Hone Your Conflict Resolution & De-Escalation Training Skills

You’ll pick up and hone a wide variety of conflict resolution and de-escalation training skills when you take a workshop about these topics. Some of the skills you will acquire include recognizing the early signs of aggressive behavior and stopping it before things get worse, calming techniques for yourself and others, body language and tone suggestions that help reduce tension, and situation management tips that show everyone they have your attention and respect.

Everyone deals with tense work conflicts at various points in their careers, but learning how to mitigate them in healthy ways contributes to more tranquil work environments. You’ll also help your blood pressure remain low and possibly keep employees’ blood pressure from skyrocketing! This health-related perk helps everyone stay focused and productive.

Reinforces Remaining Calm

One of the most essential keys to managing workplace conflicts is remaining calm. It is always easy to be reactive, especially when emotions are already heightened and everyone at work is distracted by the current conflict. While raising your voice and taking sides in the conflict can be appealing, the best and most important thing you can do is remain calm. Not only does staying calm help keep the situation from escalating further, but it also demonstrates your commitment to professionalism and impartiality. No employee enmeshed in a conflict with a coworker wants to feel like their manager or supervisor is “against them.”

Take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and body, and encourage the workers in conflict to do the same. Once everyone has taken a beat, suggest discussing the manner in detail in your office or another private meeting place away from the “crowd,” i.e. the rest of the office. Obtaining your conflict management certification means you have learned more about remaining calm in tense situations and have absorbed self-regulation techniques that keep your rational mind operational.

Improves Communication Skills

Without good communication, all other conflict management techniques suffer. It is unsurprisingly challenging to communicate with anyone when they are in a highly reactive, combative, emotional state, making it important to deal with the person in a sensitive, specific way. Conflict management certification involves learning different communication techniques that apply to a variety of situations and help you get various messages across effectively. Common communication skills include focusing on active listening, asking open-ended questions, and being aware of body language.

More interested in earning your conflict management certification than ever? Get in touch with us to learn about our workshops, training modules, keynote presentations, and other conflict-resolution services!

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Remain Calm

It’s easy to get frustrated and angry when employees get into tiffs, spats, and arguments at work. Your workplace is supposed to be a professional environment, so anyone who behaves unprofessionally can affect said environment’s vibe. As easy as it often is to have an extreme reaction to a workplace conflict, it is your job as a manager or other business leader to remain calm. Take a few deep breaths to relax your mind and body, then ask the employees in conflict to refrain from continuing the argument in front of their peers.

Work conflicts do not have to be “big and loud” to warrant calm reactions. No matter how or why the incident occurs, remember that you are there to be an example to everyone else and behave in a professional manner. Your colleagues and team members will admire your self-control and be more likely to follow your example.

Organize a Private Meeting

After diffusing the conflict, the next step is usually to discuss the issue privately. An unused meeting or conference room provides a private setting, as does your office, assuming you do not share it with anyone. You do not want employees hashing out the problem with their peers watching, because it is more than unprofessional. It is also distracting since employees in conflict present a “show” of sorts that prevents other team members from doing their work. To maintain a professional atmosphere and ensure employees get on with their work, ask the team members in conflict to meet you privately for a discussion.

Refrain From Taking Sides

It can be easy to subconsciously or consciously take sides when hearing about an employee conflict, especially if you prefer one worker to the other. However, it is essential to remain neutral and hear both individuals tell their sides. If you cannot stay objective for any reason, have another manager deal with the issue. Learning how to handle conflict at work is just as much about knowing when to step back as when to intervene.

When listening to each employee tell their side of the story, remember to engage in active listening. Mute your devices and give your complete attention to the person talking. Once everyone has said what they want to say, ask questions such as “What can we do to resolve this? How about [x idea]  or [y idea]? If the issue requires further resolution, consider contacting your HR department, if applicable. You can also hire a professional mediator to come in, learn about the conflict, and devise solutions.

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It Reduces Workplace Tension & Resentment

When workplace conflicts are not addressed as soon as possible, tension builds up. The coworkers in conflict might feel increasingly uncomfortable around each other because the issue between them hasn’t been resolved. As tension mounts, so does resentment. Employees resent that the problem has not been addressed by management, which can make them less and less interested in doing a good job. They might not even want to come to the office or other workplace because they do not want to see the employee they have an issue with, as well as the managers who aren’t doing anything about the problem. Other employees are likely to notice the tension and resentment as well and become increasingly uncomfortable. As a result, the entire office roster can dread coming to work every day, which does nothing for the overall work environment or your company’s reputation as a fantastic place to work. It usually does not take long for a business’s reputation to “get around,” and you certainly do not want yours associated with words such as “uncomfortable,” “tension-filled,” and “unpleasant.”

