Avoid conflict and avoid change

08 Jul, 2022 - 00:07 0 Views
Avoid conflict and avoid change Employers must be able to handle conflict in a productive way for the sake of organisational development

The ManicaPost

 

Simbarashe Musara
Post Correspondent

There are always conflicts among family members, ethnic groups, nations and in different spheres of society.

In the workplace, these conflicts tend to affect the mental health of people, disrupt work processes, affect productivity negatively, and increase absenteeism.

It also induces high turnover and termination, promotes individualism in an environment where trust and team work is key to productivity and in some cases cause violence.

In the workplace, there are two types of conflicts — intrapersonal and interpersonal.

Intrapersonal conflicts arise within a person, for example when you have a sense of being inadequate to perform a task, when someone feels too much supervision is a lack of trust and when a person is having conflicting personal thoughts that may affect their work.

Unresolved intrapersonal conflicts can give rise to anxiety, depression and a multitude of self-defeating behaviours which will have a direct impact on the job performance of an employee.

An interpersonal conflict is a disagreement in some manner which can be emotional, physical, personal, or professional between two or more people.

Such disagreements are commonplace in families, workplaces, and society in general and are not necessarily physical or violent.

These disagreements can lead to heated tension and since we are creatures of emotion, this could trigger an emotional upheaval which in turn causes psychological distress to a person.

The examples of interpersonal conflicts include a co-worker openly criticising another employee, an upset customers insulting an employee, an employer or superior losing their temper over a mistake that has been made by subordinates, grudges between superiors and an employee or between an employee and another co-worker.

Interpersonal conflicts are also seen when employees upset each other and they increasingly use the grape vine as a mode of communication.

When dealing with conflict, there are certain skills you can use to better cooperate with those you disagree with.

Open communication is one skill. Open communication also means that you are regularly checking in with your team to see how they’re doing.

If they express that they are upset or if you can tell by their body language that they are upset, make an effort to have an open and honest discussion with them.

Another skill that can help is emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand your own emotions and the emotions of others.

 

Those with high emotional intelligence are quite empathetic and aware of how their colleagues are feeling.

 

This skill makes it easier to connect with others and find a compromise.

When practicing emotional intelligence, you are making an effort to respond to situations in a non-reactive and productive way.

The other skill is stress management and this mainly helps those with intrapersonal conflicts.

A person might be stressed with personal issues from outside the workplace and it’s very easy for a stressed person to lose emotional control as they would have a poor attitude and illogical reactions.

 

Intrapersonal conflicts can be mitigated or resolved by involving another person, family, friend or a co-worker to help sort through thoughts and ideas that cause those conflicts.

It is important that one manages their own stress and be calm in order to enable a conducive working environment.

For superiors to diffuse tensions, it is important that they are very partial in dealing with conflicts, understand all parties involved, always avoid picking sides and never point fingers.

Remaining calm is another important skill in tackling conflicts.

 

Shouting and screaming at each other in the workplace is highly unprofessional.

 

Other mitigating factors that can lesson conflicts is to avoid gossiping, knowing when to compromise and also learning to forgive.

It’s worth noting that conflicts can be a necessary evil and are important in the growth of an organization.

 

If managed well, conflict can serve as a catalyst for organisational improvement.

Conflict raises questions and in answering these questions, new ideas and a new way of thinking can be developed, thereby helping the workplace to improve.

Being agreeable is nice, but encouraging conflict can actually strengthen relationships.

 

Organisational conflict between individuals, departments and even competitors can help to build relationships through mutual understanding and respect.

Learning to listen and listening to learn leads to insights valued by both sides in any conflict situation.

Organisations that avoid conflict avoid change.

 

Avoiding change is futile and can lead to the demise of even successful organisations.

Companies that encourage staff to approach conflict in positive and productive ways can beat the stagnation.

Healthy conflict also allows for more creative and stronger ideas and more engaged employees.

 

Therefore, employers must be able to handle conflict in a productive way for the sake of organisational development.

 

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