Conflict Management Techniques to Improve Workplace Harmony
If you are going to be a good leader, then you have to be able to resolve conflicts. Conflict is inevitable, especially in industries such as the UK grocery industry. You have to interact with many people, and the battle might ensue at some point. Seeing as you deal with different people with different training, mentality, temperament, etc. to achieve a singular goal. So you should be willing and able to resolve conflict whenever it surfaces. Therefore, it is essential that you have an armoury of conflict management techniques to help.
Leadership and conflict resolution go hand-in-hand. So, if you aren’t able to resolve disputes in a reasonable, productive, and healthy manner, then you shouldn’t be in any leadership position.
Conflict is not something that you should run from or try to avoid as a leader. If you are trying to prevent workplace conflict, you will be affecting morale among your workers; this might later lead to reduced productivity.
A Good Leader Knows How to Deal With Conflict
You are losing out on valuable lessons if you have not had to deal with workplace conflict. One of the characteristics of a good leader is their ability to deal with conflict. It includes recognising it, understanding its nature, and being able to resolve it very quickly. If you can’t do this well as a leader, you are probably digging your downfall.
Conflicts tend to escalate on their own, primarily if handled very poorly. We have seen cases of seemingly small incidents blow up into big problems; this is merely because of an inability to resolve conflicts correctly or lateness to identify and fix them. If you are going to build a sustainable business model, then you have to include conflict resolution and management techniques as an essential skillset.
Causes of Workplace Conflict
We can point to many things as the cause of conflicts in the workplace. These include ego, jealousy, opposing views, power struggles, competitive tensions, compensation issues, performance discrepancies, etc. However, these are subsets of the bigger problem. The main issues leading to the conflict are either communication issues or an inability to deal with emotions.
Communication
This is the most frequent reason for conflict anywhere in the world. You can think back to conflicts you were involved in; they will probably be due to miscommunication. Misinformation, inadequate information, or no information all causes these problems. You have probably received information before, and you did not know how to deal with it. That lack of communication can lead to conflict. So, it would be best if you tried to pass across information concisely, and on time.
Emotions
Another primary reason for workplace conflict is the inability to control one’s emotions. When conflicts arise between co-workers, it is probably because one or both of them allowed their emotions to drive them. You probably have seen a worker or employee give in to rage and go past the line when they should not. That’s somebody who is allowing their emotions to move them at the expense of their future.
Workplace Conflict Management Techniques
The very nature of human existence tends to create a gap in our philosophies and the quality of thinking. These differences tend to bring about conflicts at some point. So the real problem is not finding ways to avoid disputes but adopting the best techniques to manage it.
Here are five conflict management techniques by professional writing services to choose in resolving workplace conflict:
1. Let Everybody Know What Behaviours Are Acceptable
It will be a mistake if you assume that your employees know the behaviours that are considered acceptable. Remember what we said about communication? Assumption leads to conflicts. Let it be spelt out publicly, what you expect, or not expect from your workers since they’ll be dealing with different types of grocery-shopping customers.
This gives you a framework to deal with the conflicts when they arise. It would be best if you also had a well-structured chain of command to ensure effective communication. Also, ensure that everyone has their jobs and responsibility clearly defined. It helps you set the root of conflict and take decisive action when you need to.
2. Face Conflict Heads-On
You can’t avoid conflicts from arising at all times. But there are instances where you have to prevent it from happening. When it creates a bad atmosphere and destroys team morale, so, it is better to avoid such conflict before they even arise. You can take the time to deal with areas with natural tension.
Your prompt intervention and proactiveness in such cases can prevent future conflicts from occurring. In the case where this conflict does arise, you will be more than ready to deal with it. And you will be able to reduce its severity.
3. Know the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) Factor
There are many reasons why professionals might become involved in conflicts with one another. You must know people’s motivation and understand their perspective before weighing in on the conflict; this is the best way to approach conflict resolution. Try to see what they are trying to achieve. It will make it simpler for you to resolve the battle.
It will be selfish to think solely about you when trying to resolve disputes. Know what they want, how they feel, and the cause of the conflict. Once you understand this, there are only very few obstacles that can stand in your way of resolving the dispute.
4. Choose the Right Battles
It would be wrong for you to allow every small problem to cause conflict. Simply because ‘conflicts are inevitable’. Some disputes are avoidable and should not even come into existence. You only have to play your role well as a leader. If you leave everything to fate, every small problem will become a conflict. And there will always be plenty of ‘small problems.’
It would be best if you did your bit to avoid avoidable disputes. It means that you only have to deal with unavoidable conflicts. So, if there is a problem that’s big enough to cause conflicts, then it is big enough for your immediate attention. Your workers will also be willing to open up and resolve the dispute. Because they even know what’s at stake.
5. See Conflicts as Opportunities
You can see this as the reason why you shouldn’t try to avoid all conflicts. Conflicts always have hidden abilities for people to learn great lessons. This opportunity for you or your employees to learn something new is what you should look for in conflicts. These disagreements come with the potential for further development and growth. So it would be best if you looked forward to disputes, at least for this reason. Then ask yourself, what’s the lesson to learn?
You will be missing out on a lot if you are not leveraging on conflicts for Leadership Training and team building. When properly addressed, differing opinions can bring about innovations and knowledge; this is something you might not get from thinking alike. As a smart leader, you have to approach conflict resolution as an opportunity. There is always an upside to an opposing view.
Conclusion
You can resolve all conflicts as long as there is a willingness to solve it. But as the leader in a team, you do not resolve disputes by showing favouritism. You have to do the right thing and take the right steps. These 5 conflict management techniques can help you deal with conflicts better. Furthermore, they will also help you develop personally and professionally.
