Dealing with Conflict in the Workplace
Introduction
Conflict arises anytime there is a dispute or disagreement in the workplace. This is not necessarily indicative of a poor work environment. Conflict in the work place has been defined as “a sharp disagreement or opposition of interests or ideas. Anytime people work together, conflict is a part of ‘doing business’.” (Human Resources the University of Oklahoma, 2016). There are a few different types of conflict in the work place: conflict with a boss, conflict with a peer, and conflict with direct reports or a teammate in a workgroup Fox (2015).
Many people may believe that they haven’t experienced this issue, and some may deal with it on a day to day basis. There are many things that can be …show more content…
One cause of conflict is the clashing of different personalities. Two employees may be exemplary workers, but different employees have different styles of working. This could end up causing passive aggressive or even aggressive attitudes or behaviors towards each other. This would later affect their work as well as reaching the company or organizations overall goals or objectives. This could also happen when employees have a disagreement on an idea or plan, poor communication, scarce resources, display low or poor performance, or express different values (HRUO, …show more content…
If there is a disagreement on something one approach to settling the dispute as a manager, is to first arrange a meeting with the two employees with the conflicting issues. In this meeting the manager will have the employees sit down and talk to one another while supervising the conversation to assure that the time is being used effectively. The second step is to focus on the behaviors of the employees and reiterate that the flow of conversation must focus on solving the issue rather than pointing fingers. While each participant is speaking, be aware that every party involved is displaying active listening skills and should not be ignoring or disregarding what the other participant is saying. Once both sides have stated their individual cases the manager should summarize each side and begin the assessment process, identifying possible solutions until both parties can achieve resolution. Once this occurs, the next step is prioritization of areas of conflict. The manager must engage the employees in creating a plan of action and implementation. As each party works toward the resolution plan, it is imperative to check in and ensure the employees are maximizing their efforts. Checking in will help them stick to it as well as give them a sense of comfort, knowing they have the managers support, should they need it. (UC San Diego,
Introduction
Conflict arises anytime there is a dispute or disagreement in the workplace. This is not necessarily indicative of a poor work environment. Conflict in the work place has been defined as “a sharp disagreement or opposition of interests or ideas. Anytime people work together, conflict is a part of ‘doing business’.” (Human Resources the University of Oklahoma, 2016). There are a few different types of conflict in the work place: conflict with a boss, conflict with a peer, and conflict with direct reports or a teammate in a workgroup Fox (2015).
Many people may believe that they haven’t experienced this issue, and some may deal with it on a day to day basis. There are many things that can be …show more content…
One cause of conflict is the clashing of different personalities. Two employees may be exemplary workers, but different employees have different styles of working. This could end up causing passive aggressive or even aggressive attitudes or behaviors towards each other. This would later affect their work as well as reaching the company or organizations overall goals or objectives. This could also happen when employees have a disagreement on an idea or plan, poor communication, scarce resources, display low or poor performance, or express different values (HRUO, …show more content…
If there is a disagreement on something one approach to settling the dispute as a manager, is to first arrange a meeting with the two employees with the conflicting issues. In this meeting the manager will have the employees sit down and talk to one another while supervising the conversation to assure that the time is being used effectively. The second step is to focus on the behaviors of the employees and reiterate that the flow of conversation must focus on solving the issue rather than pointing fingers. While each participant is speaking, be aware that every party involved is displaying active listening skills and should not be ignoring or disregarding what the other participant is saying. Once both sides have stated their individual cases the manager should summarize each side and begin the assessment process, identifying possible solutions until both parties can achieve resolution. Once this occurs, the next step is prioritization of areas of conflict. The manager must engage the employees in creating a plan of action and implementation. As each party works toward the resolution plan, it is imperative to check in and ensure the employees are maximizing their efforts. Checking in will help them stick to it as well as give them a sense of comfort, knowing they have the managers support, should they need it. (UC San Diego,