Stop fighting. Start winning.

Leslie DicksonPosted by Leslie Dickson on February 23rd, 2010 | 0 Comments

Is your workday starting to feel like 10 rounds with Rocky Balboa?  Are too many conversations turning into confrontations? Are assignments becoming ultimatums? 

As a leader, you know you can’t eliminate conflict from the workplace. In fact, you want to foster it sometimes. When ideas and passionate thinkers collide, breakthrough solutions can result (even when sparks fly).

But when the office feels like a boxing ring, results can suffer as much as the participants do. According to research Tracom Group found at HR.com, 67 percent of respondents said conflict had decreased the team’s productivity. Forty-one percent said it had decreased their own productivity.

Are you seeing any of these symptoms of conflict-turned-destructive?

  • People don’t seem to be listening to you
  • You find yourself shouting at your staff
  • You get shoddy work from capable people
  • Your team balks at your instructions
  • You feel a sense of isolation, like you’re the only one really working

So how do you get the trouble-makers to change?  First of all, recognize that you’re one of them. 

As a leader, your behavior sets the tone. Whether your actions were the initial trigger for the problems or you simply joined the fray, you need to take the responsibility to change the situation. 

  1. Examine your style.  Have you become aggressive and argumentative?  Adjust your approach.
  2. Do you avoid completely because you don’t want to deal with the ugly stuff? If you don’t deal with something when it comes up, it will only grow and get bigger and uglier.
  3. Approach team members with the same respect and courtesy you expect for yourself.
  4. Keep listening!  When you anticipate a fight, you focus on talking, pushing, winning. Hear and acknowledge the ideas and viewpoints of others.
  5. Give feedback, not complaints. Are you energizing with constructive help or tearing down morale?
  6. Leave your ego at the door. Welcome feedback about you without defensiveness.
  7. Skip the blame game. You can state your viewpoint without destroying someone else’s credibility. 
  8. Don’t make up your mind until you hear what others have to say. No matter how knowledgeable you are, you don’t always have the right answer.
  9. Employ group Appreciative Inquiry methods. Not only can this help develop better solutions, but it can reopen the positive lines of communication.

Are you ready to get more results without the bumps and bruises of the brawl? Stop fighting…and you’ll start winning.

Image by Bouncing_Pelican

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