How to Resolve Conflict Effectively

A lot of leaders think that conflict resolution means punishing the people involved and telling them to work it our or else something bad will happen. This approach doesn’t fix anything because it doesn’t address the underlying causes of conflict.

Conflict occurs because people have different expectations of what should happen in a given situation. When things aren’t going as they think they should, they get angry, sad, or scared. Telling people to get over their feelings doesn’t work because it fails to create a supportive, nurturing workplace culture where issues can be discussed openly and resolved collaboratively.

A great approach to conflict resolution is to bring the parties together and have them tell their stories without interruptions, rebuttals, advice, or discussions of any type—just have each person briefly share how they felt about the event. When everyone has had a chance to talk, ask the group to pick one thing to work on and then ask each participant to identify a specific action they will take to address that one thing.

Over the course of my consulting career, I’ve noticed that conflict only gets resolved when people feel heard and are given the opportunity to work on a solution. Conventional approaches just temporarily pause the conflict until it erupts again.

Let’s work together to foster a supportive and nurturing workplace culture in your organization.