Spotting Conflict: A Lesson in Emotional Intelligence

Conflict surrounds us in nearly every workplace. Spotting conflict and recognizing how to manage it is an important skill for all employees.

Do you know when a conflict is about to erupt? In many cases employees fail to read the warning signs of conflict. Keeping in mind that not all conflict is bad, and that typically bad or harmful conflict is really mismanaged conflict, we can watch for conflict that is about to erupt. Here are a few warning signs:

Body language – Changes in facial expressions, especially looking away, tightened lips, narrowing or raising eyebrows. Arms crossed, changes in leg position when sitting, and stepping back or turning away.

Tone – Listen carefully for feeling. Increased volume (level), changes in pitch higher or lower, crackling or wavering.

Words – Anger words, blaming, speed of delivery (faster, more rapid), referencing the past or unrelated issues.

Our ability to read the signs of conflict can drastically improve our workplace effectiveness. In fact, the ability to spot conflict is often considered to be part of our emotional intelligence. Many workplace issues are emotionally charged, those who watch carefully for emerging conflict and then utilize their problem solving or negotiation skills to manage the situation will have stronger more committed workplace relationships. Can you spot conflict?

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Workplace Conflict: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Conflict in the workplace is very common. Nearly anytime we have people interacting with other people, it isn’t long until some type of conflict develops. Is all conflict bad? Many experts believe that there are many different types or forms of conflict. When managing conflict we may discover that not all conflict is bad, in fact some believe that harmful conflict is really just mismanaged conflict.

The good, bad, and ugly sides of conflict can be described as follows:

Good – learning from conflict, new product or service breakthroughs, appropriate and well managed competition 

Bad – ignoring issues, not dealing with situations, criticizing and complaining instead of managing

Ugly – low morale, self protection behaviors, high employee absenteeism and turnover

Effectively managing conflict is the key to minimizing harmful workplace conflict. When working with employees and teams we should adopt a collaborating style to effectively manage conflict. This style which could be described as high on assertiveness and high on cooperativeness will likely produce good conflict when managing conflict situations. Unfortunately many organizations have employees, supervisors, and managers that quickly adopt an avoiding style to managing conflict. When we avoid managing conflict the outcomes are typically bad or ugly. Here are three tips for managing workplace conflict:

1. Master the skill of emotional self-control
2. Do not shut down or out, stay involved
3. Listen carefully – attempt to gain understanding of both sides

Conflict is natural and is not always bad. Employees who approach and manage conflict properly will discover that less time is wasted on dealing with people issues and more time is spent being productive. Are you effective at managing workplace conflict?

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Effective Delegation: Planting Workplace Trees of Success!

Recently I posted a six part series on effective delegation. Often discussed in leadership, supervisory, and management circles as an elusive competency this six part series bundles together six steps to help you achieve effective delegation. Effective delegation has many benefits and may serve as a catalyst for the growth of aspiring leaders.

Effective delegation can be easily accomplished by utilizing the following six steps:

1. Give the whole task. When we give the whole task the person feels a sense of ownership and responsibility.
2. Clearly define the expectations. Effective delegation includes a clear and concise definition of the expectations.
3. Share and clarify the big picture. Employees who know and understand the mission of the organization will be better positioned to tackle projects, assignments, and day-to-day job duties.
4. Establish meaningful timelines and milestones. Delegation efforts that include the use of meaningful timelines and milestones also provide the opportunity to ensure accountability.
5. Establish metrics and measurements. Effective delegators will consider what is measurable and achievable; and what will be the most important to demonstrate in the future.
6. Give thanks and reward. Post delegation efforts and evaluation of the outcomes, we need to be sure we are giving appreciation to those who have made it a success.

Effective delegation will not only make you more efficient and effective it will serve as a catalyst for growth of those around you. We know that planting a tree requires great care, but once the roots are established and the tree starts to develop it isn’t long until it will stand tall amongst the others in the forest.

6 Steps to Effective Delegation (Part 6 of 6)

6. Give Thanks and Reward.

Morale is often of great concern for organizations. When we bring people together and form teams, pursue common goals, and share a vision – we want to maintain forward momentum. Post delegation efforts and evaluation of the outcomes, we need to be sure we are giving appreciation to those who have made it a success.

Appreciation and reward systems can quickly lead us into a very challenging and complex discussion. After all, who do we reward, when do we do it, and do we reward everyone or just the individual efforts? Indeed there are a lot of considerations.

Keeping it simple consider the following as part of an effective delegation process:

      1. People want to be appreciated – give thanks
      2. People want to succeed – show them they are doing it
      3. People like feeling motivated – give them a reason to reach for more

Effective delegation can not only make you a better leader, but it can feed starving workplace teams and grow a motivated and positive culture. Leading is not about doing it all, in part it is about trusting, caring, and delegating effectively. Delegation is an appropriate balance of the leader managing and maintaining projects, but also sharing the efforts, risks, and rewards. Effective delegation like most leadership performance criteria is a delicate balance of doing enough but not too much. Excessive delegation can be as damaging as under delegating. Team leaders, supervisors, and managers should self-assess on their delegation skills and confidently develop the right balance.

6 Steps to Effective Delegation (Part 5 of 6)

5. Establish Metrics and Measurements.

How do we know if the project or task has been successful? What are the metrics or measurements that we will use for comparison?

Similar to timelines and milestones the metrics should be established at the beginning of the project or assigned task. Metrics typically provide some accountability data. We often think in terms of how much, how many, and in what timeframe. However, what determines those thresholds? We need something to compare to, here are three possibilities:

      - Past performance
      - Benchmark data
      - Management expectations

Effective delegators will consider what is measurable and achievable; and what will be the most important to demonstrate in the future? Gathering some data on past performance, industry or sector benchmarks, and management expectations are all useful for comparison. Benchmark and past performance data tend to be objective and are highly recommended for inclusion in your evaluation toolbox. Often projects are evaluated based on management expectations alone which could be considered subjective in nature. As long as those (management) expectations are well communicated and reasonably achievable they can provide a viable and valuable comparison.

Metrics and measurement choices may vary considerably depending on the type of project or task, and its significance to the organization or performance contributions. Effective delegation will produce results, for those achieving those results remember to give thanks and reward!

6 Steps to Effective Delegation (Part 4 of 6)

4. Establish Meaningful Timelines and Milestones.

Will the project or task be completed on time? Supervisors and direct reports alike often worry about meeting deadlines. The idea of establishing timelines and milestones at the start of any project is essential for effective delegation.

Delegation efforts that include the use of meaningful timelines and milestones also provide the opportunity to ensure accountability. Many workplace professionals struggle with the idea of accountability. They worry about how to monitor or establish accountably and how to respond in situations where the desired outcomes are less than expected. Effective delegation establishes opportunities up front to monitor progress and to provide feedback. Most employees want to be successful and by establishing the expectations and timelines up front project monitoring becomes part of the assignment.

Checking project status at predefined timelines and milestones is most effective when we have established metrics and measurements.