How to handle conflict with your team.

Conflict is a touchy subject. “How do I draw boundaries in a kind way?”, “How can I be direct without being mean?”, “Why isn’t my team doing what I am telling them to do?”

Those are some of our most asked questions, along with many others revolving around conflict in the workplace.

I wish I had 1 answer to solve all of those problems, but the truth is - no one has that answer.

Here’s the thing about conflict, it requires people to be involved. When there are people involved, there are no guarantees on how it will play out.

What I will tell you is, there are techniques and best practices to use to make navigating conflicts in the workplace a little easier! I’ll share one crucial technique that we at The Leader HQ believe to be the most effective:

Stop trying to solve the problem.

Backwards? I know, it sounds counterintuitive but hear me out…

Have you ever called a friend to vent, and they did nothing but try to solve the problem for you? Was it good advice? Maybe. Were open and ready to hear it then? Probably not.

I think we’ve all been guilty of giving unsolicited advice once or twice, I know I have!

What’s important to remember in all of this is, there are rarely any actual emergencies in business. Which means what? You have time.

“But I am their leader and it’s my job to solve problems”, not disagreeing with you. But let’s look at this from a different perspective: how can your team solve problems independently of you if they never get a chance to fail?

How did you learn the things you did? By trying, failing, adjusting and trying again.
Honestly, most of the time people know what to do, they just want to be heard in the “suck” of the problem.

You want to stop answering your phone and emails on your days off? Stop being the google search engine for problems. “What do you need to support you for next time?”, “What information were you missing or had a hard time finding?”

Just. Get. Curious. NOT frustrated. Hard? Yes, but what worth having in life is easy? 

Let me tell you something about working with people, it is hard work and there's a new lesson at every turn. Lean into the “suck”.

I’ll give you a bonus tip, just because you’ve made it this far in reading this blog post:

Perspective.

Remember, every single person on this Earth had a different upbringing than you. 

Their own past experiences dictate how they view the world around them.

This means different learning styles, different listening styles, different ways of communicating, different perspectives on the world, different belief systems, different values, different ways they receive recognition and praise.

Different is good. It creates a well rounded culture and team of people who serve clients at their highest capacity.

Embrace it, but remember it IS different.

So listen more, talk less, ask more questions and stop trying to do all the things. As leaders, this isn’t our role.

Leader definition: to guide and inspire others. That’s it.

Give yourself some grace, give others grace and keep it movin!

As always if you resonated with this blog post, lets work together in some capacity. We dive deep into all of these concepts and help develop a stronger culture through basic people skills.

If you know anyone who needs this send em’ our way! (864-202-4952)

You’ve got this!

- Victoria F.