Workplace Conflicts? Tips To Improve Communication

Employees are bound to have disagreements from time to time. Whether it’s a misunderstanding over who did what, a clash of ideas or a tangle of personal relationships, conflict is inevitable in any workplace. How you handle those conflicts can make a world of difference to the success of your company. There are several communication strategies that employers, managers, HR directors (and even employees) can master to successfully resolve workplace conflict in creative ways.

1. Importance Of Conflict Resolution In The Workplace

Effective conflict resolution skills and policies are imperative in the workplace. While a mismanaged conflict can be detrimental to your business, a properly handled conflict can save your business time and money, as well as improve colleague relationships, employee performance, retention rate, communication skills and workplace culture. With the right communication strategies in place, you can turn a potential crisis into a productive discussion.

The following tips can bridge the gap between feuding staffers and get everyone on the same page again.

2. Gather The Facts

Before considering a meeting about a workplace conflict, contact each team member involved in the conflict by phone, e-mail or video and have them share their report in a confidential conversation.

When you engage in joint consultation, you can investigate the matter, get evidence from others, and find out what applies to the discussion and what is still required to solve the problem.

3. Be Proactive

Remote workplaces can be a breeding ground of misinformation, innuendo and missed signals, so a good long-term communication plan, implemented early, can help head off virtual work conflicts.

Weekly meetings and monthly reviews can keep everyone accountable and informed on what’s going on in a company’s other departments, which also helps reduce workplace conflict.

4. Clarify Communications

Nickell believes workplace conflict primarily stems from unclear communication, regardless of whether the company is operating in a virtual environment. “As remote employees can’t walk up and have a conversation like onsite employees can, we have to be especially proactive,” he said.

For example, one of Nickell’s salespeople grew upset with the public relations team when he didn’t understand the distribution channels for new marketing materials. “He tried to get clarity with the public relations team via e-mail, but everyone involved quickly got frustrated because they couldn’t get on the same page,” Nickell said.

To resolve the problem, Nickell got everyone together on a video call to work through the details and eliminate the conflict. That was key because actually seeing another human on the other end of the conversation tempered their responses and created a more understanding and inclusive dialogue.

5. Managers Need To “Overcommunicate

While the term may sound ominous, overcommunication may be a manager’s best tool for preventing or curbing remote-workplace conflicts.

Because we’re limited by technology to have those face-to-face interactions, it’s important to overcommunicate to get a point across and avoid potential conflict.

For managers, having a virtual open-door policy that allows employees to discuss anything on their minds is a good strategy to ensure healthy relations between remote employees.

6. Acknowledge The Elephant In The Room

Being realistic with employees can smooth tensions, as well.

Employees should be reminded that everyone plays for the same team, so if something is on their mind, it’s important to discuss and remediate. It’s also important for managers to validate that working remotely is challenging, especially if it’s new to their team. Everyone is facing challenges working remotely, whether it’s experiencing conflict with others, failing technology, balancing work and home responsibilities, or other pressures.

One of the most important things a manager can do is ensure that an employee does not feel embarrassed or ashamed for having raised an issue. Admitting to troublesome issues can be very difficult to put forward, but it helps to prevent conflict in a new working environment.