Workplace conflict resolution
and how to get it

We all want the same outcome - workplace conflict resolution. But how do you get it? In the right hands, business conflict is a proven technique to generate commercial ideas and is therefore desirable. Yet many employees tread warily, unable to separate the issue from the personality, preferring to avoid conflict altogether. Fearing someone may get hurt, they eschew fighting - which explains why there is so little conflict resolution in work teams.

What is conflict resolution?

The definition of conflict is to fight or struggle involving a clash of wills or ideas. It comes from the Latin, conflictus, meaning a striking together. Ergo, conflict resolution is any negotiated outcome which gains harmony, each party agreeing to undertake specific action/s.

Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long, Holly. Harry Lime in The Third Man

Employees prefer to avoid conflict because few see the benefits of engaging in it. For many, conflict situations pose a dilemma - to quarrel with one another to get what they want and damage the relationship or to avoid the conversation but not get what they want, and thereby protect the relationship.

Ever notice how the room goes quiet when things get tense around the conference table? That's not the sound of brilliant tactical ploys being waged. It's the sound of individuals actively disengaging from conflict, closing down, protecting themselves against further attack. They've reverted to "default behaviour."

Our challenge as leaders is to team conflict resolution together with feelings of advantage and benefit. We need to change others' frame of reference from "either/or" to "this plus that". We achieve this by applying a method to maximise pressure on the issues while minimising confrontation between combatants - thereby engaging more people in workplace conflict resolution, more often.

Conflict theory

Let's understand how conflict works. Here's a shishi odoshi, a traditional Japanese water device used in rice fields to scare away deer. Water from a feeding spout flows into a hollow bamboo tube, which pivots on a supporting post. When filled, the tube tips forward to release the water, before dropping back onto a sounding stone, making a "clack" sound.  The noise scares deer and other animals that might graze on the rice crops.

Imagine you are that bamboo tube, looking optimistically towards the sky. Now picture someone pouring cold water on your plans or personal values. Over time you get such a bucketing that, like the bamboo tube, you eventually tip over and lose it... thereby explaining
the loud "clack" noise.

Like the shishi odoshi, business conflict begins when one person clacks. This may show as a fear of inadequacy to manage the process - literally feeling unable to manage oneself or the other person through the process of the issue. Or it may show as a fear of loss about the potential outcome - literally feeling unable to achieve a satisfactory result. Both types of conflict styles are based on fear; you can read more about it by clicking here to read principles and examples.

Conflict resolution strategies

Applying a practical process (how we discuss issues) to the content  (what we discuss) fundamentally changes the nature of discussions from adversarial to collaborative. The resulting reduction in discord encourages managers and employees to engage in workplace conflict resolution more willingly and more frequently.

In our work with companies in Melbourne and throughout Australia, we rarely see robust conflict management approaches (even senior managers often struggle to apply effective processes to resolve tricky issues). What's needed is a simple method to define one another's wants and needs, encouraging the creation of Possabilities® to satisfy needs. One of the more effective workplace conflict resolution methods is the 5 Point Method which encourages people to vigorously engage in discussion, "playing the ball, not the man".

I wish it were as simple as waving a magic wand, but in truth, it's a little more difficult. Initially requiring a couple of hours to learn, once understood it can be shared and exploited quickly with others to deliver extraordinary results. And even though our clients across Australia typically face one or more of four big areas of conflict:

        * How to get staff engaged;

        * Creating the "right" workplace culture;

        * Adding dollars to your bottom line; or

        * Coping with change in the organisation,

often it is this simple method which puts them on the right path forward.

Techniques of conflict resolution

There are a number of conflict resolution techniques, which we will write up and post soon. Additionally, we are compiling a list of our favourite conflict resolution tips.

Like to read further? Click on workplace conflict resolution articles.

To apply this thinking efficiently and effectively every time, please contact us for workplace conflict resolution advice.

Trusted links

Another option is to contact a colleague of ours, Marsha Ostrer, who provides workplace Conflict Resolution and ADR Tools you need to create cost effective, satisfying and durable outcomes. Her website, All Things Conflict Resolution and ADR, endeavours to be a one stop shop for information on all peaceful conflict resolution alternatives.