Conflict Resolution in the Workplace

June 20, 2024 By Karen Layman, aka Karen

Conflict is a part of life, and that can extend to the workplace. Conflict can happen between coworkers, clients, and other businesses. Knowing how to resolve these conflicts is a necessary skill but it can be difficult developing those skills. Here’s how to handle conflict resolution in the workplace:

1. Ensure Privacy

If you disagree with someone, make sure you approach them privately. If other people are around, it can put everyone in an awkward position, and it may be hard for people to be honest. Schedule a time to talk so no one feels put on the spot.

Try to talk in a neutral area, like a conference room or similar space. This allows people to feel safe and able to talk out conflict. Discuss the situation and then ask the following questions:

What caused the conflict?
What’s the best outcome when conflict arises?
What can we do better next time?

Asking these questions makes conflict resolution a team effort, and not one person correcting another. Taking this approach creates a healthy work environment and fosters open communication.

This type of open communication is also important to implement when finding ways to build strong customer relationships. Make sure you know what the conflict is and lay out ways to make it better going forward.

2. Use Active Listening

Active listening is an essential part of conflict management. Active listening ensures that everyone is heard and respected. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes while they talk. Empathy goes a long way in conflict resolution.

After the other person is finished talking, repeat back a summary of what they said. Then, ask questions that clarify anything you’re unsure of. Not only does it show them that you hear them, but it helps you better understand them. Using these types of questions are also helpful tips to improve your brainstorming sessions.

Try not to interrupt them and wait to talk until they’re done talking. Giving them time to say what they need communicates respect, which is helpful when resolving conflict.

3. Acknowledge Your Mistakes

Another valuable part of conflict resolution is owning up to your side of the conflict. This can be hard and humbling but insisting you’ve done nothing wrong only adds fuel to the fire. Even if you feel like you did nothing wrong, try to recognize the other person’s point of view. Unfortunately, actions can be misinterpreted so it’s important to talk these things through.

4. Find Common Ground

Trying to find common ground is a great way to build a connection to another person. Conflict often arises when people are passionate about something, so try to find that common denominator. You both probably care about your workplace, a project, or goals. Once you find something you both agree on, build off of that.

5. Try Not to Escalate Tension

Conflict usually involves tension and it’s important to keep things calm. If you feel things are too tense, try to remove yourself from the situation to cool down. Acknowledge that things feel tense and suggest that everyone involved take some time to process.

Taking a walk or listening to calming music can help you relax and clear your head. Doing this can help you be level-headed enough to find a solution to your conflict. These are also helpful things to do if you’re trying to recover from burnout.

These are just a few useful ways to handle conflict resolution in the workplace. These skills will need practice and you won’t always get it perfectly right each time. However, learning to deal with conflict resolution will create a much more healthy environment for everyone involved!

6. Address Behavior, Not Personality

It is important to remember that you can work on changing behavior but not personality. Instead of focusing on the personality traits of the other person, work on the actions that caused the conflict. Pointing out personality traits that you might find grating will not end well for anyone.

If you have a disagreement, focus on actions. Pointing out that someone might talk too much isn’t likely to help fix the conflict. Try to pinpoint the issue. How did talking too much affect the situation? Were they not paying attention? Were they interrupting others? If this is the case, try implementing or maintaining active communication and allow everyone a chance to speak

This tactic is helpful in mitigating conflict because it doesn’t single out one person and it builds respect in your work environment. Maintaining active communication like this is one of the ways companies can support employees working from home, but it’s also effective in office settings, too.

7. Pick Your Priorities

When you’re working on resolving workplace conflict, you need to be able to discern what issues to address and which ones to let go. If you focus on every little issue, you are going to burn out. Having discernment can help you reserve your energy for the right situation and avoid burnout.

Before you try engaging in conflict resolution in the workplace, ask yourself the motivations for doing so. If it’s a big issue that needs to be addressed in order for your workplace to function, go ahead with working on it. If it’s not a pressing issue, make a note to circle back to it later.

8. Set an Example

Even if you aren’t the boss, it’s important to model better conflict resolution skills. While this can feel overwhelming, try to focus on the positive interactions you see in the workplace. Highlight these interactions and then build on them. Things like gratitude, confidence, and compassion are all important characteristics and they can be used to improve your work ethic.

Make sure to highlight these characteristics in others, too! Building up fellow employees builds deeper connections and makes people feel valued. This can go a long way in helping foster better conflict resolution in the workplace.

9. Bring in a Mediator if Necessary

In some cases, a mediator might be a helpful resource. A mediator is a neutral person who will help your workplace work through conflict productively. Sometimes this is a supervisor, an HR person, or in extreme cases, an outside party.

If the conflict has gotten to an untenable point of resolution, maybe think about bringing in a neutral party. Having a new perspective on a workplace conflict can help you see things you may be overlooking due to bias. This person can also make sure each person is heard and respected.