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

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

Beyond Folders : workplace conflict, problem solving

Managing Workplace Conflict

Problem Solving at Work (Part I)