Ebb and Flow: Navigating Workplace Conflicts
By Josh Bledsoe (PC Spring ’16)
As I have only arrived to the tender age of 22, I cannot fully portray nor understand the fullest complexities of workplace life. Just as well, I cannot actualize all of the difficulties that may be present in any given work scenario, as the industry and experience of an individual cannot possibly extrapolate to a broad and diverse audience — each member of which with his or her own immediate scenario. Nonetheless, the topic of workplace conflict cannot go unaddressed, as the possible ways in which interpersonal relationships can go sour has no bound. In this message, I analyze (and generalize) workplace conflicts with the purpose of informing you not only of the challenges you face, but some of the skills, ideas, and resources available to you as well.
As existentialist and critically-acclaimed writer Jean Paul Sartre wrote in his play No Exit:
“Hell is other people.”
A morose yet evocative read, Sartre’s fiction captures the fundamental problem with interaction in the workplace — that is, that people are not you, and therefore do not necessarily agree with you. Even if you think they should agree with you, they will not. Others will never cease to surprise you with their unyielding propensity to crawl under your skin. This lays the foundation for the workplace, and the predication on which we arrive to our first tennant of occupational conflict:
1. There WILL be conflict, and you likely cannot avoid it.
I try to avoid dragging the mood down in a room, and I genuinely apologize if you just spat your drink out upon reading that first axiom of conflict. I stand by it however, as I am convinced that no matter your efforts, there will always be a likelihood that things can turn sour in the workplace. However, I feel that the real take-away from this is that conflict is not something to be feared or disdained, but rather it is something to be expected. This expectaion, like that of any other approaching issue, allows for proper preparation and dilligence. In Alpha Kappa Psi, we have an interesting way of learning to “Batman” our way out of scenarios — that is, we learn to prepare in advance, and be ready when the impending issue finally rears its head. Workplace conflict should be no different in my opinion. If you allow yourself the time and resources to analyze how workplace conflict arises, you can be ready when it does, and facilitate a more expeditious recovery. This is good for both you as an employee and the company as a whole, as wasted time, emotions, and money are all minimized. To mitigate the fallout and difficulties of workplace conflict, be prepared.
2. When conflict arises, it is not time to ACT, it is time to THINK.
I formally began my tutoring and teaching career at the age of 19, where I had the great opportunity of instructing roughly 60 bright minds in the areas of Algebra, Geometry, and Mathematics at a private school in the Metro Atlanta Area. While there, my students undoubtedly heard me as a broken record, telling them about the “Danger Zone” of learning. This zone is best illustrated by a cartesian plot of proficiency (of any given topic) versus time:
Simply put: when learning about a given topic, there are three general phases that a person will pass through. The first stage involves low proficiency with the given topic, yielding high difficulty and low skill. At this point, the learner knows that he/she is unskilled in the topic, and will be very conserved in their approach to solutions in such an area. Interestingly, this reserved and cautious style is also seen in the third phase of learning, in which a person has a achieved a high level of understanding, and while they have a lot of the skills necessary to succeed, they also have knowledge of the potential difficulties that will be faced when endeavoring to solve pertinent problems. The unique second phase of learning is where people (myself, perhaps, more than anyone) fall into trouble. In this phase, the learner has gained a fair amount of knowledge, but not so much that they are able to adequately gague what they are truly capable of in the overall scheme of the topic. Thus, the subject is liable to overestimate themself, resulting in a poor outcome. A good example is a student learning Algebra. If a student has learned the F.O.I.L. method of combining two binomial expressions very well, they may be overconfident in their ability to extrapolate what they know, to say, a similar problem involving a set of one binomial and one trinomial expression. The student falters in their ability to succeed in solving the problem because they were haughty and volatile and did not ask questions, and the result is a sub-optimal outcome.
Workplace conflict falls within this motif as well. If you find yourself in a position of conflict, and you are really confident and excited to move forward with whatever hypothetical scenario you find in your head at the time, it is time to put the email away, step outside for a cup of coffee, and re-assess what you are about to do. Not only will you thank yourself for it, but those around you will notice your patience, and you may find that this mindset pays dividends.
I could ramble on this topic for hours, but instead I will move on to my final provocative point on workplace conflict.
3. Do not face your scenario alone.
This statement is the single most important one in this entire post. If you face trouble in the workplace, the most critical thing to do is to ensure that there are more parties involved in the scenario than just you and the other individual/group involved in the conflict. Human Resources may or may not serve as a powerful resource in this, as the environment and political landscape of each company varies. If HR can provide productive assistance, and/or if the situation merits that type of involvement, consider them as your caregiver. They are intended to be your go-to for such problems, and it is important that any large conflict involve them as a logistical necessity. If the situation does not need that level of escalation, at least be sure that confrontation does not occur behind closed doors. There is a time and place for conflict, and such a time and place is not where additional accusations can be plausibly generated. Ensure that whatever is happening stays on point and relevant to the conflict at hand, as no one wants a simple match to lead to an uncontrolled conflagration. A small struggle exists with this idea, as it is a bit uncouth to involve others in an argument. There is a key to every type of interaction however, and conflict does not necessitate a loss in value. Consider that approaching someone without an alternative agenda will allow for everyone involved to come out on top in the end.
Get professional opinions, exhibit strong self control, and be prepared to learn and grow as you work through what can be one of the most confusing experiences in a workplace.
Originally published at gtakpsite.com on November 16, 2017.
