Finding the Benefit in Workplace Conflict
Putting a Positive Spin on a Negative Concept
Oct 14, 2009
Butting heads, screaming and yelling, undermining a coworker’s credibility, playing the naysayer, all of these negatives can cause conflict in the workplace and make it a difficult environment to visit each day.
However, not all conflict needs to come to blows or result in a shouting match. Simply defined conflict merely means “opposition to needs, values or interests.” Workplace conflict is about two people wanting the same outcome, but by different methods or a lack of agreement on how time, money and manpower should be spent. It can even be about two people unable to work together due to mutual dislike. Whatever the reason for a conflict, when properly managed, many conflicts can have positive results.
No Creativity Without Dissension
Consider this, if employees blindly agree with everything a manager says, in effect acting like “yes men,” what might the result be? Every action, every plan, would always be implemented based on a single viewpoint. Not necessarily a bad viewpoint, but one that is limited by its experiences.
However, if employees are allowed to offer their view, encouraged to disagree with the norm or the crowd, then something else takes place. Multiple ideas – some good, some bad – are generated and the opportunity to see a new way of doing something becomes available.
When coworkers disagree about a system, method or procedure, it can be a good thing. Multiple ideas about how to reach a goal means that not only are employees thinking, they are doing it creatively. This creative exchange of ideas means that the best resolution to a situation is more likely to surface.
Sure ultimately there might be some conflict about which path to choose, who has the best idea, and so forth, but the fact that there is more than one option means there are new possibilities. New possibilities can lead to new discoveries.
How to Handle Workplace Conflict
According to a 2008 article "Use conflict at work" posted at workplace911.com, employees don’t speak their minds because they don’t think anyone cares. Yet they are secretly seething. The fact that they might blow their cool at any minute means that they are not fully focused on their job. Workplace911.com suggests that there are ways to avoid the potential conflict that is brewing just under the surface.
First, encourage employees to voice their opinions. Instead of having employees whisper in hallways and grumble under their breath, encourage them to have an open, perhaps heated, discussion to resolve any conflicts or disagreements. Think of it as organized debate. Keep it civil, no finger-pointing, and keep it brief, no more than a few minutes.
Next, help employees to find their own solutions. By voicing the problem to others, many times someone else may have had the same or a similar experience and can offer beneficial insight. When it comes to reworking a system, method or procedure this brainstorming may result in hybrid ideas that are stronger than the individual suggestions originally offered.
Finally, be sure to support and celebrate the outcomes. By working together to identify the best solution employees may discover new ways of dealing with old problems or resolve an issue that previously seemed hopeless.
The idea is that there will always be differences of opinion. What is important is finding out where there is agreement. That means encouraging organized debate and using brainstorming in order to find the benefit in workplace conflict.
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