Conflict management in the workplace subsequently contributes to a more harmonious work environment because issues are mitigated efficiently before resentment and tension have the chance to fester. The entire workplace’s vibe will be extra positive as a result. Your business’s reputation will get a boost as well because word will spread that your company takes care of conflicts quickly instead of allowing them to fester and create various problems.

It Helps Employees Feel Respected & Cared About

When conflicts are ignored, it is typical for employees to feel disrespected. They might also feel as though management only cares about what they can get from them. Employees who feel this way are less likely to put serious effort into their jobs, which causes productivity to suffer. As productivity goes down, so can revenue. The company owner and senior partners start investigating what is wrong when these issues occur, which can result in unfavorable reviews. If the company-wide review becomes public, it (again) can have a negative impact on the business’s reputation. Keeping employees happy is increasingly important in light of mental health and related topics, so you do not want your business to become known for doing nothing for team members’ mental wellness.

By keeping up with conflict management in the workplace, you’ll sidestep these major problems and let team members know they are valued. Workers who feel respected and valued are almost always willing to do more each day and therefore contribute to the company’s excellent reputation and bottom line. Your workplace will become happier as well because employees are excited to go to work and do the best job they can. Your reviews on Glass Door and similar sites will also improve and the chances of attracting quality hires increases. After all, poor reviews can make potential hires run screaming from the room.

It Avoids Serious HR Issues

There are some instances when ignoring conflict in the workplace becomes a serious HR issue. Any problem involving harassment of any kind, racism, sexism, or religious intolerance is something to deal with immediately. Failing to do so is viewed as condoning the act or behavior, which makes the company look bad–very bad. By adhering to the company’s policies and tackling any sensitive issue quickly, you are demonstrating zero tolerance for such behavior. Employees feel heard and protected as a result and will have positive things to say about the company in the future. There are also no concerns about reputation damage that can take months or years to repair following bad press and scathing reviews by former employees. Attracting new hires will not be problematic either, because HR issues never get swept under the company rug. Most new hires read the reviews of former employees to know what to expect, so if yours are (mostly) glowing, you’ll be in excellent business shape.

If your company continues to grow and there is no formal HR department in place, consider creating one. A dedicated HR department deals with any issues efficiently and will create an ironclad policy regarding employee conduct, including exhaustive lists of intolerable behavior.

It Encourages Everyone to Be More Compassionate and Understanding

Conflict management in the workplace is invaluable because it reminds everyone on your team of their humanity. Everybody makes mistakes, say things they wish they could take back, and has bad days. Working through conflicts helps employees remember that “not everything is about them” and that miscommunications and misunderstandings are common, especially when it comes to emails and slack messages. People can take things in certain ways when others did not mean anything bad or insulting. This helps coworkers pause before reacting and possibly making inflammatory comments that hurt others’ feelings. Your team will likely be happier and more cheerful at work because they aren’t getting miffed for basically no reason. You might want to schedule routine conflict management seminars to encourage understanding and acceptance and to break down communication barriers.

It Reinforces Emotional Regulation

By taking time to pause before reacting, employees learn valuable emotional regulation lessons. Reacting is easy, after all! Taking time to breathe, remain calm, and focus on understanding and empathy is always the right course. Your team members will become more self-aware and perhaps more patient, particularly with those who have difficult personalities. Learning to remain calm and empathetic instead of reacting is a form of stress management that contributes to a more tranquil work environment.

It Improves Communication Skills

Employees and managers with training in conflict management typically improve their communication skills. They understand that communicating is not just about words, but also about tone, facial expressions, and body language. For example, a team member could say “yes” to a new task you assigned even though they are already overwhelmed for the week. Their body language is twitchy and their facial expression appears stressed and worried. Picking up on these and other nonverbal cues makes it clear that adding another assignment to the employee’s queue probably isn’t the best thing right now, even if they want to be a “team player” and say yes instead of “heck no!” Enhancing communication skills across the team board improves productivity, avoids miscommunication issues, and helps everyone stress less.

