Conflict management in the workplace means addressing conflict quickly, understanding where it started, and making a clear decision that serves the team and the organization. Mediate and educate when people need to meet in the middle. Then turn the lesson into a standard or a process, so the same conflict has a much harder time coming back.
- Treat conflict as an opportunity, and hit it head on before it festers.
- Understand the root cause first. It is often a gap in communication, training or standards.
- Sometimes the leader has to be judge and jury and make the call.
- Core values and clear operating standards prevent most conflict before it starts.
Is workplace conflict an obstacle or an opportunity?
My co-host Arturo Gomez has led teams for 25 years, and his answer is quick: conflict is always an opportunity. A few individuals may turn out to be obstacles, and that is a separate conversation. The conflict itself gives a leader the chance to understand what is going on and make the organization better.
Turn every conflict into a better system.
How do you manage conflict in the workplace?
- Address it quickly. Hit it head on to cool the waters before it festers.
- Understand what happened. Ask each side where the disagreement started.
- Find the root cause. It may be a shortage of understanding or training, or the organization itself may be at fault.
- Mediate and educate. Coach and inform opposing sides so they can meet somewhere in the middle.
- Make the call. Decide what is right for the group, even when it goes against someone's view.
- Build the fix into a process. Create a standard or system so the same conflict stays solved.
I think conflict needs to be hit on quickly, to cool the waters.
Arturo Gomez, Episode 52
Arturo adds that a perfectly reasonable view can still be unproductive for what the team is trying to do. Sometimes the leader has to be judge and jury, draw the lines, and define them fast.
What causes conflict in the workplace?
Success in a company rises or falls to the level of its leadership. Every time I have seen conflict in a team or a client campaign, it came from the top down. Usually it traced back to communication, or a lack of it, along with standards that weren't met and people who weren't accountable.
Companies that aren't living their core values also get the wrong people on the bus, and the wrong people create more conflict. Arturo sees the same pattern from the inside: a lot of conflict comes from internal gaps in understanding how things need to be.
What are the types of workplace conflict?
| Type | Where it comes from | How to handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Day to day | Disagreements between teammates in daily operations | Address it fast, hear both sides, make the call |
| Organizational | The top down, through gaps in communication, training or values | Mediate, educate and realign everyone to the core values |
| With your boss | A leader's decision you believe is wrong | Bring it to their attention calmly, or go to HR |
| With a client | Standards slipping in a service relationship | Talk first, set clear SOPs, and be willing to walk away |
How do you handle conflict with your boss?
Sometimes the leader is the one creating the conflict. Arturo says it happens all the time. People lower on the totem pole should feel safe bringing an issue to someone above them, in a way that is non-confrontational and simply brings it to their attention. A true leader will be open to that feedback and see the truth in it. If that conversation isn't possible, look for another person to share it with, such as HR.
Disagreement with a decision is healthy discussion. Pay attention to how the message is delivered, because that is a huge part of how it lands. Delivery is also the core of how to give feedback.
How do you handle conflict with a client?
This is the conflict I have experienced most. I once had a client, the CEO of a company, who was regularly late to our scheduled Wednesday 10 a.m. meeting. It wasn't a big deal to him, and it created a lack of communication and accountability on our end.
Arturo's advice starts with a question: have you built a structure and SOPs around how the relationship operates? If the relationship makes you inefficient or disrespects your time, have a conversation first. Explain how this works and how it doesn't. Be honest, and be okay with walking away. Clear SOPs up front are a form of setting expectations.
Nick Saban, the longtime Alabama head coach, has a line I anchor in: never waste a failure. Early in my journey, clients kept paying late on net 30 terms. After it happened a few times, I moved to a prepay model and built it into my process. That conflict disappeared for good, and my clients benefited too.
How do core values prevent conflict?
Arturo's best prevention is getting as much information in front of people as possible at the start. Call out the small print, and tell people plainly: this is how we operate.
That line works everywhere, with your team, your service providers and your clients. Core values give you a standard to go back to, so you correct the action based on the standard, free of emotion or judgment. One of my core values is candor, so I handle conflict head on. Candor grows from building trust with your team.
Do this today
- Write your "this is how we operate" standard. Put it in front of your team and your clients so everyone has the same thing to go back to.
- Address one conflict you have let sit. Be patient and understanding, find where it started, and look for a way to prevent it at the start of the next relationship.
Listen to the episode
Tips for Managing Conflict in the Workplace
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Questions people ask
What are the main causes of workplace conflict?
Most conflict traces back to communication, unclear standards, missing accountability, gaps in training, and hiring people who don't fit the core values.
How do you resolve conflict between two employees?
Address it quickly, ask each person where the disagreement started, and make a clear decision based on what is right for the team and the organization.
