Did you know that 1 in 4 workers think their managers handle conflict poorly? In addition, the amount of time employees spend dealing with conflict has doubled in the past 15 years to nearly 4 hours of every workweek.
As an effective leader, you can't afford to continue to lose valuable productivity hours to needless conflict. Instead, learn how the conflict resolution model can help you resolve conflict faster. You will then equip your team with the tools they need to communicate effectively and diminish conflict entirely.
What Is the Conflict Resolution Model?
There are five core methods by which workers resolve any given conflicts that arise. These methods varied from healthy to unhealthy and were identified as being key methods by which workers resolved their conflicts.
These five methods are competition, collaboration, accommodation, avoidance, and compromise. Some methods are more assertive while others are more cooperative.
They all fall within the spectrum of ways people choose to solve problems in the workplace. Each situation will determine the best conflict resolution model by which
you can find the best resolution method.
Competition assumes that someone wins the argument thereby someone else must lose. This won't work if you're dealing with an argumentative customer. You must instead choose to be accommodating in your conflict resolution.
Likewise, avoidance doesn't work if the people involved are your direct team members. In this case, you will need to either choose to collaborate or compromise.
How to Implement Conflict Resolution Strategies
As a leader within your company, you must learn the healthy forms of conflict resolution. You must also learn to help your colleagues gravitate towards healthy collaboration and compromise. Some key tips for how to implement healthy conflict resolution strategies include:
Use "I" statements
Listen to understand
Summarize and paraphrase before assuming and judging
Listen actively
Be proactive instead of reactive
Be assertive without being dominating
Find common ground and compromise
Effective workplace communication is a key soft skill not traditionally taught in school. However, as a leader, you must take the time to learn these skills to further your career. You can also encourage your team to grow their skills by scheduling team courses with Coursetter.
Workplace conflict causes Canadian employees to miss an average of 55 work days each year. The top root causes of workplace conflict and anxiety tend to be
Poor communication
Unclear expectations or roles
Ambiguous feedback
These are easily fixed or avoided through strong leadership. Investing in your leadership skills through classes that focus on communication skills will have a direct impact on minimizing conflict within your team.
Now You Can Resolve Conflict With Confidence
You don't have to worry any longer about resolving conflict through unhealthy conflict resolution models. Instead, invest in your education as a leader so you can learn the crucial communication skills necessary for continued success. You will also learn how to equip and empower your team members with these key skills.
At Coursetter, we've been helping leaders across Canada for over twenty years. We can help you grow your leadership skills through in-person and online courses depending on your needs and best learning style. If you're ready to learn more about our customized team development options, you can learn more here. Coursetter provides online training courses for businesses, corporations, individuals, and managers in Edmonton, Calgary, Alberta, and across Canada.