Pursuing
workplace conflict resolution
is worth the effort

We all want the same outcome - workplace conflict resolution. In the right setting, business conflict is a proven technique to generate commercial ideas and, therefore, highly desirable. Yet many employees tread warily, unable to separate personal conflict from positive conflict. Fearing someone may get hurt they prefer to avoid conflict altogether - which explains why there is so little conflict resolution in work teams.

What is conflict resolution?

One 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, workplace conflict resolution is any negotiated outcome which gains harmony and each person agrees to undertake specific actions.

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, hiding behind self-constructed barriers to protect themselves against further attack.

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 methods to maximise pressure on the issues while minimising confrontation between combatants - thereby engaging more people in workplace conflict resolution, more often. If you'd like to see how a number of CEO's, MD's and GM's from one of the world's toughest industries manage and resolve conflict, The Conflict Report offers a unique conflict perspective from almost 20 Business Leaders. You can read our Executive Summary free.

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, conflict erupts 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.

Workplace 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 my work with organisations across Australia, I seldom see robust conflict management approaches (indeed many senior managers struggle to apply effective processes to resolve tricky issues). It prompted me to conduct research with Business Leaders into how conflict in the workplace shows up, which tactics work and which tactics fail, and the disadvantages and benefits of conflict. One of the many findings was the need for a simple method to reveal one another's wants and needs (which is the basis of the 5 Point Method ) which encourages people to vigorously engage in discussion and to "play 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. Requiring a couple of hours to learn, it can then be shared quickly with others to deliver extraordinary results. Regardless of the areas of conflict, often this simple method provides the required breakthrough.

Let us resolve difficult conflict for you

As a practitioner in conflict resolution, I use our techiques to help people in business get what they want. Contact me for workplace conflict resolution advice or to step in and solve the problem for you. Initial discussions are discreet, confidential and free of further obligation.