Beyond Folders : workplace conflict

Why So Glum? Beat the Back-to-Work Blues

Community Manager — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:12:00 GMT

Saying good-bye to summer, and buckling down once again to a full slate at work, can be bittersweet. But consider that it takes just as much effort to have a good day at work as bad one. Looking to love your work day? Read our round-up of look-on-the-bright-side-of-life advice for making the most of your days.

10 Tricks for a Fabulous Workday: Fabulous sounds good doesn't it? This article ticks off ten tips for making your day more enjoyable (and productive too!). Ideas include: staring your morning with inspirational reading or tapes and ending your day with 15 minutes of gratitude. And the eight excellent ideas for the hours in between will also put some pep in your step.

Happiness at Work: 12 Simple Steps to Make it Happen: Delegate, take breaks and switch off when you leave work, are just three of the concrete tips in this Lifehack.org piece, which posits that specific steps to increase daily enjoyment are well within our own control. So seize the day!

Top 10 Ways to Be Happy at Work: In a nutshell, this piece reminds readers that they are in charge of their own destiny. Seek out the information you need to work effectively, take charge of your own career advancement, and tend your own flame of energy, making sure not to burn your candle at both ends. At the end of the day, you are your own boss.

What are your tips for enjoying each and every day? Share your thoughts here and on the Pendaflex Facebook and Twitter pages.

Managing Workplace Conflict

Community Manager — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:09:00 GMT

Think managing workplace conflict is an abstract HR issue? Think again. Conflict at work can led to a host of negative outcomes including lost productivity, stress, chronic health issues and the inability to concentrate.

Work It Out

Getting along with co-workers and clients is a crucial business skill so if conflict is brewing, make time to address the issue head on. Tips for managing conflict include:

Take a Deep Breath: If a colleague is driving you crazy, take a step back and neutrally evaluate the situation. You may discover that the person in question simply has a different perspective or style and is not deliberately trying to annoy or harass you.

Be Candid: Take time to communicate clearly. If you've failed to tell your colleague that their behavior is adversely impacting you, how are they to know? Take time to calmly and coolly explain your perspective. Your co-worker may be unaware that their behavior has upset or bothered you and may be receptive to your concerns.

Agree to Disagree: Sometimes people are truly out of sync. You can agree to disagree with a person's work style or opinion. Just be sure to treat your co-worker professionally and politely and make clear that you expect the same courtesy.

Take it Up with Higher Ups: If a co-worker is deliberately sabotaging you, shirking work or committing a host of other office sins, schedule time to discuss the situation with your boss. Again, be sure to remain professional and objective. Your boss will be more receptive to your concerns if you don't come off as a complainer or an emotional wreck.

Bad Bosses: If your boss is the source of conflict, the same rules apply. Communication is key; try to dispassionately and professionally communicate your concerns and work towards getting your relationship on a better footing. If your interaction with your boss does not improve, consider consulting with your HR department for guidance or in a worst case scenario, explore other job options within the organization or elsewhere.

For more tips on managing workplace conflict, read Tips for Dealing with Workplace Conflict, The Real Cost of Workplace Conflict, and the useful 7 Steps to Defuse Workplace Tension.

How do you manage work place conflict? Has your HR department been helpful in resolving worker disputes? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.

by Candie Harris

Seeing Both Sides of Workplace Gossip

Community Manager — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:09:00 GMT

Have you been to the supermarket checkout counter lately? (And, by lately, I mean anytime in the last 30 or so years.) Look down to your left and/or right and you will see magazine racks filled with the likes of People, Star and National Enquirer. The evidence is right there in black and white: We are a gossip-loving culture.

This truth was exposed in a powerful 1976 issue of New York Magazine devoted to the topic of gossip : The spirit of triviality lurking in the bosom of the average newspaper reader will never be quenched, and is indeed now blazing up more fiercely than ever before. Fast forward a few decades and most of us can confirm how this truth plays out today well beyond the tabloids to blaze fiercely in our daily work lives.

Interestingly, experts disagree about the nature of gossip in the workplace. On the one hand, some hold the view that it is a toxic and destructive force. This post on workplace gossip, for example, discusses how the rumor mill typically "breeds resentment and becomes a roadblock to effective communication and collaboration." On the other hand, some experts see gossip as conducive to camaraderie and a positive work environment. This view is nicely captured in a recent article that asks: Might Office Gossip Be Good For You?

The article cites an Indiana University study and other research findings confirming that the workplace gossip mill "forges connections, builds trust, provides a means of learning unwritten social norms and offers a way of comparing ourselves with others." Proponents of this view consider gossip a social skill that provides a positive and powerful outlet for people who might otherwise be voiceless in the workplace. However, even those who see gossip's good side recognize that it is usually unpleasant to be on the receiving end as it can "feel malicious and exclusionary."

What do you think of the workplace gossip mill? Is it a constructive, destructive or neutral force? We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with us here and on our the Beyond Folders Community's Twitter and Facebook pages.

by Candie Harris

Constructive Complaining

Community Manager — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:19:00 GMT

To complain is human.

But, with the downturn in the economy and upswing in everyday pressures on-the-job, complaining has taken on a life of its own in the typical workplace. As a recent Wall Street Journal article titled Misery Poker: It's One Game Worth Losing observes: "As times get tougher, complaining is starting to look more like a blood sport than a coping mechanism. Stressed to the max and desperate for everyone to know it, many of us are trying to trump each other with our carping."

