It’s usually buried so deep that it takes consistent effort to bring out the cause.
😱 Fear of loosing something, including a position of control and power can be the root of conflict…
To address conflict Karen Walker and Dorie Clark mention the following:
1️⃣ Identifying the Cause of Confusion: Understand the root of the conflict, which could be due to unclear company goals, misalignment in senior leadership, department heads unaware of the company’s resources and overall picture, or poor communication.
2️⃣ Getting Everyone on the Same Page: This can involve one-on-one discussions to understand each stakeholder’s viewpoint and then bringing all parties together to find common ground. There is value in having a neutral party or senior leader mediate these discussions to reach a shared agreement on what success looks like.
3️⃣ Allowing for Decision Space: In high-stress meetings, it’s beneficial to have breaks to ease pressure. Summarizing the meeting’s outcomes and ensuring alignment among all stakeholders is crucial.
4️⃣ Knowing When to Let Go: Recognizing when it’s impossible to align everyone and understanding that in such cases, the best talent might leave due to ongoing conflict and a toxic culture.
💡 One of my strategies for unearthing conflict is to look at relationships, and how strong or strained they are. Instances of conflict usually grow from weak relationships, and a lack of empathy where the parties have not invested enough time to truly understand their colleague’s perspective.
A series of one-on-one conversations, that hopefully become the foundation for a functional relationship can do wonders at addressing conflict and building empathy. The beauty with this approach is when it yields new and powerful ideas. There is a double benefit:
✅ The company has something it did not have before in a new approach, product or service.
✅ The parties have moved beyond conflict.
❓How have you succeeded at approaching conflict?
❓Were there other positive outcomes?
📚 To learn more:
💡 What to Do When Stakeholders Have Competing Visions – https://hbr.org/2023/12/what-to-do-when-stakeholders-have-competing-visions
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