Conflicts can arise among working team members at any time and can also be triggered by various factors such as differences in opinion, conflicting goals, or competitive personalities. Conflict affects productivity and creates a poisonous atmosphere; however, good leaders can turn the conflicts into an avenue for joint effort by rearranging the team members and promoting cooperation. It is in this aspect that leaders can unlock the potential of their teams.
The Role of Effective Leaders
While most of the world believes that conflicts are happening at work less than they used to, more conflicts are actually occurring than people can believe. The CPP Global found that around 85% of employees face conflict to one extent or another. Employees’ productivity is reduced because nearly 29% of them prefer spending their time dealing with conflict rather than getting on with the tasks.
Their losses in terms of finances go all the way to $359 billion annually from workplace conflict. These statistics indicate the reality that a head-on, direct resolution of conflict needs to be transformed into a collaborative effort.
The Leadership Role
Leaders help to have their way around conflicts. Handling conflict may escalate tension or bring the team members to understanding. One very important strategy is open communication.
When employees feel free to voice their concerns and ideas, issues are addressed before they escalate into bigger problems. Leaders should find ways to encourage dialogue by fostering an environment where everyone’s voice matters.
Repositioning Team Members
While team member repositioning is very well known, identifying the strengths to fit persons with the right roles in the team, it makes the individual and, by extension, the group better while improving cohesion in the group. Suppose two team members are always at loggerheads over direction; a good leader can identify a unique strength that will benefit both, perhaps, assigning complementary roles where strengths can be leveraged while working for a common goal instead of fighting each other.
Building Trust and Respect
Trust is the biggest asset any successful team requires to work because it provides a comfortable atmosphere where each member appreciates others’ contributions. Such can be encouraged through team building with activities that bring the members together and make them understand one another. Research from the University of Central Florida indicates that teams who habitually carry out bonding activities increase their overall productivity by 25%.
In addition to that, leaders should set an example; when expressing empathy and understanding towards teammates during a dispute, the rest of the team knows what to expect from them. This makes everyone handle arguments in a mindset that is solution-oriented rather than combative.
Encouraging Collaborative Problem-Solving
Conflicts must be steered toward cooperative problem-solving, and certainly, the disputes should not be allowed to simmer among the team members. In this regard, leaders must be able to give all parties an opportunity to present their viewpoints wherein common ground could then be found by working together. Some of these techniques include brainstorming sessions or mediation.
The Institute for Corporate Productivity revealed that organizations that have a great collaboration practice are five times more likely to be high-performing compared to the low collaboration ones. Applying such techniques can enable leaders to turn potential conflicts into great collaboration as they encourage teamwork in finding solutions.
This requires being able to turn conflict into great collaboration-the most important skills required from the leaders of today. By fostering open communication, aligning team members according to strengths, establishing trust, and facilitating collaborative problem-solving efforts, the leaders will be able to engineer a harmonious work environment with each member flourishing in such an environment.
On embracing collaboration, organizations will realize improved productivity and a respect-and-innovative culture. Leaders in such light shall be able to solve conflicts while inspiring teams to succeed better together.
