Post written by Yael Algranti (Northbridge Consultants)
CONFRONTATION. How does this word make you feel? If you’re like most people, you will do anything to avoid it. Our lives are already packed with stressful situations, whether it be crunched deadlines, or just general aggravation in our lives; confrontation in the workplace will assuredly add to our anxiety level. Confrontation will undoubtedly happen in every circumstance, but in the workplace, more than just feelings are affected. If you work in customer relations or complaints you may deal with confrontation every day. Although this is true, confrontation often arises with work colleagues and can turn the workplace into a very tense environment. In fact, when confrontation becomes apparent in the workplace it often results in decreased effort, reduced performance and in extreme cases, resignation.
There are many different things you can do to minimize confrontation in the workplace. Whether you are talking face to face or on the telephone, always try to sound authoritative and confident. This will ensure the person you are talking with that you are taking the situation seriously and that you are more than capable to handle it sufficiently. When attempting to avoid confrontation, being on first name terms with the person will make you sound both sympathetic and empathetic to their problems. They then know you can relate to what they are going through and feel at ease, therefore avoiding confrontation. Be sure to look for clues that may help you predict if someone is becoming angry. Look out for certain body movements, such as rubbing the back of the neck, fidgeting, flaring nostrils or rapid breathing. These are all signs that a person is becoming angry and frustrated with the situation they are dealing with. However, when dealing with confrontation between colleagues it is a slightly different matter as it generally results from the clashing of personalities. In this case, it is wise to have minimal contact with this person, although most personality clashes can be repaired by simply getting to know the person better.
When conflict in the workplace has become evident and you need to work through the situation, allow every person involved in the disagreement to clarify his or her perspectives and opinions on the matter. Everyone should know exactly what happened and what the conflict is about to best avoid miscommunication so that the conflict and confrontation doesn’t become even worse. Outline the what needs to be fixed to change the circumstances of the conflict and find a way to compromise to ensure that everyone is happy in the end.
Although confrontation often adds unnecessary stress to our lives, it isn’t always a bad thing. When confrontation occurs and is successfully resolved it benefits people as they learn how to deal with problems in the workplace and handle them in a calm and professional manner. Like any other skill, it will improve only through practice. Since they are inevitable, the goal is to make them positive and productive, not painful. If you enter into a confrontation believing that the outcome can be positive, you have taken the first step to ensuring that it will be.
