Faculty Seminar On Workplace Conflict

Communicating for Leadership
Success
Dealing with Workplace conflict

Part1
”Don’t fear conflict;
embrace it – it’s part
your job.”
Key factors in Resolving Workplace Conflict
1. The ability to recognize workplace conflict
2. Understand the nature of workplace conflict.
3. Strategies to bring swift and just resolution to

workplace conflict through interaction essentials.
Some interesting facts about Workplace Conflict
• it can cause stress, frustration, loss of sleep, a

bad temperament, illness or other issues for
individual employees.
• According to research undertaken by personality assessment
consultancy OPP in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of
Personnel & Development, 85% of employees would consider as
big trigger for disputes is the relationship that rank and file
employees have with their department heads, and line managers.
• Conflict rarely resolves itself – in fact, conflict
normally escalates if not dealt with proactively
and properly.
Emotional Deception and the Rise of Conflict
Every workplace is plagued with people who use

emotion to create conflict in order to cover-up for
their non-performance. These are:
THE DRAMA QUEENS/ KINGS

These are employees who when confronted with
wrongdoing/ and or lack of performance are adept in
using emotional tirades which often include crocodile
tears and other trite emotional manipulations .
THE BLAME SHIFTERS
The blame shifters are highly contagious in the

work environment. These are employees
who are fond of pointing fingers and blame others for
the mess they made at work.
This attitude is also characterized by individuals

who often blame external reasons for their
mistakes .
THE MONGER
They are often the most well known personality

at work. Somewhat appearing to be Mr./ Ms. Congeniality.
On the contrary they are the wolf in sheep’s clothing. These
employees are fond of spreading gossip which is often
negative and embarrassing to the person being spoken of.
They are experts in creating little lies and half truths to
cover for their mediocrity at work. They often exult the
negativity of a person or a situation. The Monger kills the
concept of team work, as the group breaks up into cliques.
and employees start refusing to work with others.
Corporate Leadership and Conflict
Unresolved workplace conflict often results
in:
• loss of productivity
• The stifling of creativity
• creation of barriers to cooperation and
collaboration.
Simple Leadership Equation
Good conflict resolution ability = Good

employee retention.
Leaders who don’t deal with conflict will eventually watch

their good talent walk out the door in search of a healthier
and safer work environment.
Simple Leadership Equation
Good conflict resolution ability = Good

employee retention.
Leaders who don’t deal with conflict will eventually watch

their good talent walk out the door in search of a healthier
and safer work environment.
Work Delegation and Chronic whining /
Complaining.
Conflict is a normal part of any social and

organizational setting, the challenge of conflict
lies on how leadership chooses to deal with it.
UNRESOLVED/ AVOIDED CONFLICT
CHRONIC COMPLAINING
EMPLOYEE RESENTMENT FACTIONALISM INFIGHTING

ORGANIZATIONAL RED FLAGS
Confirmation Bias- Nothing will work, because that’s
the way it is…….
Despondentism- This is such a “crappy job’ I’m just

here for the pay……
One downmanship- I really like listening to him

complain about our work and our boss
Them vs Us syndrome – Why delegate us to do this?

Why not them?
So what really is the root of most corporate

conflicts that effective leadership needs to
address?
Poor communication
Inability to control one’s emotion.

Corporate communication:
Interaction essentials
WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL

CONVERSATION?
Personal and Practical Needs
PERSONAL NEEDS PRACTICAL NEEDS
The “human” needs The objectives you

that people bring to want to accomplish
the workplace and to through an
an interaction. interaction.
Using KEY PRINCIPLES helps Using INTERACTION GUIDELINES

You meet PERSONAL NEEDS helps you meet PRACTICAL NEEDS
Meeting Personal and Practical Needs: Interaction
Essentials
Key Principle #1
PROVIDE SUPPORT WITHOUT REMOVING RESPONSIBILITY.
• Resist the temptation to take over- keep responsibility

where it belongs
• Help others think and do
• Supply the resources people need to do their jobs and

work to remove barriers
Power phrases
“ Would it be helpful if….?
“ What do you need to be able to…?
“ What kind of support….?

