Workplace conflicts can sap energy from any small business. Whether it involves employees, vendors or contractors, getting such issues resolved is critical to smooth sailing. Business managers overall spend an estimated 40 percent of their time dealing with conflicts both big and small.
That’s just normal, since disagreements, disputes and honest differences exist everywhere. For small-business owners and entrepreneurs, the key is this: By treating conflicts as catalysts for increasing energy and productivity, you can turn them from negatives into positives. Here are ways to make workplace conflicts constructive:
• Don’t be a mediator. Many small-business owners and managers try to be neutra-party mediators in workplace conflicts when in fact that’s not their role. Your obligation is to the interests of the business and others who work there, and you need a combination of skills, structure and finesse to express (and impose) your own view on how things need to be.
• Open with an icebreaker. Most people are ready to complain, debate or argue at the outset of any conflict. They’ve conjured up their best arguments and are ready for battle. For best results, don’t go straight to the topic of the controversy. That will only get people stuck in their positions. “You need to do something different,” said Steven Dinkin, president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, which helps teach conflict-resolution skills.
An icebreaker is not idle chit-chat, but a smooth transition. The ideal opener might ask for a person’s own take on something both work-related and positive. For example, if the conflict involves two workers involved in the same project, ask each of them how they became involved and what they hoped to achieve.
• Listen closely. Sometimes what you don’t say is more important than what you do. Good outcomes come from listening carefully to others. This sends a positive message that you are genuinely concerned. And it’s simply the best way to get to the bottom of what’s really going on. “To get this going, ask an open-ended question,” said Dinkin. Then listen carefully to that person’s side of the story. Quickly reinsert yourself into the discussion if it turns negative.
• Use and encourage positive language. Any frustrated business owner knows how easy it can be to slip into negativity after a conflict erupts. Always think before you speak. “Remember, it’s a conversation, not a trial,” said Dinkin. •
Daniel Kehrer can be reached at editor@bizbest.com.
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