No matter the place, conflict is inevitable. The workplace is where conflicts are likely to occur the most, as employees with different backgrounds and various work styles are gathered for a shared business purpose. Conflict can and should be controlled and resolved peacefully as it can have a huge impact on the whole business’s performance. Let us show you how to settle a workplace dispute.

Steps on How to Settle a Workplace Dispute

How to Settle a Workplace Dispute 

Find out the Cause

Disagreement and conflict can happen anytime and anywhere. However, they are mostly caused by these factors:

• Different personalities: It can’t be helped that one person’s characteristics are different from another’s. Having different personalities is what makes everyone unique, there’s no two alike. For instance, even if you find someone with the same interest and characteristic as you, there’s bound to be some differences. And that can be the cause of the conflict.

• Some behaviors are irritating for some employees: If you think you’re the funny one in the company and you can make everyone laugh at your joke, then think again. Not everyone likes everything you do, and it may be annoying and irritating for some. Over a long period can this have a really bad effect on co-workers and eventually leads to conflict between them.

• Unmet needs: one of the most controversial reasons for workplace conflict is employees’ dissatisfaction with their superiors or the company.

• Unclear roles in the workplace: Having employees do something that’s not included in their daily tasks or workload can be troublesome. They will start to wonder about their actual role in the company, which could lead to confusion and conflict.

• Competing job duties: For example, placing an unqualified or inexperienced employee in charge of experienced personnel can create unfairness.

• Mismanagement in the organization: Bad performance from superiors can harm the workforce. A manager that is indecisive or lacking management skills can be the reason for an outbreak and strike from employees.

Embrace Conflict

The first step on how to settle a workplace dispute is when conflict occurs, don’t try to pretend that’s not a big problem or avoid it. As a result, the tension and pressure will build up over time, and it will only get worse. Having to deal with this unpleasant situation is troublesome for those who are inexperienced. Still, you might need to solve it right away to avoid further damage to you and the company.

When asked how to solve a workplace dispute, people tend to overthink everything and come up with overcomplicated solutions. Instead, trying to find the cause and then stopping it right away seems to be the best solution.

Talk Things Out

If you notice there’s something wrong among your employees or colleagues, encourage them to talk it out and find a way to clear any misunderstandings. If the two parties can’t come to a satisfying arrangement, you should rethink and try a different approach. You might need to consider setting up a meeting to sort things out thoroughly. 

A private session is crucial for you to find the cause and come up with solutions. Remember not to make matters worse by blaming the other side and getting sidetracked from the actual problem.

Carefully Listen

Giving your full attention to others when they’re sharing their opinion is especially important. Try your best not to interrupt them. You will make matters worse when you disrespect them by not listening to what they have to say. How to settle a workplace dispute isn’t as easy as finding the cause and fixing it. The process of locating the problem can sometimes be time-consuming.  

Guidance and Solution

Paying close attention is an excellent way to find common ground and start solving problems, that’s how to settle a workplace dispute most effectively. If your the one in charge, giving your personal advice and opinion is an important step to clear up the misunderstanding, but be sure to stay neutral and professional.

How to Reduce Conflict

With these improvements, you can save yourself the time and trouble of solving the conflict that occurred:

• Effective communication

• Effective management

• Clear and straightforward Rules, agreements, and policies

• Fairness is the top priority

• Regularly survey the performance and act accordingly to the feedbacks

There’s no such thing as a right or wrong resolution to a conflict, there’s only reasonable or not. The result might not be very satisfactory for both sides, but as the manager, keep it neutral and try your best not to be biased. Conflict and disagreement are expected in the workplace, so being prepared, calm, and professional is the best way to take this problem head-on.