Managers have two important roles to play with respect to conflict:
First, they often find themselves to be parties to a conflict. Sometimes the conflict is with the employees they supervise, and at others it could be with their colleagues or higher level managers. At all three levels, there is a set of skills that managers can use to be more effective in dealing with conflicts and working through them to attain positive results.
The second role that skilled managers can play is as mediators of conflicts that occur among their employees. Managers can have at their command an approach that avoids exercising power or issuing orders. Using this set of skills and conflict resolution process, managers can help employees resolve conflicts on the employees’ own terms. That produces two results:
- The employees feel empowered, responsible and respected as they retain control over their own conflicts and the resolutions they reach.
- The managers don’t become the adversaries of the employees they supervise, but rather are looked upon as resources. In essence, managers can maintain a closer working relationship with employees who don’t fear that the manager will take over their conflicts and order them to perform resolutions they might find distasteful.
Public and private companies, K-12 school districts, colleges, and governments have sent their managers to be trained by Marvin L. Schwartz, JD, and have been thrilled to see the results that can be achieved through customized manager training. After training, the managers face the same conflicts in different ways. They are less afraid to handle conflicts themselves, and in turn, the conflicts don’t get bucked up to HR or higher management. Also, the managers find themselves earning respect instead of ill will from employees whom they help with their conflicts.
Perhaps it’s time for your managers to add the skills of conflict resolution to their manager’s tool chest. See what a school superintendent has to say about the effect of the training.