Family Business Workplace Conflict Resolution » Business Conflict

Do You Have an Innovative Organization?

admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:13:59 +0000

Every organization is a living museum of its past change efforts, some of which succeeded and some of which failed.

Unplanned change, such as death, bankruptcy, and technology can overtake planned change and place stress on the organization, but, often, it is the subtle lack of sustained devotion or sabotage of withheld enthusiasm that planned change must always consider and underestimates that causes change efforts to falter or fail.

When organizational changes fall short of expectations the cause may be the psychological reaction of people, regardless of how urgently needed the change is by any fair and objective standard, or how many people agree the change is needed, or the strength of the reward or punishment associated with change.

Read the entire article, so you can answer the question for yourself, do you have an innovative organization or not?

Do You Earnestly Believe That It’s The Apparent Workplace Conflict That’s Derailing Your Company’s Sales?

admin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:48:00 +0000

If you are like the majority of profitable decision makers you are trapped occasionally because of the things you assumed for certain that turned out to be altogether wrong.

The fact that you are prosperous could suggest that you guessed right about tastes, competing firms, popular merchandise to stock, etcetera more often than not. As the expression goes, “It’s better to be lucky than good”, just don’t confuse the two of them too frequently.

It applies to managing workplace conflict , too. Perhaps you’ve just been fortunate to date, and then one day your luck runs out.

Everything seems fine, there are no person to person fights with zero cruel words consequently we imagine everyone is satisfied and working at utmost effectiveness. Based on the well used habit of “letting sleeping dogs lie” and you do not provide it with another thought.

Considering the fact that things look like they’re going okay the very last thing you want to do is rock the boat with frank communication and there is no justification to set up a workplace conflict resolution system when things are running so easily, right?

What you may not know is you have a workplace conflict strategy by default. The default process, normally the one you quite possibly subscribe to, basically assumes that when there is no smoke there isn’t any fire.

What if you have a fire even if you can’t see any smoke, yet?

With simmering workplace conflict, the first victim will be the lowering of personnel productiveness and inspiration. Just about the most frequent target for this absence or unavailability of motivation are your key accounts. As an example, instead of coming in early to meet up with a customer, skipping lunch so a package will be ready before the UPS driver makes his pick up, or volunteering to continue to work after closing on the month end report they begin to take the “it’s not my job” strategy. What’s this very likely to set you back? How can the trend be reversed?

Dependant upon the structure of your small business the out of your pocket expenses related to employee theft, damage, and even vandalism can devastate your bottom line. For example someone leaves the keys in the office door and people vandalize the place. One of your staff members forgets to set the emergency brake on one of your vehicles and it damages your customer’s car in the parking lot. Or an employees mis-labels, unintentionally of course, an entire customer order that must be replaced and sent to your customer immediately, more unnecessary expense. All these incidents could have been an accident or not. And every one took dollars right out of your bottom line.

Quite possibly the most potentially costly consequence of unacknowledged workplace conflict, are decisions of disgruntled managers. You will never comprehend the actual cost to the business. After all, you trusted them to use their best judgement, you looked to them to research options, you counted on them to put the company first. How will you ever know which of their decisions were intentionally wrong? Decisions that drastically impact actions are usually buried in the steps ending in the final decision, the one you agreed to and you’ll never know what happened or why.

So, exactlty what can you do to uncover the simmering workplace conflict before it explodes, possibly destroying everything you’ve been working for?

You could and maybe ought to purchase a book, a review of workplace conflict with diagnostic applications for measuring it & methods for resolving conflict once you find it, and there are a couple of excellent ones here on our web site.

You can actually do nothing, wish for the best and be willing to settle for the results you’re achieving until something boils over so you can confront it.

Or you can start a strategy of communication between yourself as well as your supervisors and employees. Open communications up and down the chain clear the air, establish real expectations and also have the consequence of getting everybody on board.

Remember, even if everybody seems happy does not mean there is no hidden poisonous conflict brewing.

Don’t forget to post your comments, experiences and insights, below. And sign up for comments so you’ll know when someone contributes to your opinions.

