Conflict Resolution

Conflict in an organisation can spread like a virus into every corner, often created by one or two people, it can be devastating to a company in terms of cost and lost performance if it’s not dealt with and especially if it’s allowed to continue.

Not only will you risk losing good employees through poorly managed conflict, you run the risk of losing customers too!

To resolve conflict situations everyone will receive a one to one coaching engagement based around their Ensize DISC Profile, highlighting their unique style and value to the organisation.  Depending on the depth of the conflict will determine what the next steps will be, sometimes the Ensize DISC profile session is enough if it is a minor tension issue, deeper issues may require group coaching and or further individual interventions using coaching and NLP techniques.

Some main sources of conflict are:

• Personality clashes
• Warring egos
• Perceptual differences – simply put, people believing their way/thought is right and the other person or teams way/thought is wrong.
• Poor communication – misunderstanding someone, people unable to express themselves and their needs or state what they think/feel.
• Limited resources – may provoke people to fight for their share, make their mark/point
• Poor collaboration – between departments, divisions, suppliers, customers
• Dependency on co workers – when one persons tasks depend on another person
• Role conflict – people need to understand what their role is and the boundaries within it. People need clear job descriptions and to know their authority and responsibility within an organisation
• Violation of territory – it’s important for people to have their own space and when that is violated in any way it can cause conflict, even something as small as someones desk taking up more space than someone else’s, can create conflict
• Change – It is well understood that change causes conflict and stress if not handled correctly.  Clear and timely communication is the key to effective change

Conflict should not be ignored, it won’t go away however, one of the great things about conflict is it can have positive results when handled correctly!

THE POSITIVE SIDE OF CONFLICT

Taking a proactive approach to conflict can create amazing positive results, that when harnessed are a huge benefit to any organisation.   The following list are some of the main positive outcomes from conflict and should encourage any company to face conflict head on and take the energy created by the conflict to resolve it and re-channel it to the benefit of the company and those involved.

• Create higher performance within a team or individual
• Improved working relationships
• Major innovations/ideas can be born
• Increased solutions to problems/challenges
• Improved customer and supplier relationships
• Increase in motivation/engagement
• A better understanding of others
• Increased self awareness
• Less likelihood of future conflicts/future conflicts nipped in the bud

When you focus on the positive side of conflict and raise an individuals self awareness, you can create an environment that positively embraces conflict when it arises and see it as an opportunity for growth.

There will always be conflict of some sort or another but there are steps you can take to reduce the occurrence of conflict and its impact.  By changing peoples perception of conflict, their attitude towards it, and changing their mindset around conflict to a positive one, you can benefit from the above listed positive outcomes.

Because of  the frequency of conflict in organisations of every size, imagine the great potential of conflict, what might it create for your business?

THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF CONFLICT

Generally, conflict begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about.

A few key points about conflict:

• It will lower productivity of an individual, team, department or company
• It causes loss of focus as peoples attention is focused on the conflict
• It will demotivate/disengage people
• It disempowers people
• It causes stress and absenteeism
• It can cause people to take sides
• It can result in inappropriate decision making
• It is costly to a business
• It can cause talent to leave
• It causes mistrust and suspicion
• It is a reality of management and organisational behaviour
• It is often caused by the Leadership style & culture within a company
• It can be a deliberate act to obstruct another person or departments goal/achievement
• It can be created as a result of gender, age, culture etc
• It can be related to power and politics

Awareness is key

Small annoyances can turn into major problems so being aware of any small annoyances and dealing with it straight away can avoid lengthy and costly conflict problems.  There is a snowball effect to conflict and any small amount of conflict can quickly escalate into something more serious.
Although many Leaders may wish to ignore conflict and hope it will dissipate and eventually resolve itself, it simply won’t, they will only be putting off the inevitable.

No matter how painful it is, it’s best to face it head on and resolve the conflict at the start than waiting for the giant snowball to knock you down!

Call Lyn if you need to defuse conflict or want to reduce the risk of costly conflict in your team or organisation – mb 07745400504 or email [email protected]