Business Conflict Resolution
By
Charles Wilson, Ph.D.
Conflict resolution absorbs 30 - 40% of a manager's or leader’s time in the workplace. You may find that much of your time is taken up resolving personal or business conflicts. How can you best deal with these conflicts and resolve the issues and save time for more productive efforts?
What is Conflict?
Conflict occurs when two persons have opposing interests or goals that appear to be incompatible. These cause debates, arguments, fights, anxiety, hurt feelings, resistances to change, rebellion, sabotage, or more. There can be a perceived incompatibility between two individuals in their:
Ideas and Paradigms
Actions and Behaviors
Beliefs and Attitudes
Goals
What can happen if you have unresolved conflict?
Conflict is a normal and natural part of our workplace and our personal lives. Conflict can be helpful in making changes within the home and work environment.
However, unresolved conflict can result in individuals having feelings and emotions that include:
Dissatisfaction
Unhappiness
Hopelessness
Depression
Anxiety
Anger
Fear
Etc.
In turn these feelings and emotions of the individuals can transform or evolve into behaviors can cripple the interpersonal relationships of the parties involved:
Physical and emotional withdrawal
Resignation from jobs
Dissolution of personal relations
Aggression
Violence
Rebellion
Resistance
Etc.
Signs of conflict (by direct and indirect observations of behavioral activities) in your workplace can include: backbiting, undermining activities of others, playing "the blame game", participating in non-productive meetings, creating tension in others, power brokering, withholding information, and sabotage.
Watch out for these signs (by direct and indirect observations of behavioral activities) and then take appropriate actions to end the conflict. Often the answer is being pointed to by the very issue of the conflict at hand – the third alternative is often visible.
However, hard positioning (our personal paradigms, beliefs and values) generally will not allow either of the involved persons to see their way to a collaborative win – win solution.
Steps to Resolve Conflict
1. Be prepared
As a leader, you should be prepared to help resolve the conflict. First, you must understand the situation, the people involved, and the rumors surrounding the situation. Practice the skills of LSCPA. (Listen, Share, Clarify, Problem Solve, Act)
Do not allow yourself to get hooked into making or accepting others to make generalities, label others, or make assumptions. Focus on behaviors and performances and not on “personalities”. If you can see it and hear it – you have just located a measurable action.
We know if you can measure it, you can change it. If you can change it, you can grow it.
2. Do not judge
Do not judge one side or the other person involved in this conflict. Judging one person (in either a positive or negative manner) will cloud your ability to resolve the conflict.
Focus instead on behavioral actions or situations as they directly involve undesired performances or behaviors specifically in relationship to the work environment or those of interpersonal relationships.
3. Find the source of conflict (mini RCA)
You must find the root cause of the conflict. The two persons involved in this conflict might be telling you symptoms and not the causes. Use your discernment to find the real source.
Pin point the specific behavior (s) or performance (s) involved that are undesirable. Perform test of validation for change – is it legit to change this specific behavior or performance?
Measure the perceived behavior (s) or performance (s) problems by direct and/or indirect observations. Analyze your recorded data. Ask again, “is it still legit to make changes from perceived undesired to desired state?”
4. Be decisive
When you make a decision, make it so! It is far better to get the involved persons to come up with potential change solutions to move the undesired behavior (s) or performance (s) to the desired status.
This allows for personal commitments versus compliances. This is so because the solutions are their ideas and not your demands.
Be decisive and resolve the conflict. From time to time (often due to the lack of maturity on the part of those being asked to change) you may need to impose a solution.
Your decision or theirs, find a win-win and collaborative solution to the situation (s) that you are faced with.
5. Remember to follow up
Follow-up with the parties to ensure the commitments they have agreed to be in fact going forward as planned. Look for opportunity to provide specific and positive affirmations for the things each are doing well with.
For the things we/they are not grasping fully, gently redirect their behavior (s) or performance (s). Do not blow smoke – they will see through that thin veil every time and you will soon loose your effectiveness as a coach, mentor, partner, etc.
A few Skills to become a better coach and mentor might include the following;
Understanding basic of behaviors (why we and others do what we do)
Understanding the skills of versatility (playing well in the sandbox with others),
Understanding how to effectively reduce interpersonal relationship tensions will serve all managers, leaders, coaches, parents, mentors, -- simply it will serve all people at all levels and in any relationship very well.
Understanding LSCPA,
Understanding ABC analysis,
Understanding Growth Curves
Understanding Paradigms,
Utilizing a standard intervention process,
Utilizing a standard reprimand process,
Understanding the skills of team work,
Understanding various motivational techniques,
Utilizing Positive Affirmations
About the Author
Charles E. Wilson, Ph. D. is President/CEO of Lakota Training & Development. As well he owns and operates LTD Publishing and Six Sigma Doctor. Wilson is the author of several books, including "Six Sigma Deployment". He serves on TreQna Board of Directors, the Board of Directors for Brazoria County Dream Center, and has responsibility for knowledge development for TreQna University.
Dr. Wilson holds multiple degrees in Psychology. He is a motivational speaker, training facilitator, training developer, management coach, business improvement consultant, and author. Charlie has 36 years of experience in the business and coaching worlds.
Please visit http://treqnauniversity.org/default.aspx to learn more about effective and unique “blended learning” and “be able to do” skills approach for Six Sigma training.
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Conflict Resolution
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