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4 Ways of Resolving Organisational Conflict: Reduce Workplace Conflict · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Resolving organizational conflicts makes everyone's lives better, more enjoyable and more productive.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Plus it adds significant profit onto the business.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: When all teams within a business are working collaboratively, in coordination and with good communication, you get better business performance.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Leaders and managers are in the best place to spot organisational conflict.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: They also have the influence and authority to resolve most workplace conflicts.
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  SPEAKER_00: We are going through firstly the benefits of workplace conflict resolution.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, what is organizational conflict?
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  SPEAKER_00: Third, seven classic causes of workplace conflict.
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  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, four ways of resolving organizational conflict.
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  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, some of the most important benefits of workplace conflict resolution include, firstly, improved team dynamics, productivity and performance.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, focus and energy is maintained on key goals, initiatives, projects and activities rather than wasted on dealing with the emotions and distractions of conflict.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Third, you get increased collaboration between individuals, teams and departments.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, all those involved experience much less stress and tension.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, the relationships within and across the business are better, stronger and more productive.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sixth, the business experiences much less staff turnover because employers are happier and feel more valued.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then seventh, employees perceive management to be much fairer and more responsive to employee needs.
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  SPEAKER_00: All of these translate into a much nicer, more positive place to work for everyone, and everyone will be a lot more productive as they won't be spending emotional energy dealing with damaging conflicts and the issues these cause.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, to answer the common question of what is organizational conflict?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: At its core, conflict is disagreement or incompatibility between two parties' interests, needs or desires.
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  SPEAKER_00: Conflict can result in damaged relationships, refusal to work together, disputes, grievances, complaints, or even violence.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Organisational conflict can happen on many different levels, with more people being impacted as you go up the levels.
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  SPEAKER_00: For example, three main levels of conflict present in most organisations.
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  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, the individual level, i.e.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: between two people due to differences of personality, backgrounds, values, etc.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, conflict within a team, i.e., because of different approaches, ideas, goals, solutions, and so on.
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  SPEAKER_00: And third, conflict between teams, functions, or business units, if for example due to overlapping responsibilities or conflicting goals.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Just remember, conflict can also be positive.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Differences between our backgrounds, assumptions, experiences, ideas, and approaches can lead to many great solutions that would not have been created without healthy constructive conflict.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles, and if you're new here, Enhanced Doc Training provides resources and courses for you to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: I've included links to additional resources in the podcast description to help you resolve organisational conflict, so do take a look at these.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, seven of the classic causes of organisational conflict include firstly conflicting goals and objectives, which sets up teams, departments and business units within the same company to unnecessarily compete with each other.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, unclear or overlapping responsibilities can quickly cause conflicts between individuals and teams.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Third, how resources are allocated within a business and scarcity of needed resources also create source of conflict.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, poor or ineffective communication, which typically creates confusion or leaves people doing what they think is best, which brings them into conflict with others doing exactly the same.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, perceptions of unfairness or favoritism can create ill feelings and destructive behaviours that hinders individuals and teams doing their best.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sixth, poorly designed rules, policies, processes and procedures cause a lot of unnecessary conflict and frustration within a business.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then seventh, finally, power imbalances, where those making decisions or with decision-making authority unintentionally disadvantage a specific group or make them feel undervalued, etc.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Leaders and managers often cause organisational conflict with their decisions and actions or when they have made changes without thinking through the implications carefully enough.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: This brings us on to discussing four ways to resolving organizational conflict.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: As a manager, when you spot teams and individuals in apparent conflict, always check to see if the organizational conflicts are the cause of the interpersonal or inter-team conflict you're observing.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Signs of building conflict might include, you know, firstly hearing lots of complaints about fairness or stepping on toes or taking resources.
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  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, it could be refusal to work with other individuals or teams.
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  SPEAKER_00: Third, building anger and frustration, and then fourth, a breakdown of relationships.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Immediately investigate the cause of the conflict.
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  SPEAKER_00: The better you understand what is causing the conflict, the more likely you'll be able to resolve it quickly.
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  SPEAKER_00: The first of four ways to resolve organizational conflict is to engage in open and honest communication with the parties involved.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Initially, you want to meet with each party separately.
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  SPEAKER_00: The purpose is to acknowledge the conflict so people feel like you're taking the matter seriously.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Next, find out what the issues are from each party's point of view.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let them vent and show their anger and frustration.
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  SPEAKER_00: Listen, take in to what they're telling you and understand their position.