Should leaders avoid conflict?
Leaders should face it. Arturo Gomez treats conflict as an opportunity and believes letting it fester makes it worse.
When should you walk away from a client?
When a relationship keeps making you inefficient or disrespects your time after an honest conversation. Set clear SOPs at the start so expectations are known.
Full transcript
Episode 52: Tips for Managing Conflict in the Workplace
Welcome to Leadership DNA, a podcast for those who aspire to be a better leader. Alongside Arturo Gomez, I'm Rob Cressy. Today's topic tips for managing conflict in the workspace. In Arturo, I'm really excited to hear from you on this based on the volume of people that you've been a leader for and what comes top of mind for me is conflict. Is this an obstacle or is this an opportunity? Yeah, I think it's always an opportunity.
There may be some individuals that potentially are identified as obstacles. And I think that's a separate potential podcast but we can talk about it a little bit. But the way that I handle is headfirst and hit it hard because discussion or, you know, conflict. Let's call it conflict because discussion has less negativity around it. But I think conflict needs to be hit on quickly. You know, to cool the waters, right? And I think it gives the leader who's trying to mediate a little bit of an opportunity to understand what's going on.
What is the conflict? And to be able to then move into the next phase, which is once it's understood, sometimes you have to be judge and jury. You know, it's you have to make quick decisions on what's right, who's right and create lines and define that really quickly. And I think, you know, sometimes the role of a leader requires you to weigh in. And it may be, you know, hey, there's these two, you know, people that they have this conflict or this disagreement. Tell me what's going on.
I want to understand what the disagreement originates with or from. And then you got to help make a decision. And sometimes it may be opposing an opposing position to the view that somebody has. But if it's right for the group and if it's right for the organization, that's the direction. And it's just got to be, it's got to be made quick. So yeah, that's, that's kind of how I, how I currently approach it.
So there's various levels to conflict because we've got day to day conflict, which can be seen on an operational level versus organizational conflict, which is coming from the top down. Because success in companies, oftentimes almost always rises or falls to the level of leadership. And for me when I look at wherever there's been conflict or dissonance in anyone that I've worked with or a specific client campaigns. It has always come from the top down and it's been oftentimes around communication or a lack thereof where certain standards aren't met.
Because people are not communicating or they're not being accountable. And companies oftentimes who are not living their core values can get the wrong people on the bus. And the wrong people on the bus can create more opportunities for more conflict. And we say why in the world is this happening. And so many of our conversations are so circular because the DNA of being a great leader or running a great company has so many spokes to it.
From core values to communication to putting people in the right positions to succeed to which is an episode on empathy. And I'm curious from your perspective on organizational conflict. Yeah, I mean it's similar to what I discussed but a lot of, you know, the other option is mediating and educating, opposing sides so that we can bring everybody back on path. And so the conflict could arise because there's a shortage of understanding.
You know it could be, you know, a shortage of training. It could be various things that maybe potentially the organization itself is that fault. You know, and so the job of a leader again is to understand what the issue is. And then quickly start making decisions on the best, the best available path for the individuals and for the organization. And so but some of that may be, you know, this lobbying, this coaching, this informing to try to get people to kind of to meet somewhere in the middle.
And understand that there's possibility to coax us together and that these opposing views aren't necessarily wrong. But they're not necessarily productive in what we're trying to do. Yeah, and for me one of my core values is candor so when I knew mentioned this when I look at how I manage conflict, I'm head on because it's the DNA of who I am.
I want you to speak to me the same way that I'm going to speak to you Arturo. I'm curious let's go from the bottom up now because it doesn't mean as leaders that everything is always puppy dogs and rainbows that there are situations when the leader might be creating the conflict for someone on their team who's below them.
What can someone who is who has a manager or a boss or an executive that is air quotes above them? How can they manage conflict on something where they feel like they're doing things their correct way and the conflict is being put on top of them. Yeah, I mean that happens all the time. You know, that happens that happens all the time. And so I think it's, you know, are there alternative individuals that they can potentially share this situation with? I'll be at HR or something like that.
I think the idea of managing the office is a real thing that we talk about quite a bit and, you know, true leaders are going to actually be open to that feedback. It happens regularly, you know, in situations that I'm in there's conversation that I have with what staff or, you know, partners that want to see some type of a different outcome and don't necessarily believe that the particular decision that you made was the right one.
That's just discussion, you know, and so that's that's I think it's healthy. I think everybody needs to be cognizant of how the message is delivered because I think that's a huge part of it but. Yeah, I think people that are lower, you know, quote unquote lower on the totem pole, so to speak should not have. Should not feel.
