Written by: Avishek Singh
Conflicts at Workplace: Common workplace conflicts which employees face and how to deal this effectively.
Workplace and conflict always go hand in hand. Fail to complete a deadline and there is a conflict. Disagree with a team member and conflict is likely. A lot of us spend major chunk of our life at work. People from diverse field come together and it is almost impossible to have an environment where things workout perfectly for everyone. Thus it becomes all the more important that we learn the art of conflict resolution. There are multiple reasons for conflicts to arise and many ways to resolve the same.
Personality Clashes
Once a great philosopher Socrates invited his friends to his home. They all gathered at his place and were having a gala time remembering the yesteryear’s incidences. Socrates requested his wife to serve them drinks. At all these disturbances, his wife angrily walked in the room with two bottles of bear and kept them down on the table with a bang. All were stunned. The room completely went silent. Responding to the situation Socrates said – until today I had seen the clouds thundering, today I saw them raining too. Everyone erupted in laughter again and so did his wife.
So when faced with a terrible boss shouting at you in a meeting the first solution I would say is to try bringing things on a softer note by diverting the heated ongoing conversation. If you find yourself in a similar situation an easy mantra to deal with this effectively is to praise your opponent with his recent achievements. It will for sure bring smile on the face of everyone in the room. This is a proven tactic and has worked wonders for many.
Ego Conflict
The other kind of common conflict is the one which arises from ego. You will always find people in your office who think that their work is more important. If you try to prove them wrong, you are calling for disturbed day. To deal with these kinds, all you need to do is be polite and respectful at all times and just focus on your work. If your colleague continues to behave similarly by chattering about his work, be cordial, listen him and say politely after a while, ‘I am sure you are doing a great job. Lets get back to work and we can always continue this during the break time.” Your mature behaviour will make your colleague feel important and you will be able to concentrate on your work more effectively.
Work style differences
There are people who like to work in a team and then there are others who perform better when they work alone. Should you as a team leader be offended if you find someone not as big a contributor as others in a team? Of course not. The leader in order to lead better has to understand that people have different style of working. The better you know your team, the easier it is for you to resolve the conflict as and when they arise. However you can later talk to the person why it is important to work in a team. With regular support you will see him grow.
Inter-relation conflict
Imagine you work for magazine as a researcher. If you delay in researching, it delays the work of the writer and then the editor followed by the designer and so on. This is where a blame game starts and can effect the overall quality of everyones work. To deal with this type of conflict you need to clearly define the responsibility and accountability
A man with a growth mindset sees conflict as an opportunity which allows him to deal the situation better in days to come. This is how conflict should be seen and dealt. However, if a conflict at workplace leads to another conflict and is badly affecting your work, you should always take a step further and have a discussion with a trusted colleague. Remember, indulging in a conflict is quite a normal thing but not taking a right step to move out of it and shifting your entire focus from your work to teach a lesson to your colleague can only harm you and not others.
