Running a company is a collaborative effort. It requires many people who all have their own skills.
But things aren’t always going to run smoothly. Conflict is going to come around sooner than later.
In fact, studies show that a manager will spend 30% of their time managing conflict.
If this is you, then you need to learn what to do in these situations.
So how can you deal with conflict that occurs? We’ve outlined a few steps you can make use of to help.
Follow the five tips below to help resolve conflict that happens in the workplace.
1. Don’t Focus on Being Right
When you are trying to resolve conflict in the workplace, it isn’t about who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s about moving past the problem so that the people involved get peace of mind.
The people you work with are a team and are working together to achieve a common goal.
Knowing this, it doesn’t matter who is in the right. What matters is getting a resolution that helps everyone move forward to get work done.
2. Focus on a Goal
If you go into a situation without a clear goal in mind, you are going to have a harder time finding a resolution.
Ask yourself why the conflict is happening. Resolving the dispute itself is a good thing. But using the resolution to solve a more significant problem is even better.
Doing so can help keep similar conflicts from happening in the future.
3. Admit Fault
You aren’t always right and shouldn’t expect to be. When you admit that you were wrong, then you can more easily open up a dialog with others.
It’s not an easy thing to admit, but if you do, then you open the door for others to be comfortable doing the same thing.
Being honest creates a space for dialog for people to resolve problems.
4. Don’t Focus on Personality
Resolving a conflict should never be about the personality of another person. Making it about the character of a person will only lead to people becoming more defensive.
Instead, you should focus on the behaviors that are happening. Focusing on behavior gives you more of a chance to work on steps to stop bad behavior.
5. Don’t Assign Blame
The last thing you want is to get into a he-said-she-said scenario. Nothing gets resolved when there is a bunch of finger-pointing happening.
Focus on the root cause of the problem. By doing this and shifting focus away from people, you can train your staff to avoid these problems in the first place.
Make Sure You Resolve Conflict the Right Way
When you bring together people, it isn’t hard for conflict to arise. It takes skill to resolve conflict in the workplace the right way to make sure that everyone involved gets a positive outcome.
Make sure you learn how to handle workplace conflict, so things don’t spiral out of control.
An excellent way to keep calm when stressful situations to arise is to make sure you take care of the rest of your life. Head over to our lifestyle section to learn how you can keep a cool head.
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