Disputes at work are unpleasant, but inevitable: only 8% of employees have never encountered conflicts in their team. Perhaps they are freelancers. A quarter of respondents conflict monthly, and 16% conflict daily. All this worsens the work of the organization, reduces its efficiency, and can lead to loss of profit or staff turnover.
The Praca.by portal conducted a survey with whom conflict situations arise more often at work. As a result, it was revealed that most conflicts occur with colleagues - 43.8%, in second place is the answer “with management” - 34.7%. The least amount of discord occurs with subordinates – 21.5%.
How should a manager behave to help employees get out of conflict?
Causes of conflicts between employees
Imperfect work organization
Work processes must be transparent and understandable to employees. If business processes are clearly defined, there is no room for confusion - the organization works smoothly. 44% of respondents in the HeadHunter study admitted that improperly structured work and communication systems become causes of conflicts.
Unclear terms of reference
Each employee must understand what tasks he is responsible for and what is beyond his competence. If the manager cannot distribute responsibilities between employees, determine the area of responsibility, or formulates the task vaguely, this gives rise to conflicts.
Employee Relations
Employees are expected, first of all, to perform their functions, but it is impossible to prevent them from communicating on personal topics or forming opinions about each other. It happens that people do not agree on certain events, hobbies, or lifestyle. This leads to tension.
You cannot demand from subordinates that they communicate exclusively warmly and in a friendly manner, but the manager’s task is to make sure that these differences do not interfere with work. There needs to be an emphasis on team building in a variety of ways. For example, the Buffett National Wellness Survey found that in companies that implemented corporate sports, employees took fewer sick days, revenues were on average 11% higher, and shareholder returns increased by 28%.
Peculiarities of employee behavior
Insults, personalization, scandals - all this is unacceptable in a work environment. Even if a person is right in assessing the situation, presenting it too emotionally can provoke an even greater conflict.
Limited resources
Conflicts arise at the point of convergence of interests. The lack of material and financial resources leads to clashes and struggles for them.
Lack of information
By hiding important information from employees, management can encourage rumors to arise. In crisis conditions, when the situation in the team is tense, a careless word can lead to a series of gossip and speculation, provoking conflicts.
According to statistics, 86% of managers and employees cite ineffective communication and lack of cooperation as the cause of work failure.
Excessive pressure
It is impossible to work in a state of constant emergency. Stress affects the emotional state of employees and can lead to scandals and showdowns.
These are the main causes of work conflicts, but there are many more reasons for them. It is more effective to prevent conflicts between employees than to constantly put out emerging fires. The main directions of the manager’s work in this matter:
- optimization of the organization’s work – building logical vertical and horizontal connections, sharing responsibilities;
- creating comfortable working conditions;
- eliminating the psychological causes of conflicts - improving relationships in the team, reducing stress, neutralizing irritating factors;
- a fair and transparent system of rewards and punishments.
Types of trade union conflicts
In this category, subgroups of emerging contradictions can be distinguished according to various criteria:
- by field of activity: legal, service sector, medicine, public administration and other industries;
- according to the direction of the load: physical (fatigue, long hours) and moral (making difficult decisions, responsibility for others, forced violation of other people’s limits, etc.);
- by the nature of occurrence: natural (when a doctor is forced to cause pain to a patient while giving a therapeutic injection) and artificial (associated with the costs of the state system, when a state inspector, unwittingly, is forced to engage in bureaucratic collection of unnecessary documents).
Further analysis will help to identify other types of professional conflicts, but their criteria will be different.
Stages of dealing with conflict
The manager must resolve employee conflicts from a neutral position. Its main function is the role of an arbitrator, managing the emotions of all participants in the process, including his own. Methods of solution can be pedagogical (persuasion, explanation, request, conversation) and administrative (dismissal, reprimand, punishment).
HR specialists from the UK conducted a study in which the following percentages of respondents said that improper conflict resolution led to the following consequences:
- 27%: personal attacks and insults;
- 25%: absence from work and sick leave;
- 18%: conflict between departments;
- 18%: bullying;
- 18%: dismissal of employees;
- 16%: dismiss colleagues;
- 13%: Team members move between departments;
- 9%: projects failure.
To understand how to resolve a conflict, find out the reasons for its occurrence. This is best done during a conversation with the parties to the conflict.
Stage 1 – Clarification of the situation
It is better to start the conversation with an introduction in which you can express the hope that the conflict will be resolved for the common benefit. It is necessary to listen to all employees related to the conflict situation. This is the only way to look at the problem from all sides. Most likely, these will be mutual claims and emotional statements. This is necessary so that opponents can let off steam. The boss should not take sides or demonstrate support for a certain point of view. His task is to remain as objective as possible, find out the goals and motives of the employees’ actions, and study the relationships of the participants before the conflict.
