How to Handle Workplace Conflict and Reduce Tension

Do you think workplace conflict is a trivial matter? A study indicates that U.S. workers waste 2.8 hours every week managing such tension. That means American companies combined are losing up to $359 billion per hour. If you leave things unresolved, it causes further damage. Some of the side effects are operational downtime, disrupted work, friction within the team, delayed project deliverables, and employee attrition. In this article at Motley Fool, Maricel Rivera shares how to handle workplace conflict.

How to Handle Workplace Conflict Without Loss of Productivity

When you work as a team, conflicts are bound to happen. Instead of avoiding such issues, you must address workplace conflict. This is what conflict management is all about. The top reasons are differences in outlook, undefined work responsibilities, confusing interactions, performance issues, stress, or unjustified expectations.

How to Handle Workplace Conflict: Things to Consider

Analyze why it happened.Instead of blaming or demanding an answer, ask neutral, open-ended questions. For instance, “What upset you?”After asking the contending parties, ask people present during that argument to get an objective point of view. It will help you understand how to handle workplace conflict better.Make team members realize what their roles are when such situations arise. Keep an employee handbook, if needed.Everyone must learn to properly handle workplace conflict, not just the HR team.

Tips to Reduce the Friction

Per the Thomas-Kilmann conflict management model, there are five strategies to handle workplace conflict:

Compete – Put this to use during emergency situations when you must control every action.Collaborate – You want to make peace by bringing both parties to collaborate, but it is time-consuming.Compromise – Both parties must lose something to conclude the conflict.Avoid – You completely avoid addressing the situation. The problem only grows, Accommodate – One of the parties gives up without pursuing the matter any further to regain peace.

To view the original article in full, visit the following link: https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/small-business/human-resources/articles/conflict-management/

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