Mastering Difficult Workplace Conversations Part One: Dodging Conflict
Conflict among and with those you lead is inevitable. According to the Conflict Resolution Center, leaders spend at least 30-40% of their day trying to resolve conflict. Here are some examples:
Last week, I offered an online seminar on conflict management in the workplace – specifically around the difficult conversations that start/stop the conflict. Titled, Stop Dodging, Start Dialoguing: Mastering Difficult Workplace Conversations, the goal of the online seminar was to encourage constructive dialogue and introduce strategies to address conflict – strategies for de-escalating emerging conflict before it gets out of hand.
This week’s blog will address the organizational costs and causes resulting from dodging conflict. Next week we will explore the strategies for engaging in difficult conversations that can bring down the pain and turn it into gain.
The Costs of Dodging Conflict
The American Management Association compiled a 2024 report on workplace conflict and shed light on some staggering statistics regarding the costs associated with dodging/mismanaging conflict and the difficult conversations associated with it.
Decreased Productivity – Costs U.S. employers $359 billion in lost productivity. When employees spend time dealing with conflict instead of focusing on their work, overall productivity suffers. Energy that could be directed toward achieving goals gets diverted into arguments and tension.
Lower Team Morale – 85% of employes experience some level of ongoing conflict creating a toxic work environment, which decreases motivation and engagement. Low morale often leads to higher absenteeism and turnover (23% of employees chose to leave the job altogether), further impacting results.
Poor Collaboration – Conflict between team members can break down communication regarding job expectations and execution (70%) and erodes trust within teams and with leaders (73%), making it difficult to collaborate effectively. Projects slow down and innovation suffers when people stop sharing ideas openly.
Customer Impact – Internal conflict often spills over to customers through poor service or missed deadlines, damaging the organization’s reputation and reducing results.
Where does the Conflict come from?
The causes of workplace conflict vary wildly, but the key reasons are:
- Disagreements around different interpretations of facts or information.
- Personality clashes among employees and leadership.
- Poor communication results in a lack of clear goals and unclear processes or procedures.
- Low trust or broken relationships
- Issues over ownership and control
When leaders do not address the conflict, it escalates. And, to some extent this is understandable. When people hear about conflict it conjures thoughts and feelings of betrayal, disappointment, pain, or anger, among others. Because of these negative memories and experiences, the most common response is to avoid conflict at all costs.
Robert Townsend, known for transforming Avis into a rental car giant, said a good leader and manager “doesn’t try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people.”
Properly worked with, conflict can spur innovation, creativity, and a better understanding of issues and people. Next week we will explore ways to lessen pain and avoidance (dodging) and look at ways to engage by confronting difficult conversations (dialoguing).
Let’s keep the dialogue going,
Jeff
