll likely come off as inflexible and difficult to work with - not how you want to appear in any workplace. Instead, focus on collaborating, which usually means both parties compromise to reach an equally satisfactory agreement.
How To Handle Conflict at Work: Concrete Steps
If you’re dealing with workplace bullying or other forms of discrimination or harassment, don’t think twice before escalating the issue to your manager or HR. In all other cases, the best strategy for conflict resolution in the workplace is collaboration by way of following these steps:
1. Identify and Face the Problem Quickly and Openly
Instead of letting the issue simmer and potentially develop into something bigger, take action as soon as you can. Reach out to the interested person and explain or ask questions aimed at understanding what the source of disagreement is.
It can be less intimidating to pick a more casual environment for your conversation than the office. A coffee or lunch spot is ideal. However, if your conflict in the workplace has escalated already, it’s a good idea to seek assistance from a neutral coworker or even HR to act as a moderator.
2. Be Positive
Always strive to keep a positive attitude and a calm tone, and stress that your objective is to find a solution that can satisfy both parties. Using humor appropriately can also be very effective to lighten the mood, thus achieving conflict resolution in the workplace faster. When identifying the problem, avoid pointing fingers. Focus on specific behaviors or occasions rather than the person’s character.
3. Listen and Ask Questions
Let the other person express their point of view and ask genuine questions to understand them. Acknowledge your different opinions, take responsibility where necessary and don’t take things personally. This way, they’ll feel heard, and be more willing to cooperate for a better resolution.
4. Work Towards a Solution Together
Conflict resolution in the workplace is not that different from dealing with disagreements in other areas of your life. To make everybody happy, you’ll have to brainstorm solutions, exclude options that aren’t feasible and often compromise here and there. Once you agree on a certain course of action, establish responsibilities and how to prevent the same issue from happening again. It’s important to note also that sometimes it’s impossible to keep everyone happy, so willingness to be objective is key.
5. Bonus: Tips for Preventing and Resolving Conflict in Remote Teams
As you might imagine, remote teams are not immune from experiencing disagreements, quite the opposite. When face-to-face interactions, facial expressions and non-verbal communication are missing it can be more difficult to understand people, hence there are more chances for friction. On top of the already mentioned game plan, members of remote teams should:
•Use the best-suited technology you have. Yes, certain meetings could be e-mails, but not all of them! When contentions arise it’s always better to bring them up and solve them over a phone or video call.
•Don’t interrupt and wait your turn. Remember that the same rules of politeness that apply to face-to-face conversations apply in the digital space too.
•Look out for changes in communication style and frequency. If your coworker is getting in touch less and less frequently or is suddenly answering messages with monosyllables, you might want to check if they’re OK.
•Check in regularly. Dedicate time to the people you work with the most to encourage communication. You could set weekly meetings, a quick virtual coffee break or even have a virtual drink after work. Regular, positive communication can be crucial to achieving conflict resolution in the workplace more easily when it arises.
Reduce the Need for Conflict Resolution in the Workplace by Finding a Job You Love
Disagreements are a normal part of life but an open and supportive employer can make all the difference in how they manifest. Monster can help you find the perfect fit! Create a free candidate account and upload your resume within minutes. We’ll send you the newest relevant job postings as soon as they’re online. Plus, we’ll promote your profile to companies looking for candidates with your skills.
Copyright April 1, 2024 - Monster Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved. You may not copy, reproduce or distribute this article without the prior written permission of Monster Worldwide. This article first appeared on Monster.com. To see other career-related articles, visit https://www.monster.com/career-advice/.
