Screaming Employees? How to Effectively Resolve Conflicts
in the Workplace
by Donna Price
Published on this site: February 10th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
Do you have employees that are out and out fighting with each
other at work? Yelling, screaming, not getting along or perhaps
has difficult relationships with their supervisor?
Conflicts in the workplace happen frequently and the fallout
can be costly to the employer and the employee. Developing
the skills to resolve conflicts that arise can save your company
significant money. First let's look at the costs:
- Decreased productivity due to the emotions involved in
interpersonal conflict.
- time lost from work by employees
- time lost from work by managers involved in the conflict
- recruitment and training of new employees
- decreased productivity by other staff due to tension/stress
and the overall work environment
The root of many conflicts is communication: either unclear
communication, resulting in misunderstandings. One strategy
to address rising incidents of conflict is communication training.
Teaching people how to listen and how to talk clearly can
prevent and decrease conflicts. Communication is such a challenge.
So often, we feel we have been really clear, only to find
out that the other person really misunderstood us. Being a
clear communicator takes commitment. You need to be able to
talk in a neutral sort of way, eliminating inflammatory motions.
Speak from the heart and listen from the heart are good basic
guidelines. Beyond the basics, are to listen deeply to what
the other person is saying and then to check-in with them.
Ask them: "is this what you are saying?" It lets
the person you are talking with know what you have understood
and gives them the opportunity to clarify or correct misunderstandings.
What do you do when the conflicts have escalated? Resolving
conflicts are good for everyone involved, but sometimes it's
hard to see that in the moment for the people directly in
conflict. As mentioned earlier, conflict is costly. Sometimes
as the owner, or manager we forget that there is a great cost
to us but also to the employee. Changing jobs due to a conflict
means a great deal of change for an employee. They might not
be able to get the same level of pay; benefits; shifts, etc
that they are accustomed to. The impact to the employee and
their family can be high.
As the leader you can set-up an effective environment to
resolve the dispute by following some simple steps and laying
out a couple of guidelines.
First, spend time talking with each person involved. Let
them know that your belief is that developing a shared solution
is important to each person and that you value each of the
employees involved. During the individual meetings you can
begin to gather information about what they see as the possible
solutions. Let
the employees know that your intent is to meet with each of
them and then with them together, to talk about their perspective
and possible solutions to the conflict.
Use a Simple & Effective Process:
- Create a safe space for involved parties to talk. (private,
neutral)
- Set out the guidelines:
- Only one person talks at a time
- No interruptions, defending or justifying
- Come in with an open mind, open to the possible solutions
and be willing to compromise.
- Give each person an opportunity to tell their story,
from their perspective. Remind the other people involved
that we are each listening, listening to each person's perspective.
This is a key.
- Paraphrase the stories of each person. This ensures that
each story has been understood. Using phrases such as "What
I am hearing you say is... Is that right?"
- After everyone has had an opportunity to tell their story,
brainstorm possible solutions. Again, this isn't a time
to judge. Whenever you are brainstorming you want all the
ideas, good or bad, or out in left field. One of them might
be the idea that helps someone come up with the best solution.
- Identify the solutions that work for each party. Ifs
important that the solution is agreeable to each party and
the company. In order for the agreed upon solution to work
and be successful, you need buy in.
- Agree to do the solution. The last step is the key to
moving forward.
Some Common Pitfalls:
- Don't take sides. As the manager your interest is the
company, the resolution of the conflict and each employee.
- Don't mandate a solution; you want the staff invested
in the solution.
What Do You Do If Staffs Refuse To Participate In Conflict
Resolution?
Offering staffs the opportunity to resolve conflict is a
much better option than being disciplined, having supervisor
mandated solutions or taking no action at all. When staffs
refuse to cooperate or participate, its time to talk with
them about your company policies, their personal responsibility
for their behavior and actions and your responsibility as
the owner or manager to take actions based on their behavior.
The intent of this type of conversation isn't to threaten
disciplinary action, but to talk about the reality of the
situation and the need to resolve it. Each individual makes
choices, as supervisors our actions are based upon the behaviors
and actions of the employee. As the supervisor you are encouraging
good choice making, but the reality is that some people will
make a poor choice and choose to continue to act in ways that
are not acceptable in your workplace. In these situations
you must then follow your organizations policies as outlined
for your employees in the employee handbook. Resolving the
conflict and creating a good work environment for everyone
is my first choice as the manager/supervisor/owner.
Conflicts in the workplace can be successfully resolved,
by listening. Giving each person space to tell their story
validates them and communicates to them their value to you
and the organization. Using the simple process outlined keeps
you moving in a positive direction.
Donna Price, President of Compass Rose Consulting,
LLC, provides business coaching to business owners/leaders,
and work teams; using her experience as a senior level manager
for 18+ years and extensive background working with people
to achieve their goals. The Business Builders Intensive, a
comprehensive tele-seminar series focused on building your
business and your success is
her newest program. http://www.businessbuildersintensive.com;
[email protected];
973-948-7673
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