How to pre-empt and deal effectively with conflict in the workplace

Facing conflict at work can feel incredibly challenging and stressful to most employees and managers and dealing with it well is no less of a challenge. An ability to nip staff disputes in the bud, when practised effectively, can become a major skill in both work and life. It is not only key for limiting damage, but it can actually strengthen workplace relationships.

It is so important for leaders and managers to pre-empt or deal effectively with any type of conflict situation in the workplace. These skills will help you be able to:

Diagnose the source of the conflict and be clear on how to engage with it

Recognise different approaches to engage with conflicts and identify those which are most effective to use

Use trusted frameworks to navigate through difficult conversations.

Conflict coaching is a set of skills and strategies used to support peoples’ ability to engage in, manage, or resolve conflict. During the process, the conflict coach works with a coachee experiencing conflict with another person. Conflict coaching enables the coachee to openly talk about the conflict with a neutral third party (the conflict coach), consider options for managing the conflict, and design an approach to discuss the conflict with the other person.

Conflict coaches can serve as a confidential listener, to help the coachee to see the situation from all perspectives, support the coachee in considering options, and help the coachee to come up with a plan of action to deal with the conflict.