Stage 2 – Modeling an “ideal” future
At this stage of the negotiations, find out what vision of the result each side of the conflict has. There is a possibility that this will be something impossible, but this is the only way to understand what each participant wants. It is important to continue communication, even if there is a feeling that negotiations have reached a dead end. The main thing is not to deviate from the essence of the problem and encourage movement towards reconciliation.
Stage 3 – Transition to constructive
To reduce emotional stress, it is important to demonstrate a desire to listen to your partner, show sincere interest in your opponent’s position, and focus on common interests and goals. You need to prove your position with facts, speak calmly, without unnecessary emotions. Using the information obtained earlier, you should briefly outline the essence of the conflict, determine the intentions of the parties to the dispute regarding the means of reconciliation, and move on to the next stage. It is important not to push with authority using threats and ultimatums.
Stage 4 – Finding a solution
At this stage, choose a solution that suits all participants. Often, looking at a situation from the outside, you can see a simple solution that did not occur to you due to raging emotions. If the manager understands that employees are able to negotiate on their own, he can provide them with this opportunity. Otherwise, it is worth drawing the attention of the participants to the fact that without mutual concessions the conflict will not be resolved, so it is necessary to choose an option that will suit everyone.
Stage 5 – Fixation of reconciliation
The solution found needs to be discussed in order to draw additional attention to it. Subordinates must understand that their opinions were heard and their interests were respected. Employee conflict is a pain point that can signal that something is wrong in the organization. Having established relationships between employees, the manager must analyze the big picture to reduce conflicts between employees.
Mikhail Mikhailov , founder of the consulting bureau MIKHAILOV CONSULTING:
“The conflict arose because one employee was appointed head of a department over another. The subordinate considered the new boss incompetent and not suitable for this role. I suggested that the owner act as a regulator in this conflict, since it was important for him to preserve both. But, in the end, we came to a simpler solution - to separate the parties to the conflict into different departments, since the size of the company and functionality allowed this. The employee conflict was resolved by eliminating interaction. Such an easy solution, of course, is not always possible. For other cases, there is a rather extensive procedure for resolving the conflict using a special method.”
Acts arrogantly
Yes, this is very annoying, but by and large, what difference does it make to you how another person positions himself in society? Your task is to carry out your duties competently and effectively, so that there is no need to add fake significance.
IMPORTANT ! You need to react to a colleague’s attacks only if it interferes with your ability to concentrate on work.
A megalomaniac's best weapon is humor: you'll let him know that the world doesn't revolve around him. A couple of witty answers will make the upstart moderate his ardor and help put his colleague in his place.
Strategies for resolving conflict between employees
Strategy is the line of behavior chosen by the parties to the conflict. It has a decisive influence on the outcome of the dispute. The manager, working with a conflict situation, must guide his subordinates to choose the most productive strategy. Some of them do not involve open confrontation, but avoidance of solving the problem. These sources of tension can subsequently lead to a crisis, so it is also important to pay attention to such “hidden” conflicts. Five basic strategies for dealing with conflict situations:
1. Competition - opponents are focused only on their own goals, ready for open struggle, imposing their point of view on the other side. A concession in a conflict is perceived as a loss. When is such a position justified? In cases where the situation is dangerous and there is no time for negotiations. The chosen solution must be constructive and beneficial for the entire organization, and not for a specific person. In other cases, this strategy is destructive and leads to a deterioration in relations.
2. Concession – refusal to fight, voluntary or under the influence of circumstances. By choosing this strategy, the conflict participant seeks to maintain good relations, avoiding open confrontation. Avoiding a conflict is necessary in cases where one realizes that one’s position is incorrect, one is dependent on one’s opponent, and when the damage received during the confrontation is greater than the possible benefit. In this strategy, the conflict between employees is obvious, but one of the parties deliberately avoids it.
3. Compromise - each opponent concedes something in order to come to a common decision. It is used when there are equal opportunities, but mutually exclusive interests of the parties to the conflict. To choose this strategy, you need a desire to meet each other halfway. Although this is not a constructive approach, employees may be satisfied with the decision because they are forced to give up something.
4. Avoidance of conflict - denial, the desire to turn a blind eye to the tension that arises. This strategy is used to gain time to decide on a line of behavior before the conflict moves into the open phase. Conflict is also avoided if its subject is not important for the employee; he hopes that the situation will resolve itself.
5. Cooperation – finding a solution that will suit everyone. Finding a solution requires a complete and open analysis, discussion of disagreements, and a desire to resolve the conflict to the benefit of all colleagues. This is the most effective behavior, but also the most difficult.
Let's look at these strategies using an example:
The manager promised the client that the website design would be ready in a week. The designer can manage to complete this work if he refuses other projects, but will let other customers down. The manager insists - the client is large, long-term cooperation is possible, we can “move” the others in line. A conflict arises.