It Demonstrates Your Commitment to the Modern Company Model

Timely conflict management in the workplace makes it clear that your company does not adhere to outdated business practices. Instead, it shows that your business is a modern one dedicated to maintaining employee health and wellness and creating a vibrant, energetic, happy place to work. Conflict management is among the many ways to ensure your company remains firmly rooted in the 21st century instead of one that follows old-fashioned “business norms” that has no place in your industry or anyone else’s. With conflict management training and certifications available, there is really no reason to not have conflict protocols in place.

If your business has existed for decades and could use a “facelift” to show your dedication to modern business practices, you could always advertise your conflict management procedures in your social media posts and newsletters. This does not mean naming names or providing specific examples! It simply refers to mentioning that your business is committed to dealing with employee conflicts swiftly and that you want your employees to enjoy healthy mindsets as much as possible.

It Shows Off Your Dedication to a Healthy Work Environment

Effective, timely conflict management in the workplace makes it clear that you are dedicated to ensuring your team thrives. This helps your employees develop a deep appreciation for you and shows off your communication skills to upper management. Your emphasis on a healthy workplace can subsequently result in glowing team member reviews and a promotion that includes a salary raise and perhaps an extra bonus or two. There are virtually no downsides, as your work environment and your career will thrive. If you decide to earn your conflict resolution certificate, you can add it to your resume and impress future employers. Any employer who is serious about maintaining a wellness-minded workplace will love that you received your certificate and are committed to creating a healthy, productive atmosphere that makes employees love their jobs even more than they already do.

Learning about conflict management and how to best deal with it takes time, and that is perfectly okay! Consider it a learning experience you will utilize for the rest of your life, both professionally and personally. For more about conflict management in the workplace and related training for your team, get in touch with us today! We look forward to helping your company thrive!

De-Escalation Training for Customer Service Professionals

90 Minutes

Learn proven de-escalation techniques to handle difficult customer interactions with confidence, reduce stress, and improve customer satisfaction in this expert-designed, 90-minute online training course.

Course price $89.00

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Get Clarification First

Before diving into mitigating the conflict, you need to know what the source of the issue is. This gives you a better idea of how the problem evolved. If the conflict just happened, it is likely that both sides feel heated and might make inflammatory statements. Give the involved parties time to breathe and cool down before discussing the problem with you privately. Once you have a clear idea of what happened, you need the employees to agree on the cause of the problem for HR reasons. Ask as many questions as necessary to ensure everyone involved understands what the conflict is about.

It is always best to discuss employee conflict in a private setting. Hashing out an issue in front of the other employees is unprofessional and will likely embarrass those in dispute. It also encourages gossip. By providing a private space to talk about the problem, the involved team members are more likely to be open and honest.

Remain Calm and Non-Judgmental

If you are the selected mediator for the conflict, it is your job to stay as calm as possible. Showing emotion can be construed as taking sides, which does nothing for the conflict at hand or overall employee morale. Favoritism can also get you in trouble with the HR department, if applicable. Should you be too close to the issue for any reason, have another supervisor mitigate the issue. Whoever hears about the conflict must remain objective at all times. Otherwise, the employees in question might be less forthcoming or feel like they are being judged. Neither of these things helps get to the heart of the issue, so take measures as necessary.

If you are the mediator, focus on active listening. This means you eliminate all distractions, such as muting assorted devices, to listen to what each party has to say. Doing so is another way to encourage openness and honesty because it demonstrates the respect you have for your team and shows that you value their time.

Do a Little Investigating

Depending on the reason for the conflict, an investigation might be needed. This avoids pre-judgments to help you deliver a “verdict” in light of the “evidence.” If the situation must involve the HR department, allow them to navigate the conflict moving forward. After all, learning how to deal with employee conflict means knowing when to involve other parties to ensure company policies remain intact.

Your investigation should also include determining if any underlying issues are the root of the conflict, such as the simmering resentment one employee has for another due to past slights, either real or imagined.

It might be a good idea to review the employee handbook with employees since a refresher never does anyone harm! Getting familiar *again* with company policies reminds team members that they are in a professional setting and there is no room for personal squabbles. It additionally reminds the involved parties that certain behaviors and actions will not be tolerated.

