There is no “playbook” for the new work environment. As we head toward the end of the second
quarter and the end of the first half of the year, everything is different, and the challenges are greater than ever. The work environment is in flux with some companies demanding employees “come back to work” while others are telling their employees to stay remote.
We are still in the pandemic, inflation is running rampant, the price of gasoline is at an all-time high, global supply chains are in disarray, there is a global shortage of baby formula, workers are continuing to quit their jobs at the same time unemployment is back down to record lows, gun violence and the politics behind it is causing another rift in the fabric of our society, and at any given moment Russia could start World War III.
With all this chaos, it should be no surprise that employees spend at least 2.8 hours each week engaged in conflict according to CCP, Inc., a conflict data research firm. That equates to billions of dollars of wasted productivity every year.
Further statistics about business conflict are astounding:
- 85% of employees experience some kind of conflict
- 29% of employees nearly constantly experience conflict
- 34% of workplace conflict happens among employees on the front line
- 12% of employees say they often see conflict within the senior team
- 49% of workplace conflict happens as a result of personality clashes and egos
- 34% of workplace conflict is a result of workplace stress
- 33% of workplace conflict is a result of heavy workloads
- 27% of employees have seen personal attacks arise from conflicts
- 25% of employees have witnessed absence or sickness due to conflict
- 9% of employees have seen projects fail because of workplace conflict
In working with our clients, Advantexe has identified this topic as a critical business issue and has invested significant resources in research and tools to help train companies on how to resolve their business conflicts.
Step One – Assessing the Type of Business Conflict
A quick analysis of the data above presents several different causes of business conflict. At Advantexe, we believe that you are able to assess a business conflict and categorize it into one of four buckets:
- Conflicts over business assets like cash, budgets, access to innovation, systems, people, etc.
- Conflicts over business goals; sales are driven by quantity and manufacturing is driven by quality. When those two functions aren’t aligned, there is conflict.
- Conflicts over culture; you are from the west coast and very laid back and chill and I am from the east coast and all I know is go, go, go.
- Conflicts over business brand. Your brand of you is based on sincerity, attention to detail, and taking a long time to accomplish quality while my brand is about curiosity and disruptive change where I learn from failure. We will be in conflict if we ever must work together.
Step Two: Resolving the Business Conflict
After diagnosing the conflict, there is a simple 5-step process to resolve it that includes:
- Collaborating on exploring the root cause of the conflict
- Choosing common goals that are achievable
- Collective problem solving
- Developing mutually acceptable solutions
- Committing to resolving
Like many business leadership topics that have associated skills, simply reading about it is not enough. Last month at the ATD conference, Advantexe launched its new Resolving Business Conflict business leadership simulation. Since then, we’ve had learners engage in the learning-by-doing process and so far, the early results are encouraging. In before and after assessments, more than 85% of the simulation participants have reported a significant improvement in their confidence in resolving their business conflicts.
