Advice To The Leader: Conflict In The Team, What To Do?

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

This is a long work of the leader and subordinates. Considering that leaders are almost always busy with something more global, they have no time to deal with conflict resolution. In this case, a psychologist or a conflictologist hired from outside will not interfere. But still, let's talk about what a manager can do in order to prevent a conflict or resolve disagreements for the benefit of all.

Conflicts are especially acute during a period of changes, restrictions, changes in familiar conditions. And we live in a time when effective relationships in the team are very valuable, as they directly affect the results of the company's work.

What is conflict?

The first thing to understand is that conflicts are very useful and should not be feared. If there is a conflict in a team, then it is "alive", people are not indifferent to their activities, and they are most likely interested in maintaining their place, in this case there is a chance to create an effective team. In addition, the conflict is an excellent channel for the release of the accumulated negativity within each of the employees. As every psychologist knows, negative emotions cannot be kept in oneself. Of course, it is better not to pour them all out on the victim, but to "speak" them, for example, first to a psychologist, but if the employee could not resist, then what to do?

First: minimizing the possibility of conflicts

In general, the first step towards minimizing conflicts is the conscious recruitment of personnel. The leader should think about what kind of employees he wants to see next to him. Usually, the character of a person and his tendencies in behavior can be identified at an interview using all kinds of tests and cases. It is also important at the interview to understand whether the employee supports the goals, values, mission and the usual process of the company, so to speak, whether he is on the same wavelength with it. Find out what the employee's plans are for his service, what can he offer the company for development? How does he see his work in it? How can it be useful? See if your views on the company's activities and future development agree.

It is also important to familiarize the employee with job responsibilities in detail from the very beginning. Any abstraction in the enterprise can lead to conflict. The more clarity in the work, the less likely it is.

Second: overcoming barriers

In my opinion, there are two types of them: communicative and perception.

The communication barriers fall into: misunderstanding of the goals of related departments or the goals of employees from these departments, in this regard, speculation of non-existent facts about their activities. People are not in the habit of clarifying and finding out what their colleagues are doing, what problems and tasks they solve, what difficulties there are, how they can be useful. As a result, information is distorted during its transmission. Also, internal rivalries are often triggered. People forget that they are working towards a common goal and result. Instead of sitting down at the negotiating table, they compete, prove, conflict.

Perceptual barriers do not mean listening and hearing. For the most part, this is influenced by the psychological characteristics of colleagues, for example, temperament and thinking. There are business-oriented people, it is important for them to be “fast and to the point”, and there are relationship-oriented people, it is important for them to talk and create a warm atmosphere, these two categories speak “different languages”. If these features are not taken into account, it turns out that everyone's basic needs will remain ignored. Social differences, education of employees, differences in vocabulary and vocabulary, different levels of knowledge about the subject of discussion are also taken into account.

Communication barriers are mainly solved thanks to the leader. Its task is to explain to everyone who is doing what, clearly define responsibilities, areas of responsibility, etc., introduce opportunities for collective communication (planning meetings, meetings, feedback, individual meetings, corporate events), inspire the team to fulfill a common goal and achieve a single result, in the end - the material motivation of employees to achieve the goal.

To overcome the barriers of perception, the role of subordinates is important - their desire to hear and listen to each other. It appears after overcoming communication barriers, where the leader contributed to this.

Third: neutralization of conflicts

If the first stage was skipped, the team already exists, although the barriers have been worked out, but a conflict has arisen, then first you need to understand whether there is a desire and motivation on the part of employees to resolve the conflict, is there a goal, for which this relationship is needed - this prerogative remains for as a leader, he shows his team the importance and effectiveness of positive interaction. Its task is to unite and inspire them with a common goal and result.

It is also worth taking into account the individual characteristics of individuals, understanding and acceptance of these features by each member of the team and knowledge of "effective approaches" to their colleague, subordinate, to the leader is a qualitative basis for the conflict to move from dead center to resolution.

There are things that are important for both managers and subordinates. This is the ability to get out of the conflict, the so-called "ways of reconciliation":

- Taking responsibility: apologizing, expressing regret for past behavior, taking personal responsibility for part of the problem.

- Search for a solution: concessions on a controversial issue, offer a compromise, search for mutually beneficial solutions.

- Taking the position of the interlocutor: expressing understanding of the other's problems, recognizing the legitimacy of the other's point of view, expressing good feelings, asking for honest feedback.

- Explaining your own motives: disclosing your own needs, thoughts, feelings, motives.

Responsibilities of the leader in case of conflict:

- Call subordinates for a personal conversation and try to objectively assess the cause of the conflict, hear and take into account the point of view of each of the conflicting parties.

- You can try to organize a dialogue between the conflicting parties with the participation of the head, where in a civilized form to express all the claims.

- If the conflict is neutralized with difficulty, you can delimit areas of responsibility, goals, resources, responsibilities, etc. conflicting.

- Be sure to give the opportunity to splash out emotions. This can be done in a direct way, or you can use more creative methods: arrange a corporate format of the competition (paintball, bowling, quests, etc.)

- Have a sense of humor and be able to "mirror" any conflict in a positive way, with a grain of irony and wisdom.

In any case, it is worth remembering that we are all human and we have human desires, specific character traits and ambitions. With this in mind, we are making a breakthrough towards positive relationships, even if the underlying contradiction has not been resolved. People tend to get angry - this is a normal defensive reaction of their psyche. It can be very difficult to take the lead in reconciliation when the other is wrong, but if we do, everyone is in a win-win situation. Everyone is inclined to defend their mistakes, while admitting their own mistakes causes reciprocal impulses of nobility from the opponent.