Conflict can occur anywhere, including in the workplace. Conflicts in the workplace between co-workers will have a greater impact because they will affect the mood and overall work atmosphere. 

Actually conflict is not something to be afraid of. Because conflict can be a great way to let people grow and be wiser in responding to certain conditions and learn from the mistakes that have been made. However, if employees do not have a good understanding of conflict resolution, it can lead to prolonged conflict that might not only impact the people who are in conflict, but also the people around them.

As a management or human resource team, you will have to step up to collaborate with the people in conflict to do conflict management. Conflict resolution can only be done if various parties collaborate, and the human resource department is the best team to help solve the problem. You will help to look at the problem from a different perspective and become a mediator. 

Here are some of the things you can instill in the conflicted parties on what to do to fix all the office drama properly!

Ask them to face the problem

Many employees tend to turn the other cheek when they have a conflict with their co-workers. This is a big no because it can only fester and make the problem grow bigger than it really is.

If you notice something amiss, but no one comes forward to ask for your help in resolving the conflict, you need to step up and call the related parties. Ask them what the problem is and tell them that the conflict must be faced immediately in order to resolve it. Conflict management should be carried out with a cool head. That's why ensure that everyone (including yourself) does not easily get emotional when facing the problem.

Find the root of the conflict

The next thing to do for conflict management is to find the root problem of the current conflict. It is important to define what causes the conflict to occur. Try to understand how the problem could have developed, and communicate with the people involved. Talk to them and try to see the problem from their point of view.

Keep in mind that when you are communicating with those dealing with the conflict, you should do active listening and never taking sides. That way, you will understand the root cause of the conflict properly. This will help you to find the solution easier.

Solve problems calmly

The main thing you should do when doing conflict management is to resolve it calmly. You can't rush to find a solution right away. As mentioned before, indeed conflicts must be resolved immediately, but you should also not rush everything at once, or expect that everything will go back to normal just after one meeting. Every conflict management will need time to resolve. Thus, no need to rush because if you do rush it, the problem cannot be fixed from the root.

Solving problems must be done calmly so that they can provide an objective and neutral point of view. As much as there are different opinions, try not to be provoked and feel emotional. 

How To Do A Conflict Prevention?

Conflict will always arise in the workplace. Therefore as a management team, you should actively look for strategies to prevent conflict. 

You can start by looking for potential conflicts and immediately being proactive to take action. For example, employees might clash due to mixed-up documents. Thus, they can easily point fingers at each other when an important document is lost. What you can do is to ensure that the company has specialized cabinets which are labeled accordingly as a place for the employee to put important documents. Create a policy that every document should be stored physically and digitally in the designated place. 

A problem can also arise due to lack of cleanliness and tidiness of the office. Thus the bad work conditions make employees easily angered or frustrated. This is a problem that mostly happens to small businesses. The company might want to press their monthly expenses and thus opt to not hire an in-house cleaning team.

Not paying attention to office cleanliness is not only dangerous for productivity but also for employees' health. Thus we recommend you to hire a cleaning service company instead. Doing this helps you to be more mindful of the monthly expenses, but at the same time can help to ensure a clean work environment for all employees. Check out https://www.luceoffice.sg/services/office-cleaning to read more about the importance of hiring a cleaning service for your company and book a slot immediately!

By actively doing this prevention strategy, you can create a drama-free office life for all of the employees!