Conflict doesn’t have to escalate to something worse. Resolving conflict requires proactive measures and an understanding of how your approach impacts outcomes. One study even found that 86% of workers attribute workplace conflict to lower staff morale.
You’re going to learn how to take proactive steps for resolving conflicts that will move your business forward and help it thrive year after year.
And you can do it in just a few easy-to-follow steps.
1. Be Honest – Respectfully
Resolving conflict requires you to adopt an honesty-first policy. Cheap peace comes from masking issues with band-aids rather than getting to their root cause so that they don’t return in the future.
One thing I find true is to always speak the truth in the spirit of love and respect.
Your words are powerful tools when speaking honestly, but they’re one small piece of the puzzle that also includes:
- Body language
- Facial expressions
- Tone
Your words can energize or de-motivate people, so you need to be sure that they’re accompanied by all of the traits above to hit on the emotions you’re trying to invoke.
Leaders must remain calm and honest, without going to the extremes of either being overly passive or exploding at employees every time they see fit.
For example, correcting an employee in a harsh tone is much less helpful than asking questions and engaging in conversation to understand their rationale.
Consider asking questions such as:
- “Help me understand why you said/did that?”
- “The next time you face a similar situation, what do you think would be a better way to respond?”
If they’re not on the right track, then you can say, “Alternatively, when issues like this arise, I have found it’s better to approach them like this…”
Sometimes, you do have to take a harder line.
But I’ve found that asking questions first gives you insight into a person’s reasoning and allows you to be on an even footing in the conversation. Questions help you understand the “why” behind actions and help the other person feel valued and heard. This opens them up to listening to your view and adjusting their behavior.
View conflict as a learning experience where leaders can be direct and honest, but do not talk down to a person or add to the issue.
You’re a leader. Act like it. Be the truth-teller, and you’ll start to resolve conflicts rather than letting them simmer and negatively impact all future interactions.
2. Keep Current – Don’t Let Conflict Linger
Owners, managers, and leaders must stay current on lingering conflicts that are easy to sweep under the rug and ignore until they boil over. What happens when issues are ignored? They fester and grow because no one wants to deal with them.
Lingering conflicts sound easy enough to resolve, and they can be if you stay on top of things. Owners and managers must keep current on situations.
But what often happens is that things get pushed aside.
No one wants to deal with them, so they escalate.
Bitterness and resentment also start to impact client, employee, and stakeholder morale until it creates a downward spiral that’s hard to stop.
Unresolved conflicts distort reality and change interactions moving forward. Stories have a way of replaying in a person’s mind and growing out of control. Future interactions are then filled with false stories and resentment.
Great leaders take proactive measures to defuse conflict so that it doesn’t reach this point.
If you notice unhealthy behaviors from someone, address them before they have time to drag your whole team down. Don’t call the person out in front of everyone, but address them delicately so that they don’t feel like you’re attacking them.
3. Attack Problems – Not People
Conflict prevention focuses on the problem, not the person. For many leaders, this is a challenging skill to master.
Human nature teaches us to blame the person rather than the issue, which leads to character assassination.
Focus on the key issue so that you can resolve it and build a healthy work culture that doesn’t point fingers.
How do leaders stay focused on core problems? Ask:
- What is this conflict really about?
- What does the issue appear to be at the surface level?
- Are there underlying wants, needs, or concerns that are not being addressed?
Approaching conflict resolution often requires taking a step back to see things from another person’s perspective. If you’re not involved in the conflict, you must ensure that all other parties involved in the conflict remain focused on the problem rather than the person.
For example, internal conflicts may require you to gather all stakeholders to solve a problem. Acknowledge that mistakes were made, but turn this into a lesson that solves problems rather than one that harps on one or more people’s involvement.
4. Act – Don’t React
Conflicts make it easy to get caught up in the moment and allow emotions to overtake rational thought. Your goal is to not react until you’ve taken a step back and reminded yourself that you’re responsible for your own actions.
You can’t control the actions of others, but you have full control over how you respond.
When someone is upset:
- Give them space to express their feelings
- Acknowledge their feelings and allow them to be heard
Give them space to express their feelings
Acknowledge their feelings and allow them to be heard
Final Thoughts
Conflicts are bound to arise when you run a business, but using these principles can greatly minimize them when they do come up. Preventing conflict is often more about how you respond to it than anything else.
These 4 principles are just as effective at resolving conflict as they are at preventing conflict.
Healthy prevention and resolution create a positive work culture that results in a productive environment.
To learn more about how we can help with conflict prevention and resolution strategies or to schedule an appointment, click here.