Have you ever been involved in a serious conflict at work? Not one of those little tiffs that is over in a day, but a longer protracted conflict that’s talked about for months afterwards.
It tends to follow you around like an unwanted shadow for weeks. Negative thoughts keep swooping in at inopportune moments making you wonder if you shouldn’t just put yourself out of your misery and leave.
In reality, many conflicts at work can be avoided and some are actually helpful to the team and broader organisation as they provide a period of instability or disequilibrium that actual pushes people out of their comfort zones to find solutions to existing problems. This usually intensifies your engagement at work and over time builds up a sense of shared history and achievement in your team.
I have never worked in a successful team where we did not have conflict at different times. The fact that we dealt with it and then moved on together just made us feel closer. Yes, there were many times we didn’t especially like one another, but those times passed because we were jointly committed to making things work.
If you work with mature and reasonable people conflict may be rare. Most people grow to realise that the people at work don’t need to be close friends. You may make some along the way but its the professional camaraderie and respect that is valued, rather than personalities.
It’s REALLY hard to remain the mature adult in a work based conflict when those around you are behaving childishly. But you won’t regret it if you do.
Next week we will look at some tips and strategies to help you overcome workplace conflicts.
If you have any tricks or strategies you have developed to avoid destructive conflicts let us know in the comments box below.
To learn more about the En Masse suite of workplace education and training programs and how they can help you reduce risk and handle conflict contact us on (03) 9827 1388
