Working environments are often stressful places. There are deadlines to meet, standards to hit, and people you must work alongside. This can quickly cause tension, and tension will often lead to a conflict between the business and an employee, or between colleagues.
Dealing with these sorts of conflicts however, is often a sensitive matter. To help, we have put together a few tips on how you can better deal with work place conflicts.
Tackle it head-on
Conflicts often worsen the longer they are allowed to play out. That’s why tackling conflict before it gets out of hand is often the wisest move. It’s important to look for potential areas of conflict, i.e. workload, and proactively intervene.
The quicker the problem is dealt with, the sooner the business and the employees can move on.
Understand motivations
If employees are at each other’s throats you need to understand why. What’s motivating them? What are they hoping to gain from such a conflict?
The better you understand these motivations the better equipped you are to deal with these problems. If you can help both parties achieve their goals without escalating the problem, then you have succeeded.
Recognise repeat problems
If conflicts are occurring on a monthly basis because of the same issue take action. Don’t resolve one conflict and then wait for another to occur. Illuminate the source and you’ll enjoy a much happier workforce.
Outline acceptable behaviour
In some offices, understanding what is acceptable can be somewhat of a grey area. Make sure that the businesses rules and expectations are outlined from the offset. The better an employee understands your tolerance and expectations, the more likely they are to manage their anger and find a more productive solution.
Stella Yeoman is an employment solicitor with a wealth of experience working within the industry. She offers dispute resolution services to business from every sector. To learn more, contact Stella today.