How to identify and resolve conflict in the workplace

Conflict is a natural aspect of human existence, and it is inevitable when humans work and communicate together in the same place. Discarding conflicts and thinking that they will never happen in your workplace or that your employees are incapable of conflict is an unrealistic standard and a delusional expectation. Once people start working together, conflicts and disputes arise. However, we must understand that conflict is not necessarily toxic. At BrainerHub Solutions , we believe constructive conflicts and respectful disagreements can enhance the standard of work and boost productivity. While conflict is sometimes seen negatively, a decent amount of professional conflict may benefit the development of a business.

Workplace conflict can happen in a variety of ways. It might happen between two teammates, the entire workforce, team leaders and teammates, or management. Businesses should perceive conflict as an opportunity to improve the workplace environment, identify flaws in the system and find new avenues for growth. All this can only be done if you learn to recognize and resolve workplace conflicts.?

Conflict in the workplace can occur in a variety of ways. Disagreement management may offer the people engaged with the conflict valuable chances for learning and growth, even though recognizing and resolving workplace conflict can be challenging.

Here are a few indicators of workplace conflict that will help you recognize disputes in your workplace.?

• Decrease in Productivity: A decrease in productivity is the most obvious yet ignored indicator of workplace conflict. If you have witnessed an unprecedented reduction in productivity in your place, it could be because of workplace conflict. Individuals in dispute tend to spend more time speculating about it or releasing their anger than focusing on their work. Prolonged periods of such behavior may lead to a loss of capital, degradation of work standards, and many unfinished projects.?
• Unhealthy Competition: Competition is a sign of excellence, and every manager's responsibility is to foster healthy competition within the workplace. However, excessive competition could be detrimental and toxic to the workplace environment. Too much competition endangers group cohesiveness, productivity, and the quality of the work. Common indicators of excessive and unhealthy competition are undue arguing, an absence of collaboration, arrogance, and the formation of dysfunctional partnerships.?
• Disrupted Workflow: Another sign of conflict is disrupted workflow. Sometimes you require more than one individual or team to finish a particular project. Usually, one or both groups delay the work by blaming the other party for not doing their part. Pointing fingers at each other continues, leading to missed deadlines and subpar work.
• Poor and Inappropriate Communication: Poor communication can have a severe adverse impact on work quality. Inadequate and inappropriate communication among the employees leads to animosity and an unpleasant, uncomfortable working environment. Rude emails or texts containing offensive language, calling someone names, and demeaning comments about someone's race, religion, or background come under inappropriate communication. Such communication where derogatory vocabulary is in use can lead to a heated confrontation which might even end up with physical assault! Therefore, a manager should always take it seriously.

Resolving conflict in the workplace

Identification and resolution of workplace conflicts are not the same. After identifying conflicts, a manager must implement specific strategies and take certain steps to minimize workplace conflict to a bare minimum. Here are some of the most effective tips from BrainerHub Solutions to help you handle conflicts effectively and resolve them to everyone's satisfaction for a healthier workplace.?

• Training: A workplace has different people from different backgrounds and conditioning. Some of the conflicts stem from our lack o knowledge or discrimination towards others. For example, what might be a fun thing for one person could be offensive for someone else. Therefore, it is essential that we equip our employees with the proper knowledge and training so that they can distinguish and respect the differences without any bias. Anti-bias, anti-racism, and conflict resolution training should be a key tool in your conflict resolution toolkit.?
• Building Effective Workplace Relationships: What is better than resolving conflict? The answer is "having no conflict in the first place!" Resolving conflict in the workplace is exceptionally critical for a business. But instead of putting all your efforts into resolving disputes, you must also focus on their elimination. Developing a setting where corrosive conflict is less likely to happen in the first place will not only make the workplace healthier but also eliminate the chances of conflict between employees. Some essential tools to develop a healthier workplace with minimum conflict are empathy, extracurricular activities, group sessions, ethics, and trust.?
• Clear Rules and Policies: Never underestimate the power of clear rules and policies. Your employees must understand the company's perspective on conflict and how it will be handled. You can incorporate an explicit conflict handling and resolution chapter in your employee manual. Clearly written rules are crucial to give managers and staff direction on addressing disputes and related concerns. Your policy should cover all the official dispute resolution procedures.?
• Investigate and Find Effective Solutions: Keeping an open mind and exploring different solutions is one of the most crucial steps of conflict resolution. Don't automatically dismiss or make a decision based just on the information you know. Investigate more to learn more about the events, individuals affected, complications, and actions. After thoroughly understanding the conflict, ask the employees what they believe could be done to fix it. Encourage them to offer various options and to consider each one with an open mind. Don't indulge in the solution suggestion process, but refrain from your personal bias when you make the final call. Examine the merits of their suggestions and develop a resolution that all parties can accept.?

Conclusion

Wherever there are humans, there is conflict, and workplaces are no exception. There will inevitably be disagreements when a varied collection of people collaborate. That's particularly true in a universal political climate. Every reputed company, including BrainerHub Solutions , has employees and clients from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of managers to make endeavors to foster a work atmosphere that values compassion and promotes an open-minded understanding of diversity.?