Schedule a Private Meeting

No employee conflict, no matter its cause, should be dealt with in public, i.e. in front of other employees. Trying to manage a problem with an audience results in several issues, such as the involved parties feeling self-conscious and less forthcoming, non-involved employees who watch the “soap opera” instead of concentrating on their work, and a public spectacle that does nothing for your company’s reputation.

Instead of facing these and other fallouts, schedule the conflict resolution meeting in private at a time that works for everyone. The employees in question will not feel like they are putting on a show and are likely to be more honest about how the problem started and what they want to do to resolve it.

Consider Reading a Few Inspirational Quotes

Before the meeting begins, you might want to read some quotes about conflict resolution to help team members feel less attacked and judged. Review a few inspirational quotes below to get you started:

Do not think of knocking out another person’s brain because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself 10 years ago. –Horace Mann

The quality of our lives depends not on whether or not we have conflicts, but on how we respond to them.–Thomas Crum

Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it. – Mahatma Gandhi

Every conflict we face in life is rich with positive and negative potential. It can be a source of inspiration, enlightenment, learning, transformation, and growth-or rage, fear, shame, entrapment, and resistance. The choice is not up to our opponents, but to us, and our willingness to face and work through them. – Kenneth Cloke

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.–Winston Churchhill 

Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. – Benjamin Franklin

Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.–Ambrose Bierce

Take Breaks

Not all conflicts can be resolved in one meeting. Some require more than one session to fully resolve the problem, and that is okay! You nor anyone else in the meeting should feel bad about not finalizing the resolution in an hour or two. Take as many breaks as you deem necessary and schedule additional meetings if no resolution can currently be found. There are issues that take more time, so do not feel like you need to rush. Trying to “speed up” the resolution can result in unresolved issues and unhappy employees.

Remind Yourself That You Are Not There to Take Sides

While we have touched on remaining impartial and therefore non-judgmental, the importance of impartiality truly cannot be emphasized enough. If you take one employee’s side, it is unlikely the conflict will be resolved in a healthy manner. What will happen is the team member whose side you don’t take will feel increasingly judged and defensive.

Should you feel you cannot stay impartial for any reason, take yourself out of the situation. Another manager, such as one who does not work with the team members directly, can take over. The employees will appreciate your honesty, though you definitely do not have to go into details regarding why you are bowing out! Stay vague and allow someone else to take the conflict resolution reins.

Use a Professional Mediator

When the conflict is bigger than what you and the management team handle, don’t beat yourselves up. Instead, hire a professional mediator to tackle the conflict using their experience, training, and tools. A pro mediator is naturally completely objective since they have no prior knowledge of the employees in conflict or the situation. They are also trained to remain completely impartial and provide potential resolutions that all parties are happy with. Mediators are there to listen, ask questions that get to the heart of the issue, and offer various compromises. Most conflicts cannot be resolved without one or both parties compromising.

Depending on the size of your company, keeping a professional mediator on retainer might be a welcome idea. This individual can jump in whenever there is a big conflict that cannot be resolved by management. You and your fellow managers will likely experience serious relief knowing you can contact this person at any time to navigate conflicts swiftly.

Wrapping Up

Every conflict is different. Learning how to deal with employee conflict takes time and effort, but is something that never, ever goes to waste. Mitigating conflicts efficiently can help you in every aspect of your life, not just at work, which contributes to a more peaceful mindset.

Don’t berate yourself if your first attempt at conflict resolution does not go as smoothly or as well as you had hoped. Every resolution experience presents numerous teachable moments that you and the employees will take in. Think critically about what worked, what didn’t, and what could use improvement moving forward. You might want to dedicate a notebook or file exclusively to conflict resolution and add tips as necessary. This provides an excellent point of reference you can use at any time.

Be patient with yourself and remember that you are learning more and more about conflict resolution every day! Stay proud of what knowledge you have acquired and look forward to honing your skills. You can always welcome employee feedback to fine-tune your conflict resolution strategies. They will appreciate you are so dedicated to fostering a healthy, communication-savvy work environment.

De-Escalation Training for Customer Service Professionals

90 Minutes

Learn proven de-escalation techniques to handle difficult customer interactions with confidence, reduce stress, and improve customer satisfaction in this expert-designed, 90-minute online training course.

Course price $89.00

Enroll Now More About Course

For more about how to deal with employee conflict, get in touch with us today!

The post How To Deal With Employee Conflict appeared first on Defuse - De-Escalation Training.