How To Resolve Workplace Conflicts

Conflicts are a natural part of life - we deal with them with our parents, with our siblings, with our spouses, and even with our own children. But the most difficult conflicts to resolve are usually not those we have with the people close to us, but are the ones we have in the workplace. We are better equipped to handle familial conflicts because of the foundation of relationship that is already in place, both before and after the conflict. In the workplace, however, conflicts often deal with people we hardly know (or, at least, with people we wish we hardly knew!), and this can make them much more explosive. While there is no cure-all for ending, avoiding, or resolving workplace conflicts, there are some things you can do to ensure that you take care of conflicts when they pop up, diffusing them before they become something much bigger than they should be.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when dealing with conflict, especially in the workplace, is assigning blame. For instance, if you feel that someone on your project team is not doing any work, they are more likely to listen to you if you say, "I feel like I am doing all the work," instead of if you say "You don't do any work."

The "us versus the problem" is an especially positive approach to take when dealing with conflicts. Rather than instituting a "me versus you" situation, the "us versus the problem" approach acknowledges that there is a problem, and it aims to combine the forces of both individuals to work the problem out. By working together against the problem, you can also easily avoid placing blame, as the problem has now become the issue in question, rather than it being one person or the other.

Finally, although it might be tempting to do so, do not always involve your superiors in an argument. When you involve your superiors, it can quickly create bitterness between yourself and the coworker with whom you had conflict. Furthermore - no matter who is "right" and who is "wrong" - nobody looks good when a conflict gets taken to a higher-up.

Conflict resolution is not always easy, but it is often necessary. Instead of fighting and making your conflicts worse, learn how to solve them.