A lot has happened over the course of the past week. This past Saturday, we witnessed an event that we haven’t seen since 1981 - the attempted assassination of a president, or in this case, a former president. As deplorable as the act was, it should hardly come as a surprise considering the tension that has been present and steadily increasing across our nation for several years now, particularly in terms of political differences.
So what does this have to do with work organizations? I know that we’ve all been told to keep our work life and our personal life separate in order to keep problems in one realm from causing issues in the other, but this is an unrealistic expectation. We don’t have separate lives - one for work, one for personal, etc. We have one life that can’t be compartmentalized. Meaning that workplace issues will cross over and impact things and relationships in our personal lives, and vice versa.
Given the extent of tension and conflict in society, these differences will carry over into the workplace and have an impact on the performance and culture of your organization. As much as we may try to prevent this, we can’t actually stop it from happening. Individuals who have differing ideals, visions, and values within our communities will bring these same differences into the workplace. That doesn’t mean that the functioning and performance of our organization should suffer without any means of remedying the situation.
3 Strategies To Lead To Peace And Understanding
As a consultant who works with organizations to proactively develop strategies and tactics to minimize and prevent conflict, tension, and drama in the workplace, there are several things that can be done to maintain unity instead of division. Here are 3 simple strategies that anyone can do, especially leaders within organizations who seek to improve the lives and relationships of their employees while improving the overall work culture of their agency.
Use active listening. We’re all distracted and pushed for time these days. As a result, we frequently fail to give others the proper attention that they deserve whenever they are trying to communicate with us, regardless of whether this conversation may be in-person or textual through email or other means. Not only is this disrespectful but it also causes us to miss a huge portion of the actual message, especially the most important parts.
If we were to use active listening, we would give the other person our undivided attention without interrupting what it is that they are trying to say. Afterwards, we would be able to ask them for clarification on what they said to ensure that we had the correct interpretation. By repeating what they said, we also demonstrate to them that they have been heard and that you are deliberately trying to fully understand their message and perspective. Utilizing active listening significantly reduces misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
Seek understanding. Polarization causes us to become calloused and inconsiderate towards the views and beliefs of others. We become entrenched and steadfast in our own beliefs, interpretations, and understanding that we often refuse to learn or listen to why others may feel differently. Our reality is constructed by our perception which has been developed through our own unique experiences, past behaviors, instilled beliefs and values, and environment. As such, although we may be exposed to the same situation, we all may perceive it or live through it differently.
What leads to conflict is us becoming extremely rigid in our viewpoint of things. When someone feels differently about a topic, we don’t care why they feel differently. Instead we simply choose to classify that their opinion or viewpoint is wrong and ours is right. When we’re communicating with these individuals, this rigidity is what causes us to listen to them just enough so that we can reload and further our attack on them - which increases the tension. When we should be listening fully to them to seek true understanding. We’re often afraid that if we understand the points of the other, that this will lead us to agree with their stance - which isn’t the case. You can understand the viewpoint of someone yet still disagree with them. In any event, when you seek to understand others who differ from you, this process goes a long way towards defusing and preventing any type of conflict or drama.
Don’t assume intent. When in conflict, it’s extremely normal for accusations and assumptions of intent to be thrown back and forth among the disputing parties. You can see a lot of this throughout our current society and within the news media. These accusations and assumptions of intent only enflame an already heated situation. Doing this is the equivalent of throwing gasoline on a fire!
While going through mediation training several years ago, one of the first principles that we were taught is to never ascribe intent. This is easier said than done because it goes against our normal human nature when in conflict. The truth is, we never know what someone’s intentions are unless they were completely truthful and told us, which is rare. When we claim that someone intentionally did something, we’re making a huge assumption because we don’t live within that person’s head and we’re not privy to that person’s thought processes.
Instead, we should approach conflicting situations from the perspective that all parties mean well. While it is difficult at times, I routinely make concerted efforts to approach all such conflicts from the standpoint that all involved parties have good intentions. As a mediator, it’s my role to defuse the emotions in order to get the parties to a point of logic where they can rationally hear the other side’s perspective. By getting them to not form assumptions of intent, I can more easily get them to actively listen to the other side which naturally flows into greater understanding of each other. From this, peace and agreement can arise from what was once conflict.
Conclusion
There is so much conflict throughout our country that it’s rational to believe that this conflict will cross over and impact the functions and performance of our work organizations. As a leader, reliance on policies and procedures will not effectively resolve these type disputes - in fact, they’ve never effectively reduced conflict in businesses. Too often we try to stamp out conflict at work by forcing compliance with orders, policies, and procedures. This approach doesn’t work as the conflict is left unresolved and allowed to fester. Secondly, it leads to tremendous resentment among the disputing parties.
To improve the relationships among our workforce while simultaneously improving the overall workplace culture, we’ve got to take different approaches than a pure policy oriented stance. To make this change, true leaders must take the initiative and lead the way for others to follow. While it is normally quicker to force compliance by adhering to policies, irreversible damage is done to employee relationships and to the organizational culture. This is not what leaders want or need because this would cause greater damage to the organization than the initial conflict. By utilizing the three tactics covered, leaders can make significant improvements to their organizations while demonstrating the importance of understanding and compassion that others should be inspired to emulate.
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