What to AVOID when Promoting Collaborative Conflict Resolution:

Top 5 Behaviors You DON’T Want to Show Up With!

Promoting collaborative conflict resolution is essential for creating a harmonious and productive workplace. However, there are 5 KEY blunders that leaders and organizations are known for that hinder, actually prevent, the effectiveness of these efforts. So here’s what NOT to do (or you’re bound to encounter more conflict and employee dissatisfaction!

1. Ignore Concerns

Why It's Harmful: Ignoring or dismissing team members' concerns about problem behaviors and escalating conflict is #1 for creating an unhealthy workplace climate. Ignoring what’s evident to others only serves to exacerbate the problem, create resentment, and undermine trust of you as the Leader and for the organization. Employees need to feel heard and their perspectives acknowledged or a work climate of employee resignation starts to emerge.

Behaviors to embrace instead:

1. Active Listening: Ensure you actively listen to concerns, hear it from their perspective, and address them promptly.
2. Open Forums: Create opportunities for open discussions where employees can voice their worries and suggestions. But it also means making it psychologically safe!
3. Transparent Communication: Explain the conclusions reached, options for change, and how they will benefit the team.

Acknowledging and addressing concerns creates an environment of trust, openness, and a sense of psychological safety - all essential for EARLY successful conflict resolution.

SOURCE:https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/leadership-skills-daily/collaborative-leadership-managing-constructive-conflict/

2. Impose Change Abruptly

Why It's Harmful: Implementing changes without warning and preparation for what will happen during the change leads to confusion and pushback. Sudden changes tend to cause stress and uncertainty, fearful of what the future is likely to bring, and reduces the likelihood of successful adoption.

What to Do Instead:

1. Gradual Implementation: The introduction of changes gradually allows time for adjustment. Be open and transparent about adjustments, or pivots needed, as you go along in terms of what works and what doesn’t work.
2. Detailed Planning: Provide a clear timeline and plan for the implementation process with acknowledgement that things may shift as the organization experiences change and can assess what works and what doesn’t. And communicate the steps to take thereafter.
3. Employee Involvement: You can assure success in making changes when you involve employees in the planning stages rather than issuing a top-down plan for change. Involving employees fosters a sense of ownership and inclusion as well as the organization benefit from the valuable contributions from employees’ perspectives on what is needed to make the change process successful.

A well-planned approach helps ease the transition and ensures employees are on board with the new processes.

SOURCE: https://aaronhall.com/insights/embracing-conflict-the-key-to-successful-collaboration/

3. Lack of Support

Why It's Harmful: Failing to provide adequate resources, training, and support leaves team members feeling ill-equipped, unprepared, and reluctant to address conflicts and make effective changes. Proper support through training and communication is crucial for effective conflict resolution.

What to Do Instead:

1. Comprehensive Training: Train your employees with the necessary skills for conflict resolution, particularly at management levels. Employees expect that their leaders will address conflict and deal with effectively. Hard to do that when employees at any level lack conflict management strategies.
2. Resource Allocation: Ensure that sufficient resources, such as time and tools, are available to support the change. Make sure that there is a designated resource training in conflict management is the “go-to-source” for managers and employees (e.g. ombuds, human resources, and EAP).
3. Ongoing Assistance: Follow-up is crucial, to bring resolution to the conflicting issues. Employees experience reassurance when they see closure facilitated to the issues at hand. This involves providing continuous support and access to experts or mentors.

Educate yourself as to the benefits of early conflict resolution and highlight the importance of training and ready access to resources in successfully implementing new processes

(BetterUp Coaching). SOURCE: ttps://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/leadership-skills-daily/collaborative-leadership-managing-constructive-conflict/

4. Overlook Leadership Role

Why It's Harmful: Leaders who lack collaborative values in reaching a resolution foster a disconnect and reduced credibility of their leadership. Employees look to leaders for guidance and behavior modeling when it comes to professional interaction, effective redirection of conflicts as problems to opportunities, and fostering growth through conflict and change with a mindset of “what can we learn from this experience?”

What to Do Instead:

1. Lead by Example: Leaders should exemplify and role model daily a collaborative approach to conflict resolution practices.
2. Consistent Messaging: Ensure that leadership communication consistently reinforces the importance of collaboration as an opportunity for growth.
3. Engage Leaders: Involve leaders at all levels in training and implementation efforts with a focus on addressing conflict, redirecting conflict behaviors to communication engagement with an openness to differing perspectives.

Effective leadership is critical in driving successful organizational change and fostering a collaborative culture. SOURCE: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/leadership-skills-daily/collaborative-leadership-managing-constructive-conflict/

5. Neglect Follow-Up

Why It's Harmful: Failure to follow up on the change process and conflictual issues identified by employees results in unresolved issues, loss of trust in the leadership’s ability to effectively manage differences and the conflicts that erupt, and, unfortunately, a return to old habits. Regular check-ins and adjustments are crucial for sustained success and workplace harmony.

What to Do Instead:

1. Regular Check-Ins: Schedule follow-up meetings, 1:1 and in group settings, to review progress and address ongoing issues.
2. Feedback Mechanisms: Implement systems for continuous feedback forward and improvement for growth moving forward.
3. Adjust as Needed: A flexible mindset and resilience for change is essential. A forward-thinking Leader is willing to adjust based on feedback from employees and different perspectives as well as changing circumstances.

Continuous follow-up and feedback loops are essential for maintaining momentum and ensuring the long-term success of change initiatives. SOURCE: https://aaronhall.com/insights/conflict-management-in-the-workplace-navigating-coworker-conflict/

Promoting collaborative conflict resolution requires forward thinking, reflection on past challenges, and planning for an organizational conflict management system for execution. A harmonious and productive work environment is fostered by avoiding these common mistakes and implementing best practices.

What strategies have you found effective in promoting collaborative conflict resolution?

Where do you feel you are lacking?

Share your insights and experiences in the comments below!

Introduction to Mediation Process

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Dr. Debra Dupree, the MINDSET Doc, transforms challenging confrontations into learning conversations, taking the ‘sting’ out of conflict. She saw her own family-owned business embroiled in differences, leading to dashed dreams, damaged relationships, and broken hearts. She turned these early experiences into a lifeline for smart people who fear conflict by bringing in the brain science behind blow-ups and emotional reactions.

People need to work, but life doesn't always feel 'psychologically safe'. Dr. D works with leaders and organizations to build climates of courage and curiosity to set the tone for meaningful and positive workplace engagement. Dr. Debra is a Dispute Resolution Specialist, Conflict | Leadership Coach, and International Trainer | Keynote Speaker. She hosts the podcast ‘Decoding the Conflict Mindset’ to bring thought leaders to people just like you.