Staff conflict resolutions: part2

Conflict in the work place must be dealt with immediately; otherwise the consequences would be difficult to overcome. Bear in mind that dealing with conflict is not an easy task. A balance between all parties involved must be maintained by you as a manager.
Begin with these following steps and you can add more to the list as needed for your particular setup:

You must identify the conflict: this is a critical step; you can not resolve a conflict if you do not know the root cause of the conflict. You must develop a deep understanding of the cause of the conflict and have separate meetings with all involved.

You must determine whether it is a personality issue or a work issue: some conflicts arise from issues that have nothing to do with the work environment such as (cultural conflicts, gender conflicts, and religious conflicts).

You must remain open minded and impartial: when you listen to each party, remember to be open minded and listen to facts and not emotions. Conflicts usually charge people emotionally which may lead some employees to distort the facts, is its imperative to remain focused on the issue and separate facts from opinions.

Give the parties a chance to resolve it between themselves: having all parties involved resolve the conflicts themselves will lead to a greater understanding between them which will help in avoiding future conflicts.

If the above steps don’t work, then go through them again to ensure verification of the issue and then come to a compromise. As a manager, you must make a compromise that would be fair to all parties involved. You may not be able to please everyone, your resolve must be fair, impartial and based on full understanding of the conflict and in line with your firm’s policies and procedures.

It is makes good managerial sense to have a grievance policy in place that allows staff and team members to have a platform for resolution.