If a competitive strategy is chosen in this situation, the manager and designer can spend a lot of time figuring out whose position is correct, involving colleagues, and discussing the situation with the manager. Time will be lost, relationships will be ruined.
The designer can work on weekends or stay longer so as not to aggravate the situation. In the end, why spoil the relationship with the manager, you can give in by sacrificing your free time. This method of resolving a conflict between employees cannot be considered winning, since the designer is forced to rework it due to someone else’s mistake.
The manager can ignore the designer’s words and hope that everything will somehow be resolved on its own—the client will forget about the deadline or the work will take less time. He will avoid conflict, but the consequence may be the loss of the customer.
If a compromise solution is chosen, the parties make mutual concessions: the manager asks the customer to wait a little, and the designer is late at work a couple of times or moves non-critical tasks in favor of the required project. As a result, all agreements have been fulfilled, but some tension remains.
When choosing a cooperation strategy, the manager and designer can analyze the designer’s workload, the possibility of moving some orders or delegating them to other performers, and also consider increasing the lead time for a large order. This analysis will allow you to choose the optimal solution that suits all parties. To prevent employee conflict in the future, the manager can optimize the work process, for example, oblige the manager to clarify the deadlines for completing the order with the designer before announcing them to the customer.
Alexander Alariysky , founder of toxoff.net:
“The task of a manager is to identify and stop conflicts in the organization. Carry out a fair policy and do not violate the rules of law and morality yourself. It is important for a leader to reconcile the parties to the conflict, find out the reason, analyze the explanations, determine the real reason and eliminate the source of conflicts. The cause of collisions is often hidden from the observer. In my practice, the organizer of the confrontation often hides behind the conflicting people. Especially if the dispute is accompanied by negative emotions: anger, hatred, resentment. First of all, you need to find someone who benefits from it. There is a benefit from conflict, but it depends on the actions of the leader: the boundaries of behavior are outlined and labor discipline increases. As a result, work is getting better. Fair punishment for pests calms and motivates the work team.”
Career guidance is one of the ways to get an idea of possible conflict situations
This subject has been known to everyone since school, and to this day it has not lost its relevance. Career guidance consists not only in determining a person’s inclination for a particular activity, but also in familiarizing him with the profile of the chosen profession, its content and content, as well as risks and benefits.
Career guidance using psychological tools helps determine whether a particular activity is suitable for the person being tested, because for each job profile there is a preferred personality type.
Even if the leading direction of activity has been identified, within its framework there may be many professions with varying potential for conflict, which only a certain personality type can do. You can ask the client a question: “Give an example of a professional conflict in your chosen profession,” and it will immediately become clear how fully the person imagines this activity.
Not just a conflict between employees: bullying in a team
Separate from work conflicts is psychological terror, bullying of “inconvenient” employees. Its causes may be personal hostility, tense relationships in the team, the presence of a provocateur who takes pleasure in pushing employees together. If the source of bullying is one person, this phenomenon is called bullying, if a group of employees is called mobbing. Manifestations can be different: boycott, gossip, slander, withholding information, unfounded criticism and much more.
Anyone can become a victim of mobbing:
- a new boss who is not accepted by the team;
- a very gifted employee whose colleagues are against him sticking his neck out;
- a modest hard worker who simply cannot respond to offenders.
Bullying shows that there is an unhealthy atmosphere in the team, so it is important to prevent such phenomena. But this can be very difficult to do - provocateurs get away with it during a conflict analysis, shifting responsibility to other colleagues. Mobbing is difficult to recognize and stop - helping the victim can be perceived as an attempt to single him out, which will lead to an escalation of the conflict.
Bullying often has ulterior motives, and to overcome it, it is better to consult a specialist. He will help to find the instigators of the conflict, determine what caused it, and improve relationships in the team. If we are talking about a specific provocateur who, due to character traits, lack of tact, conflict, sets other employees against each other, it is worth considering how valuable this person is to the organization. A solution in this situation may be to fire such an employee, transfer the victim of bullying to another department, disband the department or take measures to improve relationships, encourage teamwork, or work with a psychologist.
