Читать книгу Workplace Conflict Resolution Essentials For Dummies - Scott Vivian, Vivian Scott - Страница 4

For the most part, workplace difficulties fall into common categories, such as

Communication (and miscommunication)

Employee attitudes

Honesty

Insubordination

Treatment of others

Work habits

Effectively addressing conflict takes into account the obvious surface issue, the emotional climate surrounding the topic, and your knowledge of the viewpoints of the people involved in the dispute. In this section, I provide insight into how differing perspectives can cause employees to feel like ships passing in the night. I also discuss emotions, touch on the importance of communication in your organisation, and look at group dynamics, including your role in the group.

Acknowledging differing perspectives

You and each of the employees on your team have a lens through which you see the world and one another. Everything you see, hear and say goes through your filter on the way in and on the way out. These filters determine how you present and receive information.

Your individual kaleidoscope is shaped by things like your personal history, education, values, culture and the roles you play in your life, both at work and at home. Everything you consider important works together to create your worldview. The same is true for your co-workers.

Values in this context are things like safety, respect, autonomy and recognition.

Being familiar with your employees’ and colleagues’ values helps you resolve conflicts. For example, say that two employees are having an argument over where to stack some binders. If you can appreciate that one employee sees respect as paramount in his environment, and that his workspace is being encroached by his colleague with a lackadaisical attitude toward boundaries, you have a better chance of helping the two resolve the issue. Rather than swooping in to tell the pair that the binders they’re arguing about should go on a shelf, you can facilitate a conversation about the real issue – respect. After you address the issue of respect, where the binders should go will be relatively easy to decide.

In Chapter 2, I go into more detail about filters, values and the emotions individuals bring to conflict.

Recognising emotions in others

Most organisations embrace positive emotions. Where managers often falter is in failing to recognise that every emotion – from upbeat to angry – is a clue to discovering people’s personal values. Positive emotions are a sign that values are being met, while negative ones suggest that some work still needs to be done!

It’s obvious that a situation has turned emotional when tears flow or an employee ratchets up the volume when he speaks, to the point that the entire office slips into an uncomfortable silence. What’s a little more difficult is knowing what to do with such passionate responses. Emotional reactions are often seen as negative behaviour in just about any workplace, but if you spend some time investigating and interpreting them, you can get a leg up on how to resolve the trouble. Check out Chapter 2 for a complete discussion of emotions at work.

Handling communication mishaps

Communication makes the world go round, and the same is true for you and your employees. Word choice, tone of voice and body language all contribute to whether or not you understand each other.

Using vague or confusing language causes communication misfires. Phrases such as ‘when you get a chance’, ‘several’, or ‘sometimes’ don’t accurately state what you really mean. Similarly, words like ‘always’ and ‘never’ can get you in trouble. Choosing your words wisely, and in a way that invites dialogue, makes for a less stressful work environment and models good communication. See Chapter 2 for more tips on communicating effectively.

Deciphering group dynamics

Two employees can completely understand each other and work like a well-oiled machine. Then a third co-worker joins the team, and now you have group dynamics in play. Wow, that changes everything! A team that’s cohesive and meeting its goals can be exhilarating from management’s perspective. But if cliques form and co-workers start looking for allies to enlist in power plays behind closed doors, communication breaks down.

Teams have a propensity to label members – the caretaker, the go-to guy, the historian and so on. Employees start to make assumptions based on the labelled roles, such as assuming that the go-to guy will happily accept any assignment you give him. Conjecture based on limited or selective information causes miscommunication, misunderstandings and, ultimately, conflict.

To address what happens when members of a group are undergoing difficulties, investigate how and when the problem started and determine if the problem stems from just a few staff members or if the impact is so great that you need to tackle the problem with the entire team. And flip to Chapter 3 for more information on the way group dynamics can contribute to conflict.

Assessing your own role

Something you’re either doing or not doing may be causing friction on your team, and you may not even know what it is. Most people in conflict tend to spend more time thinking about what the other person is doing than looking at their own behaviour and attitudes toward the difficulty.

Chapter 4 outlines some of the common missteps that colleagues, and especially managers, make in their attempts to handle problems at work. I discuss ways you may be unwittingly pitting team members against each other, address the dreaded micromanaging accusation, and explain how underrepresenting your team to the higher-ups may unite them in a way that puts you at the centre of a storm.