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You arrive at work. You’re in a hurry because you’ve got a meeting in about two minutes. You’re walking in when you bump into someone who’s also running to an appointment. You dismiss that collision with a quick shrug and sorry. But when you walk into your usually neat office on your way to the meeting, you find your partner scattered files all over. Now you’re angry, so you go out to confront him or her. You create a conflict.
Workplace conflict like the example above is almost always unavoidable. Different personalities, styles, and opinions make it inevitable. But there are ways to make sure that conflicts are not as explosive when they occur, if they occur. Here are some of those tips.
One priceless managerial skill is observance. Look at our co-workers. What sort of people are they? Look at their habits. How do they dress? How long are there coffee breaks? Who likes to argue just for the sake of arguing? When you know which situations are likely to explode, you can anticipate and prepare for them.
People will do anything they feel like when they have no guidelines to follow. Others will do what they want anyway when there are rules but no consequences. When everyone does what they want, there’s chaos. Chaos precedes conflict. To avoid the conflict, you have to prevent chaos. You can do that by hooking up the legal team and the HR department to come up with rules and punishments for employees. When employees know the rules and repercussions, they’re discouraged from acting out. That keeps them in line and away from arguments.
People act out when they think you’re not listening to them. Management can prevent a whole lot of grumbles by just opening up their doors to their employees. Open communication between the management and the employees goes a long way in avoiding conflict. It’s called the ‘What’s in it for me?’ factor.
You can’t always wait for the signs of a brewing conflict before you start prepping for how to avoid or diffuse it. You can stay ahead of the conflict by teaching your employees how to deal with tense situations on their own. An occasional talk or seminar from a conflict resolution expert should do the trick.
When you’re talking to someone, it’s easy to gauge his or her mood. You’ll notice when someone is spoiling for a fight. If you think someone is fishing for an argument, walk away. People who are not comfortable walking away can use another tactic: just change the subject.
Think argument mode. What makes people go at each other? Stress, crankiness, anxiety, fear. All negative emotions. If you want to prevent people from arguing in the workplace, keep them happy, or at least hopeful. Encourage a fun workplace. Start off a meeting with a joke. Ask after each other’s welfare. Keep the work high-quality and the atmosphere collaborative, not competitive.