Example:
“ I know that the module design procedure is

unfamiliar to you. I’d be happy to coach you
through the process if you think that would
be helpful…….
Corporate Leadership and the
Rise of conflict
• When team members feel under-involved in

decision-making and goal-setting they feel that
they have less autonomy over their jobs, less
influence over how work is done, and less of an
impact on the quality of their work outputs.
Key Principle #2
MAINTAIN OR ENHANCE SELF ESTEEM.
When things haven’t gone as well as

someone might have planned, you need to
maintain that person’s self esteem to do this
you can:
FOCUS ON FACTS
RESPECT AND SUPPORT OTHERS
CLARIFY MOTIVES
FOCUS ON FACTS
CLARIFY MOTIVES
Example:
“I understand that the technology changes in the I.T

system have caused you to miss a few due dates.
However because of your quick thinking and
planning, you were able to keep delays to a
minimum.”
FOCUS ON FACTS
CLARIFY MOTIVES
Example:
“ Yes I could make the project presentation, but you have

been the most reliable person for the project, and frankly,
I think management would be expecting to hear about
this from you. Would it help if we talked about how you
might present the developments to them?”
Enhancing employees Self esteem
When someone has done a good job, succeeded

at a task or made contribution the manager can
enhance that person’s self esteem by:
• Acknowledging good thinking and ideas

• Recognizing accomplishments
• Express and show confidence
• Be specific and sincere
Examples:
“ Taking the initiative to record the group’s
concerns during our meeting today helped us stay
on track. I really appreciate your efforts.
“Our success in exceeding our goal is because of

all your efforts to pull together and stay focused
on our target. Great job everyone. Thanks!
When leaders don’t maintain and enhance self-

esteem, they can promote anxiety and team
members do not feel in control of their jobs.
They also discourage open information flow, and

fail to promote quality work and quality
relationships with their teams.
Key principle # 3
LISTEN AND RESPOND WITH EMPATHY
Empathy: is understanding how someone is

feeling. You can empathize with someone’s
feeling without agreeing with them.
A leader during the course of interaction

could ask questions to uncover feelings.
• Respond to both facts and feelings

• Defuse negative emotions
• Empathize with positive feeling too
Example
“ It’s obvious that these last minute changes

in our programs (fact ) have caused a lot of
aggravation (feeling) for you and the team.”
Showing Empathy with a group
Demonstrating empathy in a group setting

can be challenging because each emotions
vary.
Groups usually express a range of emotions.

The role of the leader is to identify their individual
feelings and respond with empathy to each person.
Be sure to:
• Listen carefully to identify each persons unique

feelings.
• Respond to individual emotions if possible
• Look for nonverbals, facial expression, body

language, sigh, even silence to uncover unspoken
feelings through open ended questioning
Example of showing Empathy with a Group
“It looks like many of you are feeling

overwhelmed (Feeling) by the amount of
work we have to complete in such a short
time (fact)
Leaders who fail to demonstrate empathy are

seen as unsupportive, ineffective at coaching,
and unable to remove obstacles to solve
problems.
When leaders don’t share the appropriate

amount of thoughts and feelings with team
members, they can be viewed as dishonest.
Key principle # 4
Ask for Help and Encourage Involvement
To get the most from people in your group,

you need to seek their ideas and opinions.
When ideas belong to the people who will
carry them out, commitment is stronger and
success more likely
In addition, when you ask for help and

encourage involvement, you show people that
you value their input and their abilities.
Remember to:
• Make involvement your first choice.
• Unleash everyone’s ideas with open-ended

questions.
• Encourage responsibility and commitment

through involvement.
Examples
“Before we got too far along in the process, I

wanted to take some time to ask how you
think the setup for the operation is
progressing. I’d also like to hear your thoughts
and opinions about anything else you might
have observed.”
Examples
• “Now that we’ve all had a chance to read

the customer feedback on our service
operation, I wanted to get everyone
together to discuss your thoughts on the
feedback and what recommendations you
might have to remedy the issues.”
Key Principle # 5
Share Thoughts, Feelings, and Rationale