What do you think you’re worth?

admin — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:13:59 +0000

What do you think you’re worth?
by Steven J. Brams

Bonuses are a fact of business life. Last year the Guardian newspaper calculated that the cash rewards paid to London’s financial chiefs comfortably outstripped the UK’s entire transport budget.

With such large sums at stake, envy is bound to raise its ugly head, never a good thing for company morale. So how should you decide who gets how much? Steven J. Brams suggests a method that’s not only fair, but also encourages honesty.

What’s a fair share?

One of the most difficult problems managers face is how to allocate bonuses to members of a team when there is scant information on the contribution of each member to the team’s success.

It shows how an algorithm can be used to determine how bonuses (if they still exist!) can be allocated to employees, which a mediator could apply in the workplace.

Take a look at this most interesting and useful tool for measuring – how much you or they are worth.

Do You Have Even A Vague Conception What Workplace Conflict Is Costing Your Organization ?

admin — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 13:56:00 +0000

Conflict in the workplace, in particular when it is noticeable, like fist fights in the company tool shed or maybe non-violent conflict like whenever floor supervisors or co-workers start vicious rumors about each other is seen for what it is, workplace conflict.

were you aware that even though workplace conflict carries a cost, even the actual budgetary cost of such visible workplace conflict is not usually calculated. Why, because if management suspected how much of the organization’s revenue were being drained away, they would have to take action.

Various other a great deal more subtle sorts of conflict in workplace like intimidation or perhaps bullying, are rarely if ever measured. Believe it or not this kind of behavior isn’t typically seen by management as conflict in the old fashioned sense, so no attempt to manage it takes place.

The cost of conflict from all of these damaging behaviors no only takes money from the net income, furthermore, it opens the door to what could be serious legal actions.

Management often waits patiently on the sidelines until everything blows over or until there may be another kind of reason to step in and make a human resources decision. Workplace conflict resolution is utilized infrequently, frequently as a final resort, when it should have been the initial action.

There are a lot if not hundreds of resources, for instance “The Complete Guide to Conflict Resolution in The Workplace“, that not only make it easier to put a dollar amount to the already present conflict, additionally they assist you to manage the differences that created the workplace conflict from the beginning, making the long run more successful, rewarding, and peaceful compared to the present.

Unresolved conflict in workplace shows up in poor business decisions. Everybody knows that the most desirable decisions are the ones made collectively by employees with the good of the company as their only real motivation. Yet when anyone feels that this is actually the only way they’re able to get even with one of their supervisors or the organization generally, they may instead sabotage these decisions, sometimes causing great damage.

Also, since decisions are made every day, what is the impact of a single one of them? Why don’t you consider the amount of money you lose because the the owners haven’t received the accurate results they and one of their peers happen to be squabbling over? Then imagine a small number of these continuing conflicts happening somewhere with someone constantly.

As hard as business is these days I’m flabbergasted you have not grasped the situation and that the employees are not doing everything feasible to work together efficiently.

I am amazed by a lot of the stories I hear, people just not willing to cooperate together while their corporation is struggling to pull through. And how supervisors and business owners are doing nothing to evaluate the bottom line cost of squandered time.

When employees refuse the input of their peers out of hand, even though this might not seem like conflict to you, at least if your vision of workplace conflict resembles the gun battle at the OK Corral, the outcomes are just as deadly.

When conclusions are made based upon untested assumptions resulting from insufficient or purposely wrong information they are seldom the most effective decisions possible.

Precisely what should you do if you think maybe there may be conflict in the workplace at your company?

The majority of you will probably continue to try to disregard it, put it down to other causes, stuff you cannot do anything whatsoever about, to ensure you won’t have to deal with it, or just assume it comes with the territory.

Some of you will look for a solution, but you will find them illusive because you really can’t pinpoint a specific example and random poking around and generalizations only make people upset.

The contributors go way under cover or fight with such venom you’re sorry you ever thought it would work.

Why not pick up one of the workplace conflict resources available to begin the conversation, moving on to the more intense solutions as they become more clear based on this new found sensitivity to the cost of conflict as well as the possibilities offered by workplace conflict resolution?

