Resolving Conflicts in WorkplaceABEGAIL IRADIEL

JULIE ANNE FULGOSINO

What is workplace conflict? Specific type of conflict that occurs in workplace and occurs when employee’s ideas, decisions or actions relating directly to the job are in opposition, or when two employees just don’t get along. It may also occur between the employee and the employer.

Sources of Conflict Poor Communication Different Values Differing Interest Scarce Resources Personality Clashes Poor Performance

Poor Communication Different communication styles can lead to misunderstandings between employees or between employee and manager. Lack of communication drives conflict ‘underground’.

Different Values Any workplace is made up of individuals who see the world differently. Conflict occurs when there is a lack of acceptance and understanding of these differences.

Differing Interests Conflict occurs when individual workers ‘fight’ for their personal goals, ignoring organizational goals and organizational well-being.

Scarce Resources Too often, employees feel they have to compete for available resources in order to do their job. In a resource scarce environment, this causes conflicts – despite awareness of how scarce resources may be.

Personality Clashes All work environments are made up of differing personalities. Unless colleagues understand and accept each other’s approach to work and problem-solving, conflict will occur.

Poor Performance When one or more individuals within a work unit are not performing - not working up to potential – and this is not addressed, conflict is inevitable.

Addressing Workplace

ConflictBe

Impartial

Do Not Postpon

e Conflict

s Resoluti

on

Promote

Teamwork

Broadcast

Praise

Gather the

Group

Listen, Then Speak

Out

Listen, then Speak out You should simply listen to all parties involved to completely understand the nature of conflict, and then start troubleshooting solutions

Gather the group You’ll need to arrange a meeting with all involved parties to discuss the issue. Give everyone a chance to speak; this is a good opportunity to hear all sides and gain a full understanding of the conflict. Having a group meeting may also expedite a resolution that will satisfy everyone.

Be impartial You shouldn’t display any sort of opinions that favors one person over another. If you are partial towards one person, try to access the situation from all sides to come up with a fair and reasonable solution.

Do not postpone conflicts resolution Address the conflict immediately. Otherwise, the situation could escalate and could affect employee performance. Just make sure not to address the situation too quickly or without careful consideration, as your decision will directly affect the demeanor and performance of your staff.

Promote teamwork This is one of the effective conflict resolution techniques and will really make the employees think about the importance of working in a team.

Broadcast praise Try to give suitable models in these instances because behavior modeling can be risky if there are elements in the model that are undesirable.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/02/22/5-keys-to-dealing-with-workplace-conflict/

http://hr.colorado.edu/fsap/healthtips/Pages/Resolving-Workplace-Conflict.aspx

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Workplace_conflict

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