Positive Principles Newsletter
November 2008
____________________________________________
Key Quotes:
"Leadership is a fine thing, but it
has its penalties. And the greatest penalty is loneliness."
- Sir Ernest Shackleton
“What we think or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The
only thing of consequence is what we do.”
- John Ruskin
____________________________________________
This month's tip – Four Things
Leaders Can Do To Reduce Team Conflicts.
Studies of workplace behaviors reveal some startling statistics with
regard to the impact that conflict has on business performance. One study
indicates that two out of three employee performance problems can be
traced to unresolved interpersonal conflicts. Another study estimates that
the average manager spends something like forty percent of their time
addressing workplace conflicts.
These studies show that companies waste an amazing amount of time because
of conflicts between employees. This wasted time translates to lost
opportunity, lost productivity, and lost profits. By working to reduce
workplace conflicts to the lowest possible level, business leaders can
make immediate strides towards improving overall performance and results.
Here are four specific things that leaders can do to reduce team
conflicts:
1. Remove resource constraints
In a quick web search using the term “conflict over
resource constraints,” I received nearly 300,000 results. As I looked at
page after page, I saw everything from legal disputes over water rights to
wars over contested mineral rights. On a global scale, people have always,
and still do, argue and fight when they perceive resource limitations.
Is the same true on a smaller scale workplace scenario? I think it is. I
have seen conflicts over staplers, copier use, computer access, and room
temperature. While some of these issues seem minor, consider the
implications. People arguing over access to a computer are not working.
Two people engaged in a 15 minute discussion about getting the use of
resources critical for their job performance just wasted 30 minutes
between them. Multiply that waste over several weeks or months, and the
impact on productivity and profits completely overwhelms the cost of a new
computer.
When people sense that they do not have the right resources to do their
job, they will either stop working or fight with each other. Both results
hurt the business.
2. Teach and encourage better communication skills
Studies of family conflicts indicate that the inability to
adequately express thoughts and feelings can lead to conflict escalation
up to the point of violence in extreme cases. These studies show that poor
communication skills can lead to intensifying conflicts in many
situations.
Helping people to develop better communication skills can make your
business more profitable as your employees learn to express their thoughts
and feelings in ways that resolve conflicts rather than escalate them.
3. Teach conflict resolution skills
Few people naturally possess the disposition, attitudes,
self-control, and skills that lead to effective conflict resolution. Most
people need to learn new ways of communicating, thinking, and acting when
confronted with a conflict situation. Business leaders who invest their
time and effort to help their team members develop these skills can
recover much of the lost time and productivity caused by unresolved
conflicts.
4. Get rid of team members who refuse to cooperate
While I prefer to focus on removing the environmental
causes of conflict and helping people develop the skills necessary to head
it off or resolve it, I also recognize that sometimes people simply do not
have the desire to develop these skills. In these cases, they become a
burden to the team, and leaders must relieve their team’s burdens in order
for the team to move forward productively. As I learned in the Navy,
getting rid of an anchor is often more effective than putting more power
into the engine.
In these troubled economic times, I know of few businesses
that can afford to allow the time wasted on conflict to continue unabated.
To survive and thrive in today’s high stress business environment, I
encourage you to take the steps necessary to implement the. . .
Four Things Leaders Can Do To Reduce Team
Conflicts.
Have a great day,
Guy Harris
The Recovering Engineer