Remember to leave your feedback below, let us all take advantage of your experiences!

How to Handle Backstabbers at Work: five keys to manage their bad behavior

admin — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:51:59 +0000

This article was contributed by an outstanding professional who work takes them inside organizations at the most in depth levels. In her article she says – and we all know it’s true, “Sometimes Backstabbers will even send another kind of message, such as, “I’m only trying to be helpful. Maybe you don’t see the weakness in yourself. It’s lucky for you I’m honest. Listen to my feedback if you want to succeed.”

Read the who story …

http://mediationworksblog.com/index.php/2009/03/16/how-to-handle-backstabbers-at-work-five-keys-to-manage-their-bad-behavior/

And be sure to log on and leave your comments – your own experiences having the knife stuck in by those you thought you could trust at work.

When It Comes To Conflict in Workplace – Hidden Behaviors Provide Early Warning Clues

admin — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 06:00:59 +0000

Is it possible that our behaviors are a tip off that conflict is present in our organization, undercover conflict, what I call “double secret” conflict?

It’s double secret because everyone goes around smiling at each other, even actually liking one another, playing on the softball team together – while at the same time they’re just waiting for the right moment to submarine your plans, and sabotage your strategies.

I have found it to be true, I bet you have too, that no matter what I say and no matter how I say I feel about a coworker, supervisor, or boss – it’s what I end up doing that proves what I actually believe.

We think we can tell from someone’s non-verbal communications when they are conflicted, upset, etc.

We might sense it in their posture of aggression, their hostile gestures, their unwillingness to make eye contact, or maybe the silent treatment when we’re around.

We think we’re pretty good at figuring out who’s on the team and who is ready to drop the big one. Too bad, another myth busted.

The really difficult people are those that smile and say how are you – then slip the knife in when you’re not looking.

For instance one of your coworkers says that they want to be cooperative, they want to share in the information gathering, they want to be part of the team willingly pitching in to help in the accumulation of information around which important plans for the businesses future are being made.

But in reality they withhold critical information until you come begging for it, they incorporate the famous “if they don’t ask, I won’t tell” policy. Until, that is, they can demonstrate their superiority by questioning the final decision in light of what they know nobody else knows.

It doesn’t matter to them that the organization has wasted time, energy, and money coming to an erroneous conclusion because of the missing information.

Or they can smile and go along with the planning process, never telling anyone this key information. The decisions are flawed and the organization loses money as a result.

Decisions made without all relevant input can be devastatingly costly. In addition the cost of decisions not made or directions not taken can never be accurately calculated.

We pay dearly when members of our teams put their desire for power, their interest in getting over on the company or the boss ahead of doing what’s right.

When the boss thinks they have a saboteur in their midst, they often try to appease them rather than fire them, discipline them, or even have a constructive conflict resolution intended discussion with them.

Our organizations are full of people we can not fire , and almost no one has a preemptive workplace conflict resolution strategy designed to seek out conflicts when they are still blips just barely visible on the screen.

The manipulators among us will try to get the boss to take their side in the matter. Or maybe they will report their findings to their supervisor in a way to suggest that only they were capable of ferreting out this information and bring it to them.

Unfortunately the boss, who always sees through the ploy, will go along with it just to keep things moving forward.

Every organization is made up of steps, the “critical path” – where something must be done by someone else in order for you to do your job and you must do your job in order for the next person to do theirs.

Manipulators understand this all too well – so they work their game on their fellow employees, knowing that their power is in the ability to blockade the process. Their coworkers, again always knowing what’s happening – will go along so the process can move along.

How much time do you think is consumed needlessly with these maneuvers? How much money, actual dollars off the bottom line and out the door is this “double secret” conflict costing your organization?

Is there anything you can do about it?

The answer, it depends. It depends on whether or not the person is sacred (can not be dealt with in any productive way) because of their position in the business or the family. If this is true your choices are limited to those with the power in the organization are willing to exert. Often the business collapse because of situations like this.

