Whether you are at work discussing ideas with your team or a social media platform like Placetochat where people create international connections and chat, conflict can still occur. When people work or communicate under stress, problems are bound to arise.
Existence of conflict is not that much of an issue, the main issue is whether there is a comprehensive strategy to resolve the arising conflict especially when it starts to impact your relationship with other people. Even though conflict can help create a competitive working environment, it also bring everything to a dead stop if it is not watched.
Resolving conflict is not easy, especially because it is a condition that is sparked by anger and other types of emotions that may not respond well to rational engagement. However, there are ways that can be used to resolve and minimize the effects of conflicts.
Below are 10 conflict resolution strategies you can use today to avert unwanted situations:
- Set Acceptable Standard Behaviors
Even before conflict arises, you can eliminate or minimize potential problems by outlining accepted behavior or limits one cannot exceed. For example, If two people communicating on Placetochat know what they can’t say or do in the conversation, then this will prevent conflict from happening in the first place. Being respectful and trying to listen to each other’s ideas without judging are just some of the standards that can be set to minimize conflict in communication.
It is the responsibility of all leaders tasked with resolving conflicts to set standards. This can be done by creating a framework of how conversations can run, and proper guidelines that should be followed. The more guidelines are set, the more they can be followed. Social media chat platforms can also set standards for their users to help prevent conflicts. For example during sign up users can be informed to avoid abusive languages or bullying during conversation with others.Terms and conditions for example on Placetochat can outline the regulations that will promote peace.
- Don’t Run Away From Conflict
There are so many ways you can use to resolve conflicts, depending on who you are as a person. One of the ways is to ignore the conflict and let involved parties resolve it on their own. This is not the worst approach because people still need to know how to collaborate with each other, and one way to do that is to master conflict resolution strategy.
Don’t avoid dealing with conflict simply because it is hard or because you don’t want to rebuke someone. It will be a huge mistake to do that. Not resolving conflict, gives room for things to get worse than they already are.
- Find a Neutral Ground
One of the first steps you can use to eliminate conflicts is to change the environment. Anger is often tied to a particular place. This may sound crazy but leaving a chatroom where conflict is happening will allow both parties to look at the conflict in a different perspective. To resolve the conflict, you’ll need to bring the involved individuals to a common ground or a neutral place that will cool things down, so that each party can have a constructive conversation.
If conflict reaches a level of physical fight, say in an office, or any other place. Then you can suggest for the parties to meet in a restaurant or a different place with a comfortable atmosphere where they can deal with the issue productively.
- Use Compliments
After leaving the environment where conflict started, you can now address the issue at hand. What you don’t want to do is jump into a conversation with accusations. Your task is to hear both sides and come to a conclusion based on the needs of work being done and facts. For conflicting parties to feel comfortable talking to you, you need to start by complimenting them. You want to show that none of them is wrong or right, your main goal is to attack the problem and not the people.
- Avoid Jumping to Conclusions
The causes of conflict can be more complex than they look at first, so it is advisable to not conclude anything at the beginning. Even where the cause looks obvious, allow everyone the opportunity to share their perspective. Try to hear the history of the conflict without assuming anything about any person. Gather details like an investigator and then use the wisdom of a judge to weigh things out.
- Focus on Opportunities
Even though some conflicts are followed by consequences, others are just sparked by people with good intentions, but coming at situations from different points of view. The reality is that when conflicts occur, there is also an opportunity to learn something new. Being a good conflict resolution manager is seeing the conflict as a way of addressing the problem that was previously hidden.
- Provide Guidance, Not Solutions
When addressing conflict, whether in real life or a communication platform like Placetochat, another thing you need to think about is how to offer guidance and not righting the wrong. This means that in the same way there is an obvious cause for the conflict, there is also a way to get conflicting parties back on the same page so they can communicate or work productively.
Don’t take sides in the conflict, instead it is best if you can get both sides to work together in resolving the conflict. Take more time to guide conflicting individuals to the best conclusion.
- Use Constructive Criticism
Sometimes the conflict can be extremely wrong and the only proper way to address it is through criticism. But remember the people you are criticizing are the similar people you may need to work with tomorrow. Therefore, you need to criticize without causing bitterness. Constructive criticism plays a huge part here, it enables you to address the problem and lay blame while also supporting the good things that have been done.
- Don’t Use Intimidation
As a conflict resolution manager, you are not supposed to abuse your position. It might seem like a quick way to correct a problem, but it can make the problem worse in the long run. The parties involved in conflict will not learn anything from this act apart from fear and intimidation. Next time there is an issue that needs your attention, they may not confide in you. In a work environment, team members may keep you in the dark for fear of your reaction, and this may cause things to go beyond repair.
It is important to work through your conflict resolution, in a way that it won’t occur in future.
- Act Decisively
Resolving conflict takes time, and you also need to take time to ensure you find the right conflict resolution strategy. Ensure every issue is resolved and don’t leave any void.
