5 Strategies for Creating a Conflict Competent Workplace

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Viewing conflict in a positive light might seem counterintuitive. But it is beneficial when it lives within conflict competence.

What is conflict competence? It is a management skill that involves skillfully handling dissimilarities between co-workers to spark creativity. This skill also empowers managers to leverage differences as a catalyst for new ideas.

The trick is to master the art of using disagreements and disparities for the greater good, rather than allowing them to drag down the workplace culture. The cost of dismissing the importance of conflict competence can be significant.

WHEN CONFLICTS ARE NOT RESOLVED

Ignored or mismanaged conflicts can seriously harm the overall morale of your workforce. The damage might not be noticeable at first, but rest assured, it will take a toll on your company culture. Examples of the harm it causes include:

Lower engagement levels among employees.
Poorly made decisions based on a lack of information shared between employees who are in conflict with each other.
High turnover, which is expensive since hiring new employees costs more than retaining current ones.
Lower productivity levels among workers, who may get distracted by the conflicts.
Issues like absenteeism and disruptions stemming from the poor mental-emotional health of employees.

STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP TEAMS WITH HIGH CONFLICT COMPETENCY

Fortunately, there are strategies that leadership can implement to develop a high level of conflict competency in their workforce. Doing so will also improve the resiliency of teammates. Below are effective strategies to achieve these objectives.

1. FIND OUT WHAT AGGRAVATES EACH TEAM MEMBER

Every single person has behavioral pet peeves – that is, behaviors exhibited by other people that irritate them or make them downright angry. Conflict can easily erupt when an employee pushes their co-worker’s buttons by displaying one of these behaviors. Examples of behavioral pet peeves include:

Using a tone of voice that an employee perceives as disrespecting or denigrating them.
Constantly interrupting or talking over coworkers who are trying to make a point.
Procrastinating until the last minute to complete a task or project.
Being inconsiderate (e.g., tardiness, messy/disorganized, vulgarity, noise levels).
Having a negative attitude rather than playing devil’s advocate.
Bragging or being a know-it-all.
Discussing controversial or highly personal topics; being nosy, gossiping.

It does not matter whether the person behaving in these ways is intentionally trying to aggravate their teammates. The behavior itself is the crux of the issue.

Managers should keep a close eye on their team to see if they can detect irritants among their reports. Better yet, leaders should have an open and honest discussion about what each person’s pet peeves are. If you have this conversation with the entire team, stress that no names or other references to specific people are permitted.

Once employees reveal their pet peeves, talk to them about taking a deep breath, calming down and addressing the source of their aggravation in a respectful and professional manner. They might say something like, “Susie, I admire how many great ideas you have, but I would really like to finish my thoughts during meetings without interruption. Once I do, I would love to hear more of your ideas.”

2. IDENTIFY DIFFERENT CONFLICT STYLES AMONG EMPLOYEES

Each person has their own conflict style. This refers to the way they respond in a conflict. Several different factors like past experiences and personality traits shape your conflict style.

Examples of common conflict styles include:

Competing
Avoiding
Compromising
Accommodating
Collaborating

As you can see, some of these examples are more positive than others. The trick is to synthesize different conflict styles to create productive and harmonious interactions. Work with each employee to figure out how they deal with conflict and come up with solutions for how to make these styles work together for the greater good.

3. NORMALIZE CONFLICT AS A POSITIVE, SAFE SPACE

Conflict can be beneficial, when leveraged in a smart and thoughtful way. In fact, this concept is the main principle of conflict competence. Instead of running from conflict, or viewing it as a stressor, normalize it as a positive, safe space in which to spark inspiration and reveal insights.

Transforming your organization’s views on conflict must start from the top and trickle down. Leadership should come to an agreement about what conflict competency looks like to them and pass this approach down to managers who interact closely with their employees. Managers complete the process by working with their reports to change their views on conflict and create a safe space to have respectful exchanges and open lines of communication.

4. REFRAME DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS AS MEANINGFUL ONES

No one relishes the thought of having a difficult conversation, especially at work. However, these conversations are necessary sometimes. Since it is not possible to avoid confrontations entirely, you should change how you and your team think about them.

You see, reaching a resolution through a direct conversation presents an excellent opportunity to have a meaningful discussion – that is, a productive and proactive exchange. A meaningful conversation is one held with mutual respect and one that allows both parties to be heard. The outcome of these discussions is a solution that both people can agree is satisfactory.

Leadership should reframe difficult conversations as meaningful ones. Explain to your workforce why these conversations can be rewarding and fruitful.

5. TEACH MANAGEMENT HOW TO GIVE FEEDBACK RESPECTFULLY

Tone of voice and the words used make a big difference in how feedback is received. They can change the recipient’s perception of the feedback, and their reaction to it, significantly.

Giving feedback the right way is a skill that many people must learn; it does not come naturally to everyone. The solution to this is practicing with managers how to provide feedback in a way that will educate their reports without alienating them.

Holding an offsite corporate meeting for the purpose of training leadership and management how to develop this skill is one great way to teach it. You might break people out into smaller groups and instruct them to act out various scenarios in which they would give feedback to their employees. Doing so is not only an effective training technique, but it also presents an excellent team building opportunity.

MAKE CONFLICT A BUSINESS STRATEGY

Rather than viewing conflict as the enemy, savvy organizations recognize it as a powerful business strategy. By normalizing conflict and transforming it into a benefit, management can build more resilient teams that work better together towards prosperous outcomes.

Do you want to train leadership in how to achieve conflict competency at your next corporate event? If so, contact Gavel International to see how working with a meeting planning company can benefit your organization.

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Eloisa Mendez

With over 25 years of experience in the meetings and event industry, Eloisa has worked closely with a variety of clients on events ranging from small incentive trips to large corporate meetings. While growing her career at Gavel International, Eloisa has managed all aspects of the event lifecycle, including site selection, creative materials, attendee registration, rooming list and transportation management, entertainment bookings, as well as website development. Eloisa was progressively promoted in recognition of her meeting management expertise, professionalism, and genuine passion for driving improvements within overall event operations. She was recognized as the 2000 Employee of the Year and is currently the General Manager for Gavel International.