Natalya Storozheva , General Director of the Perspective Business and Career Development Center:
“The workdays of the sales department were like a theater of war: people were in conflict over the distribution of client requests from the site, the provision of special conditions to customers, the reservation of goods, the sequence of document processing. It wasn’t just hostility; employees were openly harming each other. One manager kept losing documents, and he was forced to carry a thick folder of “primary documents” to lunch and coffee breaks. Another’s computer constantly froze and the email program did not work; the third could not be reached by phone due to constant communication problems. For some time, the manager turned a blind eye to this, considering it a manifestation of healthy competition. But one day, while one of the employees was absent from the office, her client was told that she was fired due to a loss of trust from management. This led to the loss of a large order, and the manager’s patience ran out. To overcome conflict and sabotage in the team, he revised the department’s motivation system and added a team bonus to personal bonuses, motivating people to cooperate, share experiences, help each other in obtaining orders and developing work with clients. He also coordinated several team building trainings for the department to reduce aggression and help people move from confrontation to mutual assistance. This helped develop team communication skills and reduce tension. It took about three months to stabilize the situation, the sabotage gradually stopped, and the department’s efficiency indicators went up. After 6-7 months, sales growth was 10-12%"
A co-worker insults, is rude or raises his voice
Under no circumstances should you leave things to chance. Your offender must understand where the boundaries of what is permitted are. Explain to the person that it is simply impossible to shout at you - do it confidently, without a drop of doubt, so that others can also see that you will not allow yourself to be offended.
ADVICE . You should not get personal and behave the same way as a rude colleague - this will put you in an unfavorable light. Why spoil your image for the sake of a momentary argument?
Sometimes it is impossible to resist, but you must try your best - in the workplace you do not need to show your emotionality and dump negativity on your colleagues, coupled with insults and abuse.
Let's summarize
For any manager, employee conflict is a test of strength, a kind of exam. The boss should take a neutral position and, through negotiations, help employees come to a mutually beneficial solution. There are 5 main strategies for behavior in a conflict situation: conflict avoidance, concession, competition, cooperation and compromise. Compromise and cooperation are considered constructive ways out of conflict; they should be strived for in resolving controversial situations. But this does not mean that other strategies should be rejected. Taking into account all the circumstances of the conflict, weighing all the pros and cons, choose the optimal solution in a particular situation.
Separate from work conflicts is the phenomenon of bullying in a team - psychological pressure directed at a specific person. The manager must be aware of the problems of the team and prevent such phenomena.
Conflicts negatively affect work - tension increases, instead of working, employees find out who is right and who is wrong, orders are lost, profits fall. If the team is conflictual, staff turnover occurs, a lot of resources are spent on training new employees and getting them up to speed.
At the same time, some disputes can improve the company's performance. If there are conflicts regarding the division of responsibilities, this is a reason to refine business processes and draw up a clear algorithm for employee actions. If unfair wages cause negativity, you need to create a system of evaluation criteria, bonuses and fines. If disputes arise because workers are overworked, a time and attendance system can be installed to analyze the situation.
Often conflicts are a result of the growth of an organization; it is better to overcome them while the organization is small, so that when the business scales, these problems no longer interfere.
Psychological portrait of a professional
When determining whether a chosen profession matches a person’s psychotype, it is advisable to start with a list of professional conflicts in a specific activity. For example, a conflict with a consumer (for a hairdresser), with a counterparty (for a lawyer), with authorities (for a lawyer), with public institutions (for a religious figure), with students (for a teacher).
Based on these data, it is necessary to find out which character traits are desirable for such activities, and which are not at all acceptable. For example, perseverance is important for a lawyer, endurance is important for a teacher, and compliance is important for a hairdresser.
In any profession, high stress resistance is good, because such a person is able to quickly switch from one mode to another and not take negativity personally.
I am always right!
Very often, disputes occur because we cannot or do not want to explain our point of view.
You need to insist with reason. If there are no arguments other than “It has always been this way!” or “I want it so much!” is not found, maybe you should give up your position? Don't be afraid to give in and apologize if you're wrong. Many managers, especially mid-level managers, believe that they will lose their authority if they admit that they are wrong. This is wrong. A person who admits a mistake shows the ability to develop, a flexible mind and an open mind.
Constantly makes fun
Humor is great because with the help of a joke you can solve many problems and contradictions. But everything has a limit. Endless jokes about your appearance, habits, and behavior are a great start to conflict.
Sometimes people simply don’t know how to stop in time: having seen that their colleagues responded well to the previous joke, a person begins to generate the same jokes, only less successful.
ADVICE . Stop responding to your colleague's remarks. Don't smile out of politeness, don't keep up the conversation - give a signal that it's time to change the topic of conversation.
Clings and finds fault with little things
It happens that a colleague does not give you peace. He constantly finds fault with little things - and such a colleague can be either a man or a woman. You ask yourself why he does this... and you don't find an answer. Here are some tips.
- Behave as naturally and casually as possible : as if nothing is happening. Do not arrange intrigues, do not set other workers against your enemy. Hating your co-workers is the worst thing you can think of.
- Be emphatically polite and courteous . This makes the offender very angry, but at the same time he has nothing to show against you, because you are behaving so nicely! And you can also show that stooping to petty squabbles is absolutely not your level.
- Learn in advance a few simple phrases that can be said automatically: for example, “Are you unhappy with something?”, “Yes, I absolutely understand you,” and others. This will help you pay less attention to another meaningless dialogue.
