Workplace conflicts: how to resolve them
Workplace conflicts: how to resolve them
What are the negative or positive consequences of conflicts at work? The 4 tips for resolving conflicts at work. What can online therapy do?
Having a calm and relaxed atmosphere at work is essential both for the organization itself and for its survival, as well as for the employees who help sustain it. On the contrary, having a tense work environment, where assertive communication is not applied and conflicts are the order of the day, inevitably risks engaging one’s resources in the wrong way, weakening the project or the work group and, in the long run, also compromising one’s mental health, fueling anxiety, stress, and dissatisfaction.
Conflict, however, besides being a source of discomfort, can actually be an important opportunity for growth if managed in the right way. Mature confrontation, in fact, can stimulate a search for creative solutions, the adoption of new perspectives or changes, both at the organizational and personal level, as well as an important open-mindedness.
Possible negative consequences of conflicts at work:
- psychological discomforts: irritability, frustration, difficulty maintaining concentration, inability to relax;
- physical discomforts: insomnia, migraine, digestive problems related to toxic and frustrating work dynamics;
- behavioral discomforts: avoidance or withdrawal in work relationships (with colleagues or from the conflictual environment), increased use of mind-altering substances (alcohol, psychotropic drugs).
Possible positive consequences of conflicts at work:
- strengthened work relationships: assertive communication that admits different points of view and the ability to mediate in the workplace helps strengthen relationships between people, thus benefiting both the individual and the entire team;
- increased trust: resolved conflicts lead the team to trust each other more reciprocally, learning that the other is sufficiently mature, available, open to negotiation and confrontation;
- creative and productive growth: overcoming conflicts in the appropriate manner helps to evolve, to step out of one’s comfort zone, stimulating creativity and productivity in the workplace.
Mature management of conflicts at work
Let us begin by saying that to address work conflicts correctly, both proper prevention and management are needed.
By prevention we mean the ability to grasp in advance the warning signs of a potential source of conflict, containing it before it becomes disabling.
The prevention strategy includes recognizing potential conflict situations, as well as ongoing monitoring, in order to identify possible symptoms of conflict (discontent, nervousness, disorganization, disparities, communication difficulties, drop in work in terms of time and commitment, gossip, etc.).
Management, on the other hand, is the ability to deal with a conflict that has already arisen, tracing the triggering events and the effects they have caused, resolving the issue in the most open and constructive way possible. Carefully analyzing the conflict indeed requires a change of perspective: moving from “what happened” to “why the other felt frustrated, disrespected, opposed, etc.” A winning solution is one that starts from careful and shared openness, capable of removing the real causes of the conflict, curbing the instinct to act aggressively. Only by focusing on the real reasons, the expectations, and the emotions of others will we be able to find an effective and personalized response to quell the conflict.
4 tips for resolving conflicts at work
Below are four tips for resolving conflicts at work, also reported by Dr. Paola Arisci (psychologist and specialist in counseling on work-related stress):
- predisposition to listening;
- search for a meeting point acceptable to all parties involved;
- suitable language: pay attention to expressions and tone of voice, preferring simple words, a clear and concise presentation, while maintaining a stable and calm climate;
- anger management: you cannot manage a conflict in the workplace successfully if the parties are in the grip of anger; it is therefore essential to calm down, possibly step away from the situation, and address the discussion at a later time. Proper conflict management indeed implies clear, centered minds oriented toward a common goal.
What can online therapy do?
Online therapy proves extremely useful for analyzing and overcoming conflicts in the workplace, improving one’s assertive communication and the ability to correctly address relational dynamics, imbalances between colleagues, or between bosses and staff; as well as identifying the presence of further toxic dynamics such as horizontal mobbing (among colleagues) or vertical mobbing (“bossing,” by managers).
For information, write to Dr. Jessica Zecchini.
Email contact: consulenza@jessicazecchini.it, WhatsApp contact: 370 32 17 351.
