Conflicts at the workplace are akin to being lost at sea during a storm. Waiting hopefully for fair weather can safely be considered just another dream. What has to be done here is to sail away from troubled waters and into more peaceful ones. Troubled waters or workplace conflicts are conflicts that plague workplaces. The conflicts are mostly the result of clashing personalities and strenuous work environments. Long hours of work, improper hierarchical structures, and the nature of the job too can result in workplace conflicts. Workplace conflicts can occur between two colleagues, a group of colleagues with another or between a superior and a subordinate. Most organizations or companies, because of the mortifying effects of workplace conflicts, strive to keep the same at bay. Unfortunately, however, workplace conflicts sometimes manage to find a berth for themselves when a group of people are working together. Make a move and read on to gain familiarity on how to resolve workplace conflicts.
How To Resolve Workplace Conflicts
Identify The Problem
Identifying the problem makes for the first step to be taken when dealing with a conflict at the workplace. Without really identifying the problem, you cannot really find a solution for the same, can you? Thus, begin by ensuring that you sit down and think for yourself on what exactly has been causing the conflict. You may realize that the problem can trace its roots to unexpected sources. For example, you may have been having an issue with a colleague and would have thought he is to blame for the occurrence of the same. However, when you actually sit down to think about the whole scenario, you may realize that he was not the perpetrator, maybe you were! So you see how important it is to sit down, think and identify the problem or the reason for the same.
Talk It Out
Work place conflicts almost always involve more than just two individuals. This is where it becomes important to sit down with the individuals involved and talk out the issue. You may realize that instead of warring against each other or hating each other, talking out the issue was really the best idea. During the ‘talks’, tempers may flare and people may get carried away by their emotions, but as adults it is always best that we find a vent for work-related frustrations. Also, make sure everyone gets a chance to voice out an opinion on how they feel about the whole issue. Sometimes, it may even be necessary to have a mediator who is literally a third person to the conflict. This will help enable smooth conversations and even tone down tempers. The ultimate goal is to talk out the issue and arrive at a conclusion. If your workplace conflict involves just two people, maybe just you and a colleague, a one-on-one is the safest bet.
Take Corrective Action
Once the issue is identified, the talks are done with, and a plan of action has been arrived at, it’s only right to implement what has to be implemented. There is no use of having a heated debate over a particular issue and not doing anything about it. You will have to correct what went wrong to prevent the reoccurrence of the conflict. Mend broken relationships and find ways to restore peace and harmony. Remember, action should always follow conversation. Conversation by itself is pointless.
