June 2009 Management Minute
by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist
Next to terminating employees, facilitating conflict resolution is perhaps the most difficult part of every manager’s job. But it is also absolutely essential to maintaining the team chemistry and ensuring a positive workplace environment.
Allowing conflict to simmer or assuming it will ‘work itself out’ is certain to erode job satisfaction in all parties directly involved in the conflict, but also in those on the sidelines who are affected by it. It is obvious that the conflicting parties will harbor bitterness toward one another resulting in poor cooperation. But what about their co-workers who get dragged in (and dragged down) by being exposed to negative comments from both sides and by potentially being forced to take sides. This is a classic ‘tip of the iceberg’ situation. Productive time is lost every time the offended parties take co-workers away from their duties to complain about the offending party, and often the manager for actions or inactions contributing to the conflict. The offended party is operating below their full potential and dragging down anyone who will listen.
The manager needs to step in as soon as they are aware of the conflict. Organizations invest resources (and there are really only 2 resources: time, and money) in what they value. If you value productivity, team work, and cooperation, you will invest time in investigating and resolving the conflict. A counselor was brought in to investigate a fist fight in the maintenance shop at a feedyard. After a few hours of discussion with all parties involved it was learned that the conflict was rooted in a teenage love-triangle during high school nearly twenty years before. That being said, there are rarely any easy answers where humans are involved. But resolution cannot be attained without intentionality on the part of management. “Inertia (the desire either to stay where we are or to keep moving in the same direction) is overcome with intentionality.”
Suggested steps to resolution include: (1) getting the conflicting individuals to sit down together with you and discuss their issues, (2) have antagonists suggest what they feel the other party needs to do to amend the situation, (3) you as manager make a commitment to follow up and hold parties accountable for making the needed changes, and (4) disciplinary action for non-compliance in the resolution process. All parties need to understand that they are adults and that responsibility for resolution ultimately resides with them, but if they do not take the needed steps, you as manager will be forced to intervene, possibly leading to termination.
This is not fun and is rarely simple, but early intervention will prevent the conflict from festering, chronically hurting team productivity, and potentially erupting later and creating greater wounds in the organization.
For more information, contact Chris at 785-532-1672 or cdr3@ksu.edu.
