Resolve conflict in the workplace
Co-workers
Love them or leave them, you MUST work with them.
The average American worker spends approximately 9 hours a day with their business counterparts. This means people in the workforce are spending more time with co-workers than with their own families.
Hence the birth of the term – work family.
Emphasis on family, because let’s be real, there is always one or two family members we would rather not see at the Christmas party. The difference is you can often easily avoid seeing family regularly, whereas this is not the case with co- workers.
So what do you do when you’re faced with conflict in the workplace?
Two words – Working Relationship.
Emphasis on working. Keep in mind that first and foremost you are WORKING. Below are 5 suggestions that will help to improve your working relationships.
- Do your best to communicate all work related matters via email. Make sure to stay fact based and concrete.
- Avoid Sarcasm and judgement calls. Judgmental thoughts regarding any co-worker is counterproductive. You are creating a bigger barrier when you believe assumptions about your peers are facts.
- Gracefully exit a break room conversation if the individual is expressing a viewpoint you disagree with.
- Practice letting it go (insert Frozen music soundtrack). There is no point in holding onto resentment in the workplace. Most of the time if we really examine the situation, we will realize it is not worth holding onto. Moreover, it’s not worth the impact on our workplace morale.
- If all else fails and conflict continues, seek supervisor support. Make sure you are going in with a solution focused approach and stay effective. Facts, not feelings.
So there you have it friends, we hope these tips get you a little closer to making your workspace a little more conflict free!