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  SPEAKER_00: Keep a neutral position on the matter until you've heard all sides.
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  SPEAKER_00: Put the other party at ease and treat the conversation as confidential and off the record as such.
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  SPEAKER_00: Summarize the key points communicated to you to demonstrate that you have listened and understood what you have been told.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ask each party for their suggested solutions to the situation.
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  SPEAKER_00: The solutions provided by those experiencing the conflict are often very useful.
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  SPEAKER_00: Gather their ideas.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then repeat this process with the other party.
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  SPEAKER_00: The next action to resolve organizational conflict is to check for conflict caused by factors outside of each party's control.
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  SPEAKER_00: With conflicts between individuals and teams, if the underlying conflict is being caused by, say, conflicting goals, until the goals are adapted, the conflict at individual level will continue.
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  SPEAKER_00: Using the information gathered from both parties will help you determine if underlying external factors are causing the conflict between teams or departments.
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  SPEAKER_00: When external factors are present, work with your peers and bosses to adapt the goals, responsibilities, resources, etc.
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  SPEAKER_00: to reduce or remove what is causing the conflict to occur.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you are unable to do this for good business reasons, then communicate the reasons for taking no action to the affected parties.
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  SPEAKER_00: Example actions you might take at this stage could be amending the performance measures of individuals or teams to better align with each other.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or it might be clarifying the roles and responsibilities of those in conflict.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or it might be in changing or amending the processes, procedures or rules to be fairer, clearer, or more aligned so both parties can work together more easily.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or it could be improving communication with all parties, between parties and with management.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Take the best steps you are able to in the situation and communicate what you are doing and why to all parties involved.
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  SPEAKER_00: Resolving external factors to the parties in conflict resolves a lot of workplace conflict.
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  SPEAKER_00: If external factors are not the issue or only part of the issue, then the third action to resolve organisational conflict is to bring both parties together.
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  SPEAKER_00: Go through a similar process as you did with each party individually.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is, firstly, acknowledge the conflict.
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  SPEAKER_00: Second, facilitate both parties communicating and gaining a clearer understanding of the other party's issues and position.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ask questions for a party to answer to get them talking and expressing their issues and emotions.
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  SPEAKER_00: Third, ask both parties to switch into explaining the positives about each other.
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  SPEAKER_00: This focuses on the benefits and the positives one party provides to the other or to the wider business.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is an important mental step to get both parties thinking positively and constructively.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, ask both parties to come up with an acceptable solution to resolve or reduce the conflicts.
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  SPEAKER_00: Act as the facilitator, not the leader in this exercise.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, ask both parties to commit to delivering an agreed solution or a set of actions.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: If needed, you should help enforce their agreed actions.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is really important both parties own and feel responsible for the solution agreed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Make sure it is their solution and not yours.
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  SPEAKER_00: Implementation of the solution will be a lot more successful as a result.
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  SPEAKER_00: The fourth action to resolve organizational conflict is to provide conflict resolution skills training.
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  SPEAKER_00: The more staff who are able to spot conflict early and find out the root causes of that conflict, the more likely conflict will be resolved by the parties involved.
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  SPEAKER_00: They will resolve conflict much earlier in the process too.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: The emotions, the anger, and the damage caused by conflict grows over time if it is not addressed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Take staff through the points shared in this podcast.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put a link in the podcast description to additional resources to help you manage and resolve individual and organizational conflict, so do take a look at these.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: In summary, spotting and resolving organizational conflict is an important skill for all managers to gain.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: When you manage teams, you will see and experience conflict.
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  SPEAKER_00: Knowing what to do and how to approach resolving conflict will make you a lot more effective as a manager and your teams a lot more successful.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, there is plenty of positive, constructive conflict too, which can be harnessed within teams to create great ideas, approaches and solutions to even the most tricky left field problems any team comes across.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: The four stages to resolving organizational conflict discussed today are firstly engage in open and honest communication and undertake five steps to understand the issues.
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  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, check for conflict caused by external factors and work to remove or reduce these factors.
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  SPEAKER_00: Third, bring the parties in conflict together and follow five steps to facilitate them creating solutions to the conflict.
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  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, train your staff in spotting and resolving organisational conflict to reduce conflict and make individuals more self-reliant in solving conflict.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to take a look at the additional resources available in the podcast description.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on four ways of resolving organizational conflict, reduce workplace conflict, please email me at support at enhanced.