I mean, should not should not fear coming to somebody that may be above them in a way that is again non-confrontational just more of like bringing it to your attention and you know, a real leader is going to be somebody that's going to be able to see see see the truth in that and be able to move the conversation forward.
So there's another scenario I want to get your opinion on that I experience probably the most of all of the types of workplace conflict and that would be client conflict when you're a service provider and you have clients. And it doesn't always mean that the clients are showing up in a specific way. In one example that I have from my journey was I had a client that we were working on some marketing and brand building and content production for their brand and they would have literally be late for the scheduled Wednesday at 10 a.m. meeting.
And it wasn't a big deal for them because they're the CEO of the company and they're doing a lot of different things but on the receiving end for myself and our team. Eventually or every now and then that's coming up and then of course if they're showing up late there's a lack of communication there's a lack of accountability.
So we all know about our ability to fire a client or when we are taking on a client who's not one of our diamonds aka someone that I would love to work with. But oftentimes we don't see this in the very beginning of a client relationship when boom you come in we can help you we enjoy working together awesome but then this little conflict starts creeping in and they're doing something to us as the service provider and I'm curious even from my candid perspective how do you think about a client conflict.
I think it's in a similar way I think you got to. You know, I've been in situations where you you want to bite your tongue a little bit because you know because of potential size of the piece of business perhaps but I think at the end of the day where we're you know you can be truly effective to your clients is and being honest and I think.
You know as as people that our service providers I think you have to be okay with with walking away but I also think it starts really you know are have you have you have you built a structure and S.O.P. is around how this whole thing is going to operate because if you haven't well then you know the lay the land really hasn't been you know produced or created and so I think there may be some.
You know some opportunity there for people to be a little confused but if this relationship is making you inefficient or is disrespectful towards time and energy I think. Having conversation about it is is where it starts I mean you can't just you know next day hey we're out it's got to be like hey we we'd like to improve this and we'd like to be able to give you.
You know full advantage of what we can offer but it's got to be done you know here's how this works that are really high level and here's how it doesn't. Yeah I love that and there's a quote that I often anchor in from Alabama head coach Nick Saban it says never waste a failure and I love how you said the structures in the S.O.P.
And I think back to early on in my entrepreneurial journey when I received a lot of conflict around clients who would pay late to where it's hey we're going to be building this net 30 let's call it and then. 30 days gets here and boom now we're chasing them down for that and for me after that happened a few times I'm like I'm no longer on this model I'm on the prepay model so I built in a structure in an S.O.P.
and I think that's the only way to work with me and my team is if we're doing things in advance and it's also a benefit to the client that we work with because this is no longer a problem on the table and then any other time conflict comes out there's an opportunity to create a system or process internally that says when this new thing pops up.
And so many companies I don't believe thinking systems and processes like this but I believe this is how we turn obstacles into opportunities how many times am I going to go through this same conflict versus all right I'm learning something from this I'm now going to make this better. I mean to me it's you know getting getting as much information is seemingly possible out in front of people at the onset is really really important I think especially in that kind of client service type of type of environment I think it's.
You know the small print is important you know and I think it's you know not just a small print but it's making sure that you're calling it out and people understand this is this is how we operate. Do you want to engage with us and being in a relationship with us but if you do just just know that this is our preferred method of you know of engagement.
Yeah, it's time for the action item or takeaway. Arturo, you just said something and I love it. This is how we operate and this is uniform across the board whether you're managing your team you're working with service providers whatever it is that having this standard for yourself because you can always go back to it. It's wide core values are so important because it's something to go back on and we're not correcting the action based on emotion or judgment we're saying listen.
These are core values this is the standard for how we operate on so this is where the leadership can come from what's your action item or takeaway. I think you know just being being being patient understanding and knowing that you have to these things have to be addressed whether you're an employee in organization whether you're the leader of the organization whether this is a client service relationship.
I think allowing conflict to fester is a bad thing but I think taking a very sensible approach and trying to understand where where these issues are arising from. I said before it's I think a lot of times it can be internally that there's some gaps in and just you know full understanding of kind of how things need to be.
And I think that can alleviate a lot of stuff and so if people are really trying if there's something that that a particular listener is like hey we've got. We've got these issues that are currently existing I think you got to go to the core I think you got to try to understand if there's a preventative way that everybody can be on the same page. At the inception of the relationship and that that oftentimes helps.
Yeah, I love it and we would love to hear from you do you have an example of a situation which conflict arose in your business and what was the action that you took to ensure that you turned that obstacle into an opportunity. Arturo, where can everybody connect with you? Yeah, the best place is going to be LinkedIn, Arturo Gomez and you can hit me up on Instagram or LinkedIn at Rob Cressy if you've not connected with Arturo, I highly recommend it.
We want to be a positive asset to you and your company and all that you do.
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