Screaming Employees? How to effectively resolve conflicts in the
workplace
Do you have employees that are out and out fighting with each
other at work? Yelling, screaming, not getting along or perhaps
has difficult relationships with their supervisor?
Conflicts in the workplace happen frequently and the fallout can
be costly to the employer and the employee. Developing the
skills to resolve conflicts that arise can save your company
significant money. First let's look at the costs:
1. Decreased productivity due to the emotions involved in
interpersonal conflict.
2. Time lost from work by employees
3. Time lost from work by managers involved in the conflict
4. Recruitment and training of new employees
5. Decreased productivity by other staff due to tension/stress
and the overall work environment
The root of many conflicts is communication: either unclear
communication, resulting in misunderstandings. One strategy to
address rising incidents of conflict is communication training.
Teaching people how to listen and how to talk clearly can
prevent and decrease conflicts. Communication is such a
challenge. So often, we feel we have been really clear, only to
find out that the other person really misunderstood us. Being a
clear communicator takes commitment. You need to be able to talk
in a neutral sort of way, eliminating inflammatory emotions.
Speak from the heart and listen from the heart are good basic
guidelines. Beyond the basics, are to listen deeply to what the
other person is saying and then to check-in with them. Ask them:
"is this what you are saying?" It lets the person you are
talking with know what you have understood and gives them the
opportunity to clarify or correct misunderstandings.
What do you do when the conflicts have escalated? Resolving
conflicts are good for everyone involved, but sometimes it's
hard to see that in the moment for the people directly in
conflict. As mentioned earlier, conflict is costly. Sometimes as
the owner, or manager we forget that there is a great cost to us
but also to the employee. Changing jobs due to a conflict means
a great deal of change for an employee. They might not be able
to get the same level of pay; benefits; shifts, etc that they
are accustomed to. The impact to the employee and their family
can be high.
As the leader you can set-up an effective environment to
resolve the dispute by following some simple steps and laying
out a couple of guidelines.
First, spend time talking with each person involved. Let them
know that your belief is that developing a shared solution is
important to each person and that you value each of the
employees involved. During the individual meetings you can begin
to gather information about what they see as the possible
solutions. Let the employees know that your intent is to meet
with each of them and then with them together, to talk about
their perspective and possible solutions to the conflict.
Use a simple & effective process:
1. Create a safe space for involved parties to talk. (private,
neutral)
2. Set out the guidelines: Only one person talks at a time No
interruptions, defending or justifying Come in with an open
mind, open to the possible solutions and be willing to
compromise.
3. Give each person an opportunity to tell their story, from
their perspective. Remind the other people involved that we are
each listening, listening to each person's perspective. This is
a key.
4. Paraphrase the stories of each person. This ensures that
each story has been understood. Using phrases such as "What I am
hearing you say is.... Is that right?"
5. After everyone has had an opportunity to tell their story,
brainstorm possible solutions. Again, this isn't a time to
judge. Whenever you are brainstorming you want all the ideas,
good or bad, or out in left field. One of them might be the idea
that helps someone come up with the BEST solution.
6. Identify the solutions that work for each party. Ifs
important that the solution is agreeable to each party and the
company. In order for the agreed upon solution to work and be
successful, you need buy in.
7. Agree to do the solution. The last step is the key to moving
forward.
Some common pitfalls:
Don't take sides. As the manager your interest is the company,
the resolution of the conflict and each employee.
Don't mandate a solution; you want the staff invested in the
solution.
What do you do if staff refuse to participate in conflict
resolution? Offering staff the opportunity to resolve conflict
is a much better option than being disciplined, having
supervisor mandated solutions or taking no action at all. When
staffs refuse to cooperate or participate, its time to talk with
them about your company policies, their personal responsibility
for their behavior and actions and your responsibility as the
owner or manager to take actions based on their behavior. The
intent of this type of conversation isn't to threaten
disciplinary action, but to talk about the reality of the
situation and the need to resolve it. Each individual makes
choices, as supervisors our actions are based upon the behaviors
and actions of the employee. As the supervisor you are
encouraging good choice making, but the reality is that some
people will make a poor choice and choose to continue to act in
ways that are not acceptable in your workplace. In these
situations you must then follow your organizations policies as
outlined for your employees in the employee handbook. Resolving
the conflict and creating a good work environment for everyone
is my first choice as the manager/supervisor/owner.
Conflicts in the workplace can be successfully resolved, by
listening. Giving each person space to tell their story
validates them and communicates to them their value to you and
the organization. Using the simple process outlined keeps you
moving in a positive direction.
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