On the other hand if they are, as is usually the case, good people who want to do better – but have behavioral issues or other issues that conspire to put them in the role of problem instigator, there is hope.

And that hope comes from the organization’s leaders willingness to put in place a conflict prevention strategy around the principle that we are all different and that the key to our long term success is our willingness to work hard at managing those differences whenever they exist .

Workplace Conflict Resolution Begins With Identification of Unproductive Behavior

admin — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:00:59 +0000

When you think of conflict – what do you think of first, the cause or the effects? When you think about workplace conflict – what comes to your mind first – discomfort, embarrassment, tears, agitation, & frustration, or money being vacuumed right off your organization’s bottom line?

When you think of workplace conflict resolution – what’s your natural inclination, call the lawyers, go to HR, hire conflict resolution trainers, or punch someone in the nose?

Each of the above tactics has its place and there is a cost for implementing each of them. From thousands of dollars to 30 days in jail – there is a price to be paid. Is there a better, more productive approach? I think so.

Maybe you are one of those people who really tries to figure out how to get the combatants together in the same room to at least sit down to discuss the issues. Maybe there is a way to reach a consensus, some common ground where peace and productivity can coexist.

Let’s assume you decide to sit down and talk – either with your colleague, since the conflict is between the two of you and no one else is involved – or you are the supervisor and you’re sitting down as the third party to the conversation.

Are there identifiable behaviors people use in this situation – behaviors that can derail, doom for all eternity, the entire workplace conflict resolution process before it even gets started? Well of course there are – and here a just a few of the ones you must be on the lookout for. See if there is a pattern.

Some folks are natural avoiders who will do whatever they can to stay out of the line of fire. They are the slippery ones, hard to catch up with them to have the even the first conversation because their style is to avoid, avoid, avoid.

They may withdraw from the conversation – the words go in but nothing comes out. This silent treatment is one that has served them well in the past – the harder it is to engage them the more likely they can escape making a commitment to the solution.

And depending upon their position in the organization relative to the person with whom they have a conflict – they may withhold information. Withholding information can be a very real power play for them and in many situations others give in to their wishes, just to get things moving again.

Then there are the bully’s for whom attack is their only response to situations where their wishes are not met. Their threatening behavior may or may not be an actual physical act – it nevertheless undermines the workplace conflict resolution process. If they are aggressive they may use hostile gestures or take actions that pre-empt the possibilities of peace.

If they are sneaky they try to find sympathetic allies and tell them their side of the story. Marshalling their side of the dispute, getting others to commit to be in their camp is the fastest way I know to convert a simple – “which parking place is yours and which is mine” sort of discussion into a virtual police action.

Workplace conflict resolution, whether it involves outside consultants or is a do-it-yourself internal process can only be successful when these reflexive “fight or flight” responses are identified for what they are. And then treated as the strategic behaviors they actually are – behaviors that are 100% counterproductive to finding a workable long term solution to this and all future conflicts.

These wrong reflexes can not be allowed to undermine your workplace conflict resolution tactics. If they are allowed to continue you not only suffer the losses associated with the conflicts themselves – you also have to bear the additional costs associated with the time you are wasting looking for a solution.

Successful organization leaders understand that a key ingredient of success is the development and maintenance of shared goals for the future – shared by everyone in the organization.

They also instinctively realize the stressful impact of workplace conflict, whether overt or covert, and appreciate how workplace conflict resolution strategies offer concrete savings to the individuals and the organization.

Family Business Workplace Conflict Resolution » Business Conflict

Do You Have an Innovative Organization?

Recommended Reading

Do You Earnestly Believe That It’s The Apparent Workplace Conflict That’s Derailing Your Company’s Sales?

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What do you think you’re worth?

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Do You Have Even A Vague Conception What Workplace Conflict Is Costing Your Organization ?

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How to Handle Backstabbers at Work: five keys to manage their bad behavior

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When It Comes To Conflict in Workplace – Hidden Behaviors Provide Early Warning Clues

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Workplace Conflict Resolution Begins With Identification of Unproductive Behavior

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