5 tips to avoid conflicts at work

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Simple tricks can save you a lot of drama and improve your relationships with colleagues.

1. Rewind the situation

Let's imagine a scenario like this. You and your colleagues work on a project, dividing tasks for everyone. And then someone from the team stops responding to messages. It is not known whether he will have time to do everything by the deadline, which means that someone else will have to take on his part of the work, and that someone is you. In an annoyed state, you complain to a colleague. The next day, the missing person suddenly appears and already knows everything that you have said about him. A tense conversation is inevitable.

Now let's think about why this happened. Perhaps the whole point is that you shared your emotions with a person with whom you have not established a trusting relationship.

Sometimes it seems that we are understood without words and our views are shared. But such a picture can only develop in imagination, and not in reality. The interlocutor did not undertake the obligation to keep your words secret. You yourself decided that he would do it.

In a situation like this, do not try to understand why he did this. It doesn't really matter. It is better to concentrate on your own actions so as not to repeat them in the future.

2. Go back to the facts

Some people like to imagine problem situations at work in advance. Maybe they even convince themselves that this will help prepare for any development of events and react quickly during a conflict. In fact, this only causes unnecessary anxiety and suspicion. And a person begins to look for a hidden meaning in the actions of colleagues, although there is no reason for this.

Or, perhaps, you yourself noticed that some of your colleagues walked around with a pensive look, and began to select explanations for this. Maybe he is dissatisfied with the work? Or is it bad for you personally? Having settled on one option, you begin to perceive it as a fact, and this can affect your communication with this person. Although at that moment he could think about anything not related to work.

In both cases, it is important to stop in time. Go back to the facts you know for sure, and don't go overboard.

3. Let off steam

It is very useful to have a friend at work to whom you can complain when something goes wrong with a task or a client demands the impossible. This is not the colleague from the first example who just happened to be there when you were annoyed. And the one to whom you trust and to whom you can calmly pour out your soul.

This is necessary periodically, so don't keep negative emotions to yourself. But do not forget to switch to something positive after each "therapy session". Otherwise, you risk ruining the mood for yourself and your friend for the whole day.

For example, think about what an unpleasant situation might teach you or how you might change the way you approach it. If you are the listener yourself, remind your friend of this.

4. In difficult cases, communicate verbally

Nowadays, many people prefer to communicate with colleagues in writing. It's quick and convenient, but the problem is that the messages do not convey the intonation of the interlocutor and can cause confusion.

Sometimes there comes a time when you need to call or meet in person. The conversation can be tricky. To avoid conflict, try to understand your colleague's point of view.

For example, start like this: "So you were upset when I …" or "You wanted to deal with the situation differently, but I …". Then you will definitely understand each other's positions.

5. Learn not to waste energy

Let's say you are going to meet with a client and discuss it with a colleague. He promises to support you during negotiations and agree with your recommendations. Before that, he had already let you down, but you talked and seemed to have established a relationship. So you decide to trust him.

And at the meeting, the client does not accept your advice, and the colleague takes his side. You look stupid. I don't want to arrange the stage in front of the customer, I have to restrain myself. And after that, the colleague also has the courage to declare that the meeting was crazy.

What to do? Surely you want to tell him a couple of affectionate ones. He let you down the second time! But in this case, it is better to turn off the conversation at the first opportunity and move away from it.

You do this not for your colleague, but for yourself, in order to save your energy and nerves. Don't try to understand why he did this. And do not try to re-educate him, nothing will come of it. Just remember that it is very likely that he will do it again. And behave with him accordingly.