4 Ways To Manage Employee Conflict Effectively | INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT
» ARTICLE » 4 Ways to Manage Employee Conflict Effectively

4 Ways to Manage Employee Conflict Effectively

Article Search : Balqis Binti Md Ruslan

Article By: Team RichWorks

Source: https://richworks.com/cara-pemimpin-menguruskan-konflik-pekerja/

 

Conflict resolution is a daily occurrence in the workplace that can boost or disrupt the momentum of a leader, troop, or entire organization.

 

The workplace can become a toxic environment when leaders let conflict fester instead of confronting it head-on. Managing employee conflicts can be difficult especially when you're unfamiliar with the larger ecosystem in which the individual or department creating the conflict operates, and how efforts to resolve the conflict will reverberate throughout that ecosystem.

The workplace is driven by so many concurrent agendas that you never know which may be compromised when you resolve conflicts solely for your own profit and growth.

Leaders must act responsibly to be respected. This is a serious responsibility especially when it involves the development and guidance towards people, teams, and the organization for full potential. An important part of the potential development process is knowing how to recognise conflict and when it is the right time to seize opportunities in conflict (healthy amount of conflict) before it turns into serious problems.

Many leaders prefer to avoid tension to create harmony. What they don't realize is that by avoiding tension together they unknowingly create internal disturbances among employees. A leader needs to minimize conflict, instead of letting it get bigger and more prevalent.

Therefore, here are four ways to deal with conflict resolution in the workplace.

 

1. The Right Time

People often create unnecessary conflicts. Leaders who avoid conflict altogether will regret it later. Timing is everything when managing conflict, and the best time to act is when there is evidence.

 

Strong evidence that the employee has a record of wrongdoing that negatively affects the performance of others. If everyone around you knows that it must be addressed but you are still waiting to act, your employees will lose respect for being slow to responds.

Leadership is about acting and facing problems before it's too late. If you wait too long when facing difficulties, then the people around you will start to make decisions that you hesitated to make, and you will lose momentum as a leader. When others see that you are not mature enough as a leader to act, this can harm your leadership reputation.

 

2. Know Your Limits

Conflict can become more complicated and unmanageable if you don't know the limits for you and your employees.

Everyone deals with conflict differently, so you must know the risks and rewards of conflict resolution within the limits of each of your employees. Help notify others when they tend to cross the line through careful observation. Identify behavioural tendencies that seem to trigger certain attitudes, provoke the mind, or show a lack of self-awareness.

This can be achieved with consistent coaching sessions where you can start leading and reinforcing performance expectations for each of your employees. This does not only allow you to identify their conflict boundaries but more importantly to set standards that will help prevent conflicts from arising.

Leaders who are actively involved in coaching and learning about those on their team will encounter less conflict. The new workplace reflects the growing diversity in the types of people we lead.

You must know who they are if you want to understand how they will affect the ecosystem you are trying to create.

 

3. Respect Differences

Respect people's unique differences and learn to see things from different points of view so you can better understand how to avoid conflicts in the future. Instead of understanding how conflict can be avoided, respecting people's differences can also help you better understand on how to manage conflict with people in general (and its boundaries as mentioned in the second point).

Common sense tells us that we are most comfortable in dealing with those we trust and are naturally attracted to. As leaders, we must see that every employee is a unique opportunity for professional growth and development.

Let's face it, business is about the intelligence of people, and until we accept this fact, we will continue to create tension with employees we are uncomfortable with and underestimate their contribution to the process.

 

4. Face the Tension

Leadership is often about doing things that others don't like. Conflict resolution is one thing, but as leaders we must face tensions head on. Don't wait but activate your leadership to deal with conflict before the situation forces you.

Conflict can create an emotional state of mind that makes it more difficult to manage. Therefore, we must face it instead of letting it hurt because we failed to deal with the problem when it appeared.

The most effective leaders have the self-awareness and wisdom to face and defuse tension. Conflict resolution is the same as any other form of difficulty. You either act or you don't. How many times has your mind told you to act in the face of adversity, but instead you wait until the people around you take risks that you are hesitant to take on yourself?

Leadership is about expecting the unexpected. Don't complicate things. Believe in yourself enough to act upon it.

Conflict resolution is about seeing opportunities that others don't. When dealing with conflict resolution through the lens of opportunity, conflict can be a catalyst for your business to grow healthily – and professional growth for everyone involved. Effective leaders know that the most authentic relationships with their employees, customers and external partners won't really begin until they experience some tension with them.

Why? How do you really know someone (let alone yourself) until you have some tension with them? Consequently, conflicts should be resolved and dealt with – not just to solve potential problems or to spot opportunities – but as moments to learn about your own leadership maturity as you lead others through bad situations.

Date of Input: 21/02/2023 | Updated: 02/03/2023 | muhammad.isam

MEDIA SHARING

INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT
Universiti Putra Malaysia
43400 UPM Serdang
Selangor Darul Ehsan
03-9769 1346
03-9769 6176
SXEdGA2~