Yesterday’s Advisor featured steps from coach Akshay Nanavati on how to end the cycle of conflict in your workplace and foster workplace harmony. Today, Nanavati shares more tips for conflict resolution.
Switch Roles
Often, conflicts in the workplace result from alliances that are formed, pitting one type of employee against another in the blame game for which one created a particular problem. A simple solution is getting employees to switch roles for a short period of time. This literally puts them in another person’s shoes and allows employees to personally experience the struggles of their coworkers, thus humanizing them again.
Keep the Same Mission and Vision
Ensure that everyone in the company has the same mission and vision. If two people are working toward different goals, they become separate entities. If everyone is working toward the same goal, they can work together as one. Bring your employees together to work as a team, operating as one toward one common goal. Not only will this lead to increased solidarity in the workplace, it will also give the company a greater likelihood of achieving its goals.
The most important thing for employees to keep in mind is that they must treat people the way they would want to be treated. You might notice that people often talk down to waiters, cashiers, call center representatives, store employees, and almost anyone else who they might interact with on a daily basis. This includes coworkers.
These same people often wonder why they do not get what they want from these interactions, but this type of behavior will get you nowhere. If you treat people like human beings, they will respond accordingly and will be that much more likely to want to help you.
This is extremely relevant to any work environment, as productivity occurs when a team is cohesive and is able to work well together. This can only happen when conflict is addressed and resolved. If employees learn how to treat one another humanely, their company will surely benefit as a whole.
Nanavati, creator of coaching program Existing2Living, has received training from International Couch Federation-accredited institution Accomplishment Coaching as well as Jack Canfield’s Train the Trainer program.