Calling all fixers, ostriches and bureaucrats, it’s time to try the owl approach to management – Anna Shields explains
A recent CIPD study found that managers could inadvertently be fuelling tensions in their teams. L&D need to identify counterproductive approaches to conflict management and build the skills to overcome these.
Do managers fuel conflict?
The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that only about a third of staff who experience conflict feel that it was fully resolved. Many respondents said that managers dealt with conflict efficiently and effectively, but 49% in the private sector believed that managers had actually caused conflict in their teams, rising to 61% in the public sector.
Few managers enter the workplace with the intention of causing conflict, so what factors might be contributing to rising tensions? Let’s explore some common managerial approaches to conflict and how organisations can better support their leaders in managing it effectively.
Facilitating the fixers
For many managers, a common response to help with a conflict situation is to try to “fix” the “problem”. With so many other demands made of them, these DIY-ers dive straight in because they believe that dealing with the issue in this way is the quickest and easiest route to resolution. The fixers might hastily arrange meetings with the parties involved, find out the facts and present a solution as a fait accompli.
However, people rarely like to be told what to do and, when a manager rushes to fix a problem, it can make team members feel that their choices and voices have been taken away. Those involved in the conflict may reluctantly follow a manager-imposed solution or avoid it altogether because they have not bought into it.
A more helpful approach is for managers to shift from fixing a conflict to facilitating a conflict conversation. They can still talk to the people involved, but with the aim of supporting colleagues in communicating with each other directly as a first step and exploring a mutually acceptable solution themselves.
Encouraging the ostrich
Unlike the fixers, managers with an ‘ostrich’ approach choose to bury their heads in the sand when there is conflict in their teams. There are many reasons managers may choose to avoid conflict: they may be too busy, they may feel the issue will resolve itself, or perhaps they’re worried that they will make the matter worse. As the CIPD survey demonstrated, many managers feel they lack adequate skills to deal with conflict, so avoidance can seem like a better option.
When we ignore a conflict, it usually festers and grows. This is why building managers’ skills in conflict management is essential. When managers learn the warning signs of conflict, and the usefulness of nipping issues in the bud, they will be better able to support their teams. These skills build confidence, making managers more likely to discuss conflict situations with their teams, which subsequently de-escalates conflict situations so they don’t become more formal. Conflict management training supports managers to overcome their fear of conflict and prompts them to act rather than hide away.
Empowering the bureaucrats
There will always be serious cases of misconduct that need to be reported, but in most instances, the initial response to a workplace conflict does not require a formal process. However, some managers favour a route where they can direct a problem to another channel, such as HR, or suggest the employee makes a complaint in writing – the bureaucrats’ style. There are multiple pitfalls to this approach.
First, when a relationship breakdown becomes a formal issue, this automatically labels it as something serious and removes the opportunity for parties to speak with each other directly to try to resolve their conflict and repair their relationship. Formal procedures breed negativity and further damage a relationship, which has implications for the wider team, and affects productivity and engagement. Formal processes can also take months to be resolved, which renders them costly and disruptive.
To avoid the common reliance on formal process, organisations could cultivate policies that encourage informal resolution first and train managers and staff in the skills needed to have constructive conflict conversations. Managers trained in facilitated conversations can support team members to speak and listen without judgment, and to learn the benefits of holding multiple perspectives. Workplace mediation can also be an effective intervention for colleagues who need specialist support.
Learning from the owl
Whether a conflict is managed in person or in a hybrid work environment, the most effective approach is that of the “owl”. Not only is an owl wise, but it can also turn its head nearly 360 degrees (270 degrees, to be precise). Owl managers see the world from a wider range of perspectives, identify issues with an open mind, and handle relationship breakdowns with empathy and care.
“Click here” to view the original article or “click here” to view a PDF of the article
