Resolving conflict in the workplace

Hi Love!

Let's talk about workplace tension and conflict. Being quick to resolve issues in the workplace can be complex especially if the employee feels that there voice is ignored and their needs are unmet. To help you address these issues -- meet Cornelia Gamlem, SPHR and Barbara Mitchell. These ladies are the creators of "THE ESSENTIAL WORKPLACE CONFLICT HANDBOOK: A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity" (Career Press, 2015). This amazing handbook is an ideal resource for anyone ready to confront conflict at work rather than run from it. Managed correctly, conflict can be a positive source for innovation and creativity.

Cornelia Gamlem

This book will guide you through these common myths about workplace conflict:


Problem: Conflict is always negative and should be avoided at work.

Solution: Quite the contrary. When problems are hidden or masked, they aren’t solved. They fester and grow into bigger problems. Conflict has to be acknowledged and addressed. A big misconception about conflict is that it’s a negative force. Workplace conflict is often creativity and innovation trying to happen and savvy organizations look for ways to embrace and optimize conflict.

Problem: Difficult people are almost always the cause of conflict.

Solution: Failing to set realistic expectations is a big contributor. If people don’t understand what the organization, their manager, or their teammates expect, confusion and conflict can result. Set expectations early, beginning with the job interview and again during the first days of employment.  Let people know the job entails – its functions and tasks – and what success in the role looks like.

Problem: The problem at the root of a conflict is usually obvious.

Solution: Getting to the source involves dialogue, conversations and some detective work. There are a number of skills and techniques that you have to employ: attending skills which put everyone on an even level; encouraging skills enabled others to elaborate; clarifying skills to reduce ambiguity and establish clarity; and reflecting skills that allow the opportunity to restate in your own words what you’ve hear the other person say. Get good information by varying the types of questions you ask, such as open-ended questions, close-ended questions, fact-based questions or opinion-based questions.

Problem: In conflict, there are always winners and losers.

Solution: Focusing on interests, rather than positions is much more effective. In any conflict, think about what your interest is and then separate your position from your interest. Be able to articulate your interest(s) to yourself and to others and be able to explain why it’s important to you. When you discuss them with the others, be specific and give good information. Making your interests come alive will increase the likelihood that the other side will agree that your interests are important. It will help to move the discussion away from positions.

Of course I am not going to give away all of their secrets so the only way you will learn more is if you pick up a copy of their handbook.

--Love Rae