just knock it off and get back to work!
Admit it, you've wanted to say that at least once to an employee! We have some other CONFLICT MANAGEMENT approaches to consider...
As managers, each one of us has the responsibility to jump in and talk with employees about unacceptable performance or behavior to get them back on track or transition them out of the organization. Not our favorite thing to do, but letting poor performance, coworker relationships, or employee conduct continue can have a devastating effect on morale, productivity, profitability...the list goes on.
And guess what? If you are the manager turning your head on the situation, your employees won't respect you and your boss will eventually view you as an ineffective leader. That said, as humans we each have different approaches to managing conflict, the key is knowing your preferred style: the style that you automatically use when faced with a problem in the workplace. Once you are aware of your preferred style and other options to handling conflict, you might find that your preferred style is not the best choice in every situation.... another one of the styles might be a better fit to get the results you are after.
So let's acknowledge that conflict can and will happen at work...in other words, it's inevitable. Which communication style do you feel describes your typical approach to resolving conflict?
- AVOIDING: Always withdrawing from or sidestepping the conflict; keeping disagreements to oneself; staying away from conflicts entirely. (Not usually the best approach, but sometimes the ideal choice!)
- SMOOTHING: Giving in or accommodating the needs of the other person(s) at the expense of one's own needs; going along for the sake of agreement.
- COMPETING: Win-Lose mentality; adversarial; standing one's ground; not giving in on issues.
- COMPROMISING: Reaching an acceptable solution; giving up something to get something; trade-offs are involved.
- INTEGRATING: Goal-oriented solution to conflict; reaching a decision that addresses the concerns of each party arriving at a mutually beneficial solution. Integrators understand that the other side of the story might provide useful information. They use open-ended questions to draw information from the other party BEFORE deciding on a measured response - and they do not focus on blame.
Any one of these styles might be appropriate, depending on the people involved and the situation at hand. Really understanding these individual styles and impact of using one or the other- or even a combination- will help you refine your conflict management skills.
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2011 TPO Human Resource Management. No part of this article may be reproduced, excerpted or redistributed in any form without express written permission from TPO Human Resource Management.
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