Conflict Management Archives - Price Associates

Suspending Judgement is a Key Leadership Skill

By Dr. Francis Eberle

One of my clients recently had difficulty letting go of some unfair comments from her supervisor. The comments were harsh because the supervisor thought the work was shoddy, but the supervisor had gaps in his knowledge and had overlooked the true quality of the work. My client knew she had to get past the comments, but they still hurt. There were two aspects to grapple with—the personal hurt and the professional relationship. My client had to be objective about the comments and build a more respectful professional relationship.

Instead of just letting the comments go, one way to move forward is hold one issue in limbo while focusing on another issue. In other words, suspend the belief that the supervisor had negative intentions when he made the comment and instead focus on the relationship.

Uncontrolled Outbursts Can Lead to Growth

By Jalene Case

One of my clients recently erupted at a coworker when she discovered that confidential information was shared. Normally, she would have calmed down and scheduled a serious discussion with the employee. Before she could do that, they ended up together in a work space with no one else around. The conversation quickly spiraled out of control.

What if I told you that uncontrolled, emotional outbursts at a co-worker could open the door to growing as a leader?

6 Steps to Deal with a Challenging Boss

By Jaime Lisk

We’ve all experienced tough work environments. Whether it’s a crushing workload, impossible deadlines, conflicts with coworkers, or a manager who isn’t making anything easy, there are plenty of solutions through it. But if you’re dealing with the latter, which, let’s face it, is often the cause of many of the former, take heart: there are simple actions you can take to regain your control and “manage up.”

Here are a few tips to help if you’re experiencing a difficult work environment caused by a manager:

How Collaboration is Like a Chinese Finger Trap

By Dr. Francis Eberle

Imagine you’ve just settled into your office for the morning, coffee in hand, desktop firing up, when two employees blow through the door. Each has a strong, yet opposing, viewpoint about the next steps for a project. And before you know it, you are drawn into playing referee or decision-maker.

This scenario is much like the Chinese finger trap. You are probably familiar with this child’s toy. You put your finger in one end and a friend puts their finger in the other end. The goal for both players is to get their fingers out. As each tries to pull their fingers out, the trap tightens—the more you pull, the tighter the trap gets, increasing the pressure on your finger.

A Direct Approach to Resolve Conflict with a Coworker

By Whit Mitchell

It probably won’t surprise you that in my line of work, I tend to do a lot of team conflict resolution. Coworker disagreements and conflict are common in most workplaces, as we attempt to blend a variety of personalities, preferences and behaviors into a single team.

When I get a call that two colleagues are not working well together, I have a process that I follow—and it’s produced successful results over the years. I start by having both parties complete the TTI Success Talent Insights Assessment, which measures their behaviors (the “how” they do something) and their driving forces (the “why” they do something). I have each of them take this assessment before I even meet them. I take a look at those two reports, and I can pinpoint with accuracy what’s going on, even before I hear the whole story.

Conflict Management Begins with Understanding Conflict

In this short video, Executive Coach and Team Health Specialist Andy Johnson talks about how conflict management in the workplace is critical for us to function and move towards performance, outcomes, and all kinds of measures of health.

Think Differently About Competition at Work

By Dr. Francis Eberle

Every spring I get reacquainted with my bicycle. For me cycling is recreational, social, competitive, and great exercise. While riding, cyclists talk, solve the problems, reminisce, “take a turn” at the front and wait if someone lags behind. The first group rides of the year often take a slightly different tone. The pace quickens when the road is flat, or someone will likely push themselves hard up a hill to get to the top before everyone else. On these rides everyone is checking their fitness in comparison with others as the season begins. Most do this to note their own personal expectation of fitness and not to try and beat someone else. It is a ritual that is repeated over and over at almost every level of cycling. Read More

Conflict Management: Managing the Emotions of Interpersonal Conflict (Ep. 2)

Today host Dale Dixon and executive advisor Ron Price finish the second half of their conversation about Conflict Management. Ron references Andy Johnson’s book, Pushing Back Entropy, to address the steps that lead to team conflict. He talks about understanding the fuel and the match for conflict, and how to become more effective in preventing interpersonal conflict. He lists the reasons that conflict starts, details the role of emotional intelligence in conflict, gives examples for conflict prevention on both a personal and team level. Ron also lists out the steps to resolve conflict once it has occurred.

Conflict Management: The Tough Conversations (Part 1)

Host Dale Dixon and Executive Advisor Ron Price discuss Conflict Management this week. In Part 1 of a two-part series, they start by defining the two types of conflict and begin the series with the nuances of Ideological Conflict. Ron details the leader’s role in creating a culture that supports healthy ideological debate and celebrates open, honest dialogue. He lists out the skills a leader needs to shift the culture in this direction, and to create an environment of psychological safety. Ron also gives ideas for activities that leaders can use to help their teams engage in healthy debate.

Mending Fences with Coworkers

By Whit Mitchell

Conflict at work is common, and often inevitable. The workplace brings together people with different ideas, backgrounds, passions, motivators, communication styles and priorities. Quite often these aspects don’t align between everyone on the team, and even when they do align, misunderstandings and conflict can arise.

There are many causes of conflict at work, such as lack of clarity in responsibilities, poor job fit, values being violated, inflated egos, disrespectful colleagues, and poor leadership. Read More

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