(to build trust)
Key Principle # 5
Share Thoughts, Feelings, and Rationale

(to build trust)
People work best for leaders they trust. A

proven way to build trust is to appropriately
disclose thoughts, feelings, or rationale that
people would otherwise be unaware of. When
sharing, remember to:
Disclose feelings and insights appropriately. Be

sure what you’re sharing is relevant to the
situation.
Offer the “whys” behind a decision, idea, or

change. When people know why something is
happening, they operate on more than just
assumptions.
• Make sure your ideas, opinions, and

experiences supplement-not replace-those of
others.
• Be honest-disclosing true feelings builds trusting

relationships and can help others see issues in a
new light. You help to create a climate of openness
in which people feel comfortable discussing
difficult or sensitive issues.
Examples
(Sharing thoughts) “ It took like we are off to a great

start with this project. I’m thinking that we might
want to have a conference call with the other reps to
make that we all have a common understanding of
what this project entails.”
(Sharing feelings) “ I know this is a radical change and

we’re all struggling with how it will affect our
customers. Frankly, I’m concerned about that too.
But I have to tell you I think this change is necessary
because…”
(Sharing feelings) “I can sense that you are

feeling uneasy about the upcoming presentation. I
felt intimidated the first time I presented to this
group too. Would it help if we took some time to
review your presentation now?”
(Sharing rationale) “Let me give you some details

on what started this process and why our group
needs to have a key role in it.”

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Communicating for Leadership

Dealing with Workplace conflict

1. The ability to recognize workplace conflict

2. Understand the nature of workplace conflict.

3. Strategies to bring swift and just resolution to

• it can cause stress, frustration, loss of sleep, a

Every workplace is plagued with people who use

THE DRAMA QUEENS/ KINGS

THE BLAME SHIFTERS

The blame shifters are highly contagious in the

This attitude is also characterized by individuals

They are often the most well known personality

Good conflict resolution ability = Good

Leaders who don’t deal with conflict will eventually watch

Good conflict resolution ability = Good

Leaders who don’t deal with conflict will eventually watch

Conflict is a normal part of any social and

EMPLOYEE RESENTMENT FACTIONALISM INFIGHTING

Despondentism- This is such a “crappy job’ I’m just

One downmanship- I really like listening to him

Them vs Us syndrome – Why delegate us to do this?

So what really is the root of most corporate

Inability to control one’s emotion.

WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL

The “human” needs The objectives you

Using KEY PRINCIPLES helps Using INTERACTION GUIDELINES

PROVIDE SUPPORT WITHOUT REMOVING RESPONSIBILITY.

• Resist the temptation to take over- keep responsibility

• Help others think and do

• Supply the resources people need to do their jobs and

“ Would it be helpful if….?

“ What do you need to be able to…?

“ What kind of support….?

“ I know that the module design procedure is

• When team members feel under-involved in

MAINTAIN OR ENHANCE SELF ESTEEM.

When things haven’t gone as well as

RESPECT AND SUPPORT OTHERS

“I understand that the technology changes in the I.T

“ Yes I could make the project presentation, but you have

When someone has done a good job, succeeded

• Acknowledging good thinking and ideas

“Our success in exceeding our goal is because of

Enhancing employees Self esteem

When leaders don’t maintain and enhance self-

They also discourage open information flow, and

LISTEN AND RESPOND WITH EMPATHY

Empathy: is understanding how someone is

A leader during the course of interaction

• Respond to both facts and feelings

“ It’s obvious that these last minute changes

Showing Empathy with a group

Demonstrating empathy in a group setting

Groups usually express a range of emotions.

• Listen carefully to identify each persons unique

• Respond to individual emotions if possible

• Look for nonverbals, facial expression, body

Example of showing Empathy with a Group

“It looks like many of you are feeling

Leaders who fail to demonstrate empathy are

When leaders don’t share the appropriate

Ask for Help and Encourage Involvement

To get the most from people in your group,