Conflict in the workplace happens when coworkers have opposing needs or interests and other factors, like personality clashes or poor communication skills, come into play. When conflict is not addressed, it escalates and can cause a rift between team members and affect their performance. Even worse, unresolved conflicts end up creating a toxic work environment.
Therefore, as a team leader, you must foster a productive work environment where members feel safe knowing that any conflict will be resolved effectively and healthily.
Conflict Resolution Don’ts
First, let’s discuss what you should not do if you want to resolve a conflict satisfactorily:
- Don’t ignore conflict, it won’t just disappear but will get progressively worse.
- Don’t make sweeping generalizations because they may provoke resentment or hostility.
- Don’t get defensive.
- Don’t focus on personality traits. Things will get ugly pretty quickly.
- Don’t interrupt or get aggressive during discussions.
- Don’t put your emotions in the driver’s seat.
- Don’t focus on being in the right.
- Don’t mistake your assumptions for the truth.
- Don’t play the blame game.
- Don’t forget to listen!
If you do not tackle, or even prevent, conflict in the workplace effectively, it will escalate and affect productivity, employee well-being, and the bottom line.
As a conflict mediator, you must have certain skills that will help you bring harmony to the workplace, like active listening, emotional intelligence, and lots of patience.
Team Building and Conflict Resolution Ideas
These team-building ideas will help you empower your team members and sidestep interpersonal disputes and disagreements. Different types of activities, such as simulations, role-playing, or reflective discussions, help build and reinforce the skills needed to resolve conflict successfully.
- LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. This method encourages participation and engagement, to go from “lean backward” to “lean forward” meetings. Therefore, participants come up with more insights, are more committed, and implement solutions faster. Workshop participants learn skills like turn-taking, sharing, listening, teamwork, and problem-solving through the medium of play in a relaxed atmosphere. Workshops are led by trained experts. This is an in-person activity.
- AITA simulation activity. This game is based on a popular Reddit forum called Am I the A**hole? The poster presents a conflict and asks other users to chime in. They are expected to provide the reasoning behind their answers, NTA (Not the a**hole) or YTA (yes the a**hole). Other answers include NAH (No A**holes Here) and ESH (Everyone is an A***), depending on the commenter’s view on the issue. This is ideal for remote teams and can be played over a Slack channel or a message board.
- The Points of You® method is an in-person activity. It consists of reacting to images and metaphors. Participants begin to see new points of view and consider different aspects of an issue. They connect with themselves and with others, engaging in an open, meaningful conversation. They work out their disagreements and cooperate rather than compete against each other.
- What Would You Do? This question game invites players to visualize themselves in challenging scenarios. They answer individually and the group votes on the best solution providing their reasons for or against taking action. Include a mix of funny and serious prompts, like “What would you do if a colleague calls in sick before a presentation but their social media posts show they simply decided to take the day off?” or “What would you do if someone took your snacks from your desk while you were away?”
- Pretend mediations are low-risk scenarios to build team and negotiation skills. Choose a conflict, whether a movie clip or a famous feud (think Montagues and Capulets or the Dassler brothers), and challenge team members to mediate and solve the dispute.
Talk to us about our LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and Points of You® workshops. Get in touch now!
