{"id":3077,"date":"2019-09-04T08:17:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T22:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/2021\/09\/11\/how-to-deal-with-workplace-conflict\/"},"modified":"2021-10-05T15:56:06","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T05:56:06","slug":"how-to-deal-with-workplace-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/2019\/09\/how-to-deal-with-workplace-conflict\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Deal with Workplace Conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Any sphere in which humans interact with each other is likely to involve certain levels of conflict. This is certainly the case in the workplace, where employees are required to spend significant amounts of time with people they may not otherwise choose to be involved with.<\/p>\n

Although workplace conflict is unavoidable, it does need to be dealt with to ensure that staff remain engaged and productive. We take a look at the best strategies for resolving issues amongst employees.<\/p>\n

What is workplace conflict?<\/h3>\n

There are two broad types of conflict which can occur in the workplace. These include conflict of ideas, and personality clashes.<\/p>\n

By and large, a conflict of ideas can be a force for positive change in the office. This type of conflict generally arises when two or more employees feel strongly about the way something is done. One staff member may like following detailed processes to the absolute letter, while another staff member ‘wings it’. Although these different working styles are likely to result in conflict and frustration, it is important that all workplaces embrace differences in employees, for the betterment of the organisation.<\/p>\n

A much more negative type of conflict, however, arises from personality clashes. While not all staff will get along all of the time, it is important that a minimum level of appropriate behaviour is insisted upon within the workplace. This includes always treating colleagues with respect, being polite and courteous.<\/p>\n

Consequences of workplace conflict<\/h3>\n

Negative workplace conflict, which typically arises from personality clashes, results in reduced productivity and the creation of a toxic workplace. It goes without saying that staff who are locked in unhealthy relationships with their colleagues are more likely to take sick leave to avoid seeing their co-worker. Alternatively, there may be increased levels of presenteeism, where staff attend work but are not providing their best work. Even staff who are not directly involved in the conflict will likely feel increasingly stressed due to the negative atmosphere, and ultimately this will result in higher levels of staff turnover.<\/p>\n

Situations where there are high levels of conflict could also potentially result in more serious types of negative behaviours being engaged in, such as bullying, victimisation or harassment.<\/p>\n

Resolving the conflict<\/h3>\n

There are many techniques and strategies available to employers to manage workplace conflict. Mediation utilising an independent third party can be particularly helpful, especially in cases where traditional management action has not been successful.<\/p>\n

Through mediation, staff members can ventilate their concerns and feel they have been adequately heard. As the mediator is generally an external party, employees are also less likely to feel that biased decisions are being made against them.<\/p>\n

Additional techniques include ongoing training for staff, in particular as to what types of behaviour will and will not be tolerated in front of peers. All expectations on behaviour must be recorded in clear policies and procedures.<\/p>\n

It is also important for employers to improve communication, so that staff know what is expected of them and what type of behaviour will not be tolerated. Management must also take clear steps to nip intolerable levels of workplace conflict in the bud, as soon as it becomes apparent.<\/p>\n

Team bonding activities can also be a helpful way for staff to get to know their colleagues better, and perhaps develop an understanding of their motivations and concerns.<\/p>\n

By following these techniques, unnecessary and toxic workplace conflict and culture can be minimised. This in turn will have a positive impact on any organisation.<\/p>\n

Conflict among staff can easily fuel larger problems within an organisation, stunting productivity and quality of services. If your workplace is experiencing internal conflict and requires independent and expert support, WISE Workplace houses experienced mediators to help facilitate the resolution of workplace conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Any sphere in which humans interact with each other is likely to involve certain levels of conflict. This is certainly the case in the workplace, where employees are required to spend significant amounts of time with people they may not otherwise choose to be involved with. Although workplace conflict is unavoidable, it does need to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3078,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[167,63,130,66,344,164],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}