Workplace conflict should be avoided because it creates a distraction, increases stress and lowers your productivity. While it is good to avoid it, resolving workplace conflict takes more effort and things may never be the same after a resolution has been met. Another thing about resolutions is that it might take a long process to meet with the formality of resolution while it may take even longer if ever to come to real personal resolution. That is, you can shake hands and “make up” over the issue of conflict but you just know that it will take a while longer for things to get back the way they were before the conflict. There are cases where things never get back to how they were.
However, it would be greater if you can devise a means of cutting the formal resolution time down. Seriously and as adults, you may already realize that actual person-to-person resolution may never happen. therefore prolonging a formal resolution will go against the grain of logic.
Formal resolution allows everybody involved to move on and create an atmosphere where communication can continue for the sake of the collective goals of the company. You are both working in an organization and you cannot avoid each other as such. So it would be nice to just quickly get over the formalities of re-establishing a formal relationship that will allow everybody to do their jobs.
I have a suggested method of quickly killing workplace conflict after it has begun so that you can move on and deal with the real reasons why you are working. It is a way of re-establishing contact and dealing and how to relate with the person after the issue has been “resolved”.
[caption id="attachment_2636" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
www.sackedinthecity.co.uk[/caption]Step 1: Seek A Private Audience With The Person With The Sole Aim Of Pressing The Reset Button
It is a no frills kind of meeting. You want to move on and it is not a meeting trying to justify your action. Apologize for your own action or reaction and do not point any fingers at the person or try to explain why you acted or reacted the way you did. I use action and reaction together because both of you may be aware of that the fault was not on your part. That is why you should apologize for your reaction to what the person did. Blame yourself. You should after reacted better or say if you had held back a bit you would have reacted better. However, if you are the one that took an action the other person reacted to, then apologize without any excuse for your action. This is important because excuses tend to sound like justification for your action and that is the last thing you want to do; justify yourself.
Step 2: Follow Up By Making A Public Apology
Public self-humiliation works wonders. People tend to forgive quickly when you expose or run yourself down. This is a strategic follow up to the private apology. It has a way of completely killing any reservation on the part of the person. let us face it, if you had humiliated or offended a person public or what you did has become public knowledge, it will always sound shallow if you make a private apology. A public apology will also serve to press the reset button with the whole team. the consciousness of the event hanging in the air will quickly evaporate.
Take care that you follow after the method you used in the private apology. Do not give any justification or excuse for your behavior. Apologize for your action or reaction, depending on which fits the bill. Apologize for both if it fits what transpired. Do not sound as if you are the “matured” one here. Sound as if you are a politician that has been caught pants down, having no place to hide. This will kill the conflict and score you good relationship points.
Step 3: Show Amiable Politeness Afterwards But Respect The Person’s Space
You were not chums before the conflict, you cannot be chums after it. respect the person’s space. Share basic and formal pleasantries as you would an acquaintance. If you sound or look to distant, do not sweat it; the person and people will understand since you just “exposed” yourself publicly.
Step 4: Only Approach With Work Related Issues
This is the main issue reason you started this. You are now free to approach the person with work related issues without the emotional baggage. Go squarely into what you are meant to do and achieve what you are meant to achieve.
There is a likelihood that the person will genuinely warm up to you. You have to handle this with care.
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