Jim Morrison column: Resolving work-related conflicts

3:53 PM, Aug. 18, 2013  |  Comments
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We have been talking about conflicts that involve personal problems. But what if the conflict is strictly work-related?

Let's assume it is more about how things should be done on the job and not personalities. How do we try to resolve those types of problems?

First of all, let me say that this type of problem is not all bad. Why? Well at least it shows that there is a concern for the business and the processes involved rather just a "go along to get along" attitude that seldom if ever, leads to any improvements.

There is a virtual cornucopia of scenarios we can talk about, but some of the steps will or may be similar to resolving the conflict. So for this article we will say that the conflict is between a supervisor and a long-term employee.

How do you try to reach a solution that can keep both people reasonably satisfied? To me, the best approach is usually direct and timely.

I suggest that first, you interview each of the parties separately and take good notes. Ask a lot of questions that require thoughtful answers and not just "yes or no." Keep asking the follow-up questions to make sure you have as much information on the problem, not the other person. This usually means a lot of "why, how, why do you say that and what would you do" type questions.

Once you have completed the interviews, there are a couple of ways to proceed. One is another one-on-one meeting. This would serve the purpose of you going over what the other person has said to try to make sure the person you are interviewing understands the other position. It is possible that once this is done, it may actually result in solving the conflict because it resulted from a lack of communication between the conflicting parties. Or it may show that there indeed are two valid opinions that are just in conflict.

You could skip the second one-on-one and go directly to the step of getting the two conflicting parties in a room with you. Skipping the step, however, may end up with a lot of time in that meeting trying to clarify and could even result in further arguments and conflicts. But that is your decision.

In that meeting, you must summarize where the situation stands and make sure you are all on the same page. Then a lot of things can happen. I like the idea of asking each in turn why they could not live with the other person's method. Also, you can ask if there is anything they actually like about the other method to see if you can open the door to some "give and take solution." These items can maybe be posted on a board or "stickies" to make sure they are not forgotten.

Once you have done that, I suggest you ask each of them "if you were in my shoes now, knowing what we all know now, and with a better understanding of all the issues, what would you do?" You may be pleasantly surprised at the result. They may come to a consensus solution that incorporates both sides of the issues and hopefully you can live with that solution as well.

Next time we will talk about what happens next in the process if this doesn't happen. I know this looks time consuming but as I have said before, this is an investment in the future and is important to take time to make that investment.

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