Having a disagreement in the work place can be challenging when trying to maintain good working relationships and a professional persona. It’s all about how we deal with the conflict that is most important and coming to a professional resolution.
Although conflicts in the workplace can be difficult to deal with, especially when all you want to do is avoid a person, it’s important that the conflict is resolved and dealt with in the correct way to improve your working relationships and create a positive atmosphere.
Here are 5 key points to help you resolve a conflict in the most professional manner:
1. Communication is Key– Discuss the issues you are having with the person you have the conflict with. Listen to both sides, and try to understand where the problem lies in the conflict. Often, problems can arise from a misunderstanding, or different work ethics, so it’s important that both parties explain their reasoning to resolve an issue. Clear, concise, and accurate information will help to ease the conflict and help you come to a resolve. If it’s too difficult to address the issue directly with the person then speak privately to a senior member of staff about the problems you are facing.
2. Compromise– it’s important to listen to both sides of the argument and discuss between yourselves to come to a mutual resolution. Compromise is extremely important in the workplace to keep things running and working as a team in a positive way, and can also help you come up with a more suitable and conventional resolution to the problem.
3. Don’t Make it Personal– Work place conflicts should always be kept professional, whether you like that person on a personal level or not. Don’t bring personal differences into work related conflicts as this will amplify the problem and can create a negative atmosphere not only between the two parties, but also between their co-workers. This can cause further problems leading to all sorts of negativity in the work place.
4. Keep a Professional Attitude– One of the worst things you can do in a work place disagreement is to drop your professional attitude. It’s easy to lose your cool in a situation you don’t agree with but you must keep your composure at all times and ensure things are kept on a professional level until the problem is resolved. Whether you like a person or not, it’s important you can respect one another to continue a good professional relationship in the work place.
5. Avoid Gossip– Discussing issues that you have with someone, with other members of staff can be incredibly damaging. Keeping the issues at hand between the parties involved and not discuss these with others is the most professional way to deal with a conflict. Word can spread incredibly fast in a work place, so if you want to be able to resolve your conflict quickly and efficiently, its definitely best to keep between yourselves and try not to involve others.