Engaging in conflict resolution and conflict management is a common complaint for those who fulfill the responsibilities of being the owner of a small business, a senior employee in larger business or a departmental manager in a very large business. The reason this part of the job is such a challenge to the vast majority of us, is that it’s a realm of professional training that is not typically part of our educational background.
Regrettably, interpersonal conflict occurs in virtually every business, so management is required take on the role of referee when fouls occur or are perceived to have occurred. Conflict resolution simply comes with the territory of being a boss.
The biggest challenge with conflict resolution in the corporate world is that very few people in management have any training in corporate psychology. In order to try and solve every conflict, with every employee, every time, you have to have the wisdom of Solomon and the the background of Freud and even then, the people you counsel would have to accept your advice, and then follow through with it.
Human nature, from a clinical perspective, is all about preserving one's sense of "self" in the face of adversity and enmity in such a way that we don't feel vulnerable. The key to corporate conflict resolution lies in gaining an understanding that people want more to be perceived as being in the right than actually being right. This is where psychology teaches us of the principles related to self-image, ego and denial. Most conflict arises when individuals engage in self-preservation, not from a threat of dying, but from the threat of "dying to self".
Ararat Consulting provides management and leadership teams with skillsets in corporate psychology. Our clients become empowered to address corporate conflict resolution from a proactive perspective, not a reactive perspective, because when companies attempt to resolve conflict after the fact, it's always a formula for short term pain for very little long term gain. Ararat teaches leaders how to prevent conflict from happening in the first place. We work with your leadership team to create a corporate culture where conflict is managed by the individuals; proactively, maturely and definitively.
So conflict is resolved, no covered up.
So conflict doesn't reoccur.
So the leaders can focus on managing the business, which is what they were trained to do.
Because in the corporate world, leaders are supposed to be spending their time managing corporations, not marriage counseling.
BOTTOM LINE: Interpersonal conflict occurs in every corporate environment - there are no exceptions. How do you avoid losing money due to lost productivity from interpersonal and interdepartamental conflict?