All organizations aspire for their teams to achieve the right environment and stimuli to be able to work in a state of Flow. But, since we are all human, sometimes reality surprises us by disturbing our serenity, no matter how zen our habitual state is.
Nobody likes conflicts and when they appear in your workplace you may think that all the good vibes that were in the office are going to end, that it is going to mark a before and after turning into a hell of problems as if Loki himself had landed in our company.
But, what nobody took into account is that there is a superhero who, although not Thor, may be able to solve this mess and bring peace back to our organization.
Of course, we are talking about Human Resources technicians whose most common functions are managing conflicts that can occur in a company, from how to identify them, how to deal with them on time and finally, finding the best way to solve them. In fact, according to a study, only 1 in every 30 employees are dissatisfied with the treatment of the HR department, so we are achieving our mission to help!
But, the first question we must ask ourselves is: how can we discover that a conflict is flying over our organization?
1. Identify the conflict
The first thing to do to manage a conflict is to distinguish its causes, knowing its current situation and predicting its possible consequences. For this, a simple way to understand it is to compare a conflict with the structure of a tree, so we can divide it into identifiable parts.
The roots of the tree would be the causes, since they are the root of the problem and are sometimes difficult to see and identify. Secondly, the trunk would be the central problem, being the basis of the possible consequences that will result in the future. Therefore, the consequences are the leaves or the treetop.
At HRider we help HR professionals get those "x-rays" they need to see what's going on below the surface. In the blink of an eye it is possible to make a work climate evaluation in which we would add a section of open questions, where employees can (anonymously) highlight possible conflicts that have been taking place or those that could appear in the short term if we do not heal the roots that may be affected. And, to increase the superpower, real-time reports where at a glance we can identify the general state of health of our company.
2. Awareness
The second is to raise awareness, accept that the conflict exists in order to be willing to address it. Conflict is a natural and necessary part of our lives, and it can have a positive side: one that builds relationships, builds coalitions, promotes communication, strengthens institutions, and creates new ideas, rules, and laws. Therefore, we cannot think that if a conflict occurs in our workplace it will be the end of the world. We must approach it as a new opportunity to improve both the relationship with our colleagues and the operation of the company.
3. Reflect on the causes
Therefore, we must reflect on the causes of the problems that have been occurring and we will realize that they are usually due to information problems, relationship problems, difference in values, structural problems or incompatibility of interests.
There is a famous phrase by Peter Druker, the most recognized management theorist, in which he stated that "60% of the problems in an organization are the result of poor communication." This statement is quite true and has been demonstrated in different studies. Much of these conflicts can be worked on and addressed by improving communication, teamwork, camaraderie and commitment between the company and employees. But how can we do it?
All of them can be worked on and addressed by improving communication, teamwork, camaraderie and commitment between company and employees. But how can we do it?
4. How to approach it
If we have carried out work environment evaluations in which everyone's participation is encouraged, we can get to know how employees feel both among themselves and with their boss. In addition, we will be able to find out if there are internal processes or elements of our corporate culture that may be causing some conflicts.
With HRider it is possible to know in real time which are those highest priority aspects or which could be susceptible to improvement in the medium term, also if they are isolated or generalized elements. Once we have data for the analysis of the situation we can design a plan to initiate improvements, a calendar to implement them based on the impact that these conflicts are causing, while we value what that we are doing well and that it generates satisfaction among our team.
In short, it is very important to read the room of the work environment on a recurring basis in order to identify problems or conflicts that may appear throughout your organization and to be able to remedy them as soon as possible, because today what is most valued by members of an organization is to work in an environment where they are happy collaborating with their peers and are comfortable performing their work.
Become the superhero of your company that ends the villain of conflicts and the bad environment. You will have happy individuals and with a performance never seen before, because when a person is happy, they work happily and perform better by feeling part of a united and aligned team. And what better ally to win this battle than Hrider!