This steady stream of grumbles is not good for business. In fact, according to a post from the Chief Happiness Officer, it can be quite toxic since it:

Becomes habitual
Colors perception
Makes people despondent
Kills innovation
Thwarts relationships
Creates office factions
Promotes pessimism

To prevent and offset this environmental hazard in the workplace, we need to learn and encourage constructive complaining. When we complain constructively, we complain about:

The right thing
At the right time
To someone who can do something about it

We also engage in some honest self-scrutiny to make sure that our complaint is firmly grounded in some objective reality as opposed to our own irrationality.

According to an article that asks Can You Go 21 Days Without Complaining?, we can avoid making unconstructive complaints if we:

Write down what is bothering us
Consider what we can do to change the situation
Channel the complaint into a more productive response
Identify something positive about the scenario

In addition to the above suggestions, I always appreciate it, if when someone complains to me they take the time to offer a suggestion on how to fix the issue. In my opinion, this can be the most constructive use of complaining, because it can be used not only to vent, but to solve problems!

If you want to be a more constructive complainer, you can start the process by taking this Constructive Complaining Quiz. Feel free to share your results and feedback with us and the Beyond Folders Community.

by Candie Harris

Problem Solving at Work (Part I)

Community Manager — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:45:00 GMT

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" - Albert Einstein

Whatever we do for a living, we usually encounter problems in the course of our workday. Large and small, they are all around us. Yet, despite their strong presence, most of us go about the everyday business of problem solving rather unconsciously. In a rush to move through or around it, we do not give a lot of thought to how and why a problem arose, how we react to it or how we resolve it. We are on problem-solving autopilot. In this mode, we usually miss opportunities to become truly effective problem solvers.

Since effective problem solving is a valuable professional and personal skill, we are going to raise some consciousness in this post and future ones so we can be better problem solvers at work and beyond.

As this about.com article on problem solving instructs, the first step is to examine the anatomy of a problem. Some primary root causes of problems in workplace are:

Co-worker conflict
Customer upset
Process dysfunction
Mechanical failure

According to this mediate.com article on workplace problem solving, when we perceive a problem, we tend to respond to it in one of three ways. We:

Get afraid and uncomfortable and wish it would go away
Look for someone (else) to blame
Feel that we have to come up with the right solution right away

This last response is the biggest hurdle to effective problem solving "because it tries to put the solution at the beginning of the process, when what we need is a solution at the end of the process."

It is important to emphasize the term process here. Problem solving is a process that takes patience and time. Nicely capturing this point is an examiner.com article that states, "You will need to do a bit of research internally - have discussions with the involved parties to really understand the heart of the matter before a solution should be identified."

We will outline the problem solving process in Part II of this post on problem solving at work. In the meantime, we invite you to share your problem solving stories and tips here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Bradley Eggers

A Primer on Working Across Generation Gaps

Community Manager — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:04:00 GMT

Where do you hear the sounds of fountain pens scratching on paper while smartphones buzz with incoming text messages?

In the average workplace.

There are currently four generations at work today :

Traditional workers (born before 1946) value loyalty and discipline and respect hierarchy and authority
Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), being goal-driven, competitive and work-centric, now occupy positions of power in the corporate world
Generation X (born 1965-1980) is 55 million strong in North America and is a skeptical, pragmatic and self-reliant cohort that values independence, respects diversity and desires work-life balance
Generation Y (born 1981-1999) numbers 80 million in North America and is filled with digitally-fluent optimists who embrace social responsibility, celebrate individuality and difference, rework the rules and thrive on collaboration and kinship

I have found that engaging workers and facilitating productivity with this vibrant generational mix can be a challenge. Here is a primer of links to articles and posts on working across the generation gaps that I have found helpful.

Bridging the Workplace Generation Gap: It Starts With a Text (New York Times)
Failure to communicate: Survey reveals big generation gap in the workplace (Financial Week)
Why are you not like me? The Generational Gap In The Workplace (Psychology Today)
The Technology Generation Gap at Work is Oh So Wide (Read Write Web)
What Generation Z will be like at work (Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist)
'Great Recession' hits Millennials hardest (The Christian Science Monitor)

We will revisit this important topic in future posts. In the meantime, as always, feel free to point us to any resources that you find relevant and helpful.

by Candie Harris

Understanding Workplace Conflict

Community Manager — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:54:00 GMT

What do we learn every day wading through media streams, talking to disgruntled co-workers or engaging with our teenage children?

Conflict is part of life.

Workplace conflict can be particularly toxic because it disrupts worker productivity, hampers professional collaboration and jeopardizes the business bottom line.

Here are a few common causes of on-the-job conflict (as cited by CareerBuilder.com):

Differences in communication styles
A lack of a clear vision or mission
Unclear job expectations

According to this Entrepreneur article, conflict is really about tension that most of us respond to in one of three ways:

We shy away and are "reluctant to get involved in conversations that may be challenging, heated or potentially negative"
We overcompensate by reacting in a way that is "too loud, offensive or demeaning"
We take a proactive approach and embrace the situation with an open mind and willingness to interact

Whatever response we are naturally inclined to have, we can become better conflict managers if we heed expert advice that conflict can be a positive and constructive force in the workplace. It helps to look at the situation with an empathic eye by putting yourself in the other person's shoes. The odds of a good and healthy resolution also increase when we are able to see how we contributed to the conflict (since it is never a one-way street). I have shared that advice many times with my own children, in an effort to help them successfully resolve conflicts they have faced in their lives.

When conflict erupts - as it inevitably will - you and your co-workers might benefit from some or all of these strategies for dealing with difficult people at work. If you have any other conflict resolution strategies, please feel free to share them with us.

by Candie Harris