How to Resolve Workplace Conflict to Achieve Better Results
What is Workplace Conflict Costing Your Organization?
Did you know that 85% of employees experience conflict, spending 2.8 hours/week dealing with it, which in turn adds up to $359 billion/year? And while 31% of managers think they handle conflict effectively, only 22% of employees agree.
Workplace conflict is natural and arises for a variety of reasons including stress, heavy workloads, personality clashes and egos, to name the key drivers.
What’s more, 60% of employees have never received training in conflict resolution in the workplace. Among those who did, 95% reported that the training helped them navigate workplace conflict positively and to seek mutually beneficial outcomes.
Wouldn’t you like to manage workplace conflict more effectively? As a leader, wouldn’t you want to help your team productively manage disagreements efficiently and effectively?
For one forward-thinking healthcare client of ours, determined to improve their corporate health, they engaged JLPA to run quarterly conflict management workshops that were open to all employees. Read on to learn more about our approach and the tools we harness to equip participants to manage conflict.
“The quality of our lives depends not on whether or not we have conflicts, but on how we respond to them.”
What’s Your Conflict Management Style?
Most of us have likely developed a habitual way of dealing with conflict, which means trying to resolve differences in the same old way. At JLPA, we use the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument® as the first step in learning how employees typically approach their individual differences. If you are not familiar, take a moment to watch the following clip.
If you know the five alternative modes for handling conflict (and learn how to make effective use of each mode), you and your team will surely achieve greater happiness and success all year long!
The JLPA Approach
In our workshop participants learn:
7 primary sources of workplace conflict and how to prevent them
9 trigger behaviors that guarantee conflict
5 modes for managing conflict, when and how to use each
2 conversational models for addressing conflict
5 levels of escalation and 2 methods for de-escalating
To learn more about our workshops, contact me, Jonathan Parker at: jonathanlparker@journeycounts.com
“I am so glad I had the opportunity to attend – the content, exercises and conversations have given me a whole new perspective!”
Reading & References
5 Types of Conflict Styles This 12-page PDF provides an excellent overview of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, including the pros and cons of each conflict handling mode.
An Overview of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) Meet the two authors, Dr. Kenneth W. Thomas and Dr. Ralph H. Kilmann. Kilmann Diagnostics.
Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model by Arindra Mishra and Shayani Sengupta. Management Weekly. May 12, 2021. A great summary and discussion of men versus women’s conflict resolution styles.
Workplace Conflict Statistics: The most recent workplace conflict statistics, including employment lawsuit stats and employee engagement stats, as well as the estimated cost of conflict to companies in both the United States and United Kingdom. Pollack Peacebuilding Systems. Updated 2021.
Workplace Conflict: Statistics That Reveal Its Cost by Center for Management & Organizational Effectiveness. A great source of recently published studies on the costs of workplace conflict.