Healthy Conflict
This is the 3rd post in a series on skills needed to survive (and succeed) in the workforce. We often assume our employees come to us with everything they need to be able to do the job they were hired for. But that’s not always true! Sometimes we have to take a step back and teach a skill that we expected (but do not see).
Here are some of the skills I often find myself teaching (and re-teaching):
Personal Accountability
Healthy Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Apologizing and Making Things Right
Relationship Mending
Being Kind
This week’s focus is on Conflict, specifically on how to have healthy conflict and on how to resolve conflict in a healthy way. Successful conflict resolution is about working through issues that arise in a productive and non-personal manner.
Whenever we work with others (and, let’s be honest, that’s pretty much always – with a partner, a coworker, a boss, a client. or someone who reports to you), there’s a possibility for conflict. Conflict doesn’t have to mean fighting. It simply means someone has a difference of opinion from another – and that’s natural, and it can be very very useful!
There’s plenty of research around conflict, around having a diversity of opinions, and – as long as it takes place within an environment where conflict is seen as good and healthy – conflict is good and healthy. Hearing different perspectives, looking at weak spots, and building on strengths – that type of conflict leads to better outcomes.
So, how does one shape an environment that can transform conflict into a force for good? How can you make your organization into a place where differences of opinion are accepted and where dissent is welcomed? What keeps it from becoming a place to just complain and argue?
That is where the work is. To create an environment that is conducive to healthy conflict, you have to be comfortable with conflict. You have to embrace it and invite it into every part of every day, and you have to reward it. You have to feed the culture of healthy conflict in order for it to survive and grow. Here are some ideas for shaping a workplace where conflict can work for you:
Allow all voices to be heard,
In fact, invite differences of opinion,
Set the stage ahead of time that alternative viewpoints are desired,
Acknowledge the positive in each perspective (and, in the beginning especially, you may also need to recognize the strength it takes to simply share a difference of opinion),
Remember the goal of the conversation (to better the company as a whole or to better meet the needs of customers; consider your organization’s priorities and values…) – and remind your team members of that overarching goal.
Conflict isn’t about opposing sides of an argument so much as it’s about a group of people coming together to solve a problem. Try to not get entrenched in your position but rather to see how a piece of this perspective and a dash of that one can come together to create an even better outcome.
I will share more about how to address bad conflict and how to resolve concerns around conflict in my next post. For now, what are your questions about encouraging healthy conflict?