Conflict resolution for increased productivity

Conflict in the workplace cost company money. Studies show that 24-60% from management time and energy is spent dealing with anger. There is no doubt that this leads to increased stress among employees, hampered performance and absenteeism, which, in the ends reflects in decreased productivity. Furthermore, if you were thinking that employee’s skills and motivation are the main reasons for performance problems, well, researchers estimate that strained relationships between employees have the most significant part of reason (65%).

The reasons conflicts might appear into an organization are various. So are the effects of “rudeness and incivility” over the business. In this respect I have presented below the findings of a survey conducted by Harvard Business School on several thousand U.S. managers and employees engaged in conflicts:

48% decreased their work effort,

47% decreased their time at work,

38% decreased their work quality,

66% said their performance declined,

80% lost work time worrying about the incident,

63% lost time avoiding the offender, and

78% said their commitment to the organization declined.

Now that the effects of conflict in the workplace are clear enough, both managers and employees have to take a few simple steps for conflict resolution and even for dealing positively with conflict:

work on communication skills: both speaking and listening skills
establish healthy boundaries - Focus on facts
learn (and teach other people) how to combine both intelligence and emotions in the workplace – do not forget that your boss, your colleagues or your subalterns are also human beings with real lives
focus on behavioral change – agree to disagree

By learning about conflict resolution and how to channel the negative energy to positive and creative ways of improving productivity, we will definitely create a healthier workplace. Please do not hesitate to provide me your feedback and to complete the list I presented.

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