Managing Conflict at Work Text - Acas

36 Pages·2009·0.98 MB·English

Managing conflict at work
booklet
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Managing Conflict at Work Text 8/12/09 10:54 Page 1
Contents
1 Managing conflict at work: introduction 1
About this booklet 1
Your six step guide 2
About Acas 2
2 What are the signs of conflict? 3
How long has it been going on? 3
Symptoms of conflict 3
Reading the signs 4
3 Who is in conflict? 5
Conflict between individuals 5
Conflict between groups 6
4 What is causing conflict? 8
Personalities 8
Needs and expectations 9
Values 9
Unresolved problems from the past 10
Increase in workload 10
5 How do you manage conflict? 11
Develop a strategy 11
Managing conflict beween individuals 11
Managing conflict between groups 16
6 Do you need help? 20
Conciliation (where a claim to an Employment Tribunal is likely 20
or has been made)
Mediation (where no claim to an Employment Tribunal is likely 21
or has been made)
Arbitration 23
7 How can you prevent future conflict? 24
Keeping up-to-date 25
Managing Conflict at Work Text 8/12/09 10:54 Page 2
8 Appendix: Scenarios 26
Acas publications 29
Acas training 30
Managing Conflict at Work Text 8/12/09 10:54 Page 1
Managing conflict at work:
1
introduction
Conflict at work takes many forms. About this booklet
It may be that two workers simply This booklet gives you an overview
don’t get on; or that an individual of how to manage the relationships
has a grievance against their in your organisation between
manager. individuals, teams, and larger groups
of employees.
Conflict may take the form of rivalry
between teams; or it may be It will help you prevent future conflict
apparent by the lack of trust and and minimise the impact of ongoing
cooperation between large groups of conflict.
employees and management.
For information and advice on
How do you manage this conflict so negotiating with unions and setting
that it has a positive rather than a up representative groups of
negative impact on your workplace? employees see the Acas booklet
To prevent conflict leading to strikes Representation at work at
or employment tribunal claims you www.acas.org.uk.
need to intervene as soon as
possible. Mediation is being
increasingly used as a way of
providing a positive outcome to
conflict.
MANAGING CONFLICT AT WORK: INTRODUCTION 1
Managing Conflict at Work Text 8/12/09 10:54 Page 2
Your six step guide
The advice in this booklet is based on answering the following six questions:
1 What are the signs of conflict?
The sooner you see the signs, the sooner you can intervene and
resolve the problem
2 Who is in conflict?
This question is easy to answer if you have a good relationship with
your employees. Do they come and talk to you or do you rely on a
‘gut feeling’?
3 What is causing conflict?
The real causes of conflict can be deep lying. Once you’ve identified
the cause you may have to distinguish between someone’s ‘position’ –
what they want – and their ‘interests’ – why they want something
4 How do you manage conflict?
Some basic policies and procedures can help you manage conflict –
such as a procedure for handling grievances. There are also some
useful techniques you can use – for example the ‘problem-solving cycle’
5 Do you need help?
To end conflict someone – and, often, more than one person – has to
change they way they behave. You may need skilled help to achieve this
6 How can you prevent future conflict?
Acas has summarised 11 key principles for running an effective
organisation based on cooperation and trust. These include listening to
employees, treating them fairly and looking after their health and safety
About Acas We are a practical organisation. We
Acas is an independent, mainly have worked with businesses of all sizes
publicly funded organisation. For and from every sector. We are also:
over 30 years we have been: •impartial and do not ‘take sides’
•resolving conflict between
individuals, teams and groups •independent and unbiased – our
Council is made up of small
•promoting the use of employment business leaders, academics and
policies and procedures that help leading figures in the TUC and CBI.
prevent conflict, improve
employment relations and lead to If you would like to talk to an Acas
more efficient and effective mediator or find out about our training
organisations. or publications call the Acas Customer
Services team on08457 38 37 36 or
visit www.acas.org.uk.
2 MANAGING CONFLICT AT WORK
Managing Conflict at Work Text 8/12/09 10:54 Page 3
What are the signs of
1
conflict?
2
Some signs of conflict will be very Symptoms of conflict
visible. For example, you might: Before conflict develops people may
simply feel unhappy about
•witness a heated exchange colleagues or issues that are
between colleagues troubling them. You might notice the
following symptoms:
•attend a meeting between
management and employee •motivation drops: fewer people
representatives that turns into a volunteer to take on new tasks
stand-off. and there is little employee input
at team meetings or briefings
However, not all forms of conflict are
so obvious. Some individuals might •behaviour changes: people start
hide their feelings as a way of coping to make derogatory remarks
with a problem; while a team might towards each other and there are
react to pressure by cutting itself off fewer social events organised
from the rest of the organisation.
•productivity falls: there are likely to
be more queries and complaints if
How long has it been going on?
people are not cooperating with
The quicker that you recognise there
each other
is a problem the better. Conflict that
is ignored can often escalate. •sickness absence increases:
Spotting conflict at an early stage
unhappiness may lead to
gives you a better chance of:
depression or stress
•identifying the underlying causes •responses to staff attitude
surveys or questionnaires indicate
•reaching a sustainable agreement
underlying dissatisfaction.
•resolving the conflict.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF CONFLICT? 3
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Some of the symptoms – such as As a manager you are more likely to
absence levels – can be measured be able to interpret the behaviour of
and monitored. Recognising other your employees if you have regular
symptoms often relies on how channels for open communication
sensitive you are to the atmosphere and consultation. By listening to the
within an office or workstation. For views of your employees at an early
example, instead of talking through stage – before issues become
differences of opinion are employees potential problems – you can gauge
sending angry emails to each other? future reaction to proposed changes.
Employee feedback forms or
Reading the signs
questionnaires may also help you to
Some managers will find it easier put in place preventative measures
than others to pick up signs of to stop future conflict arising. See
conflict. There is often an element of ‘How do you prevent future
doubt. For example, is a row conflict?’ p24.
between a manager and an
employee a symptom of some
deeper problem or are they just
having an off day with each other?
How do you respond to conflict?
There are three common responses to conflict – which way do you respond?
Fight You react in a challenging way. At work this might mean
shouting or losing your temper.
Flight You turn your back on what’s going on. This is a common
reaction – by ignoring a problem you hope it will go away.
Freeze You are not sure how to react and become very passive. You
might begin to deal with the issue but things drift or become
drawn out through indecision.
These three reactions are almost instinctive.
However, in this booklet we explore a fourth approach to conflict – Face it.
This means approaching a problem in a calm and rational way with a
planned approach.
A problem-solving cycle can help you face problems – see p17 for more details.
4 MANAGING CONFLICT AT WORK
Managing Conflict at Work Text 8/12/09 10:55 Page 5
Who is in
conflict?
2
Conflict tends to fall into two broad and positive dialogue. If an employee
categories: feels able to approach you at an
early stage, then problems can often 3
•conflict between individuals be nipped in the bud before they
involving: become formal grievances.
– colleagues
– employees and their managers An employee and their manager
What if you are a manager and the
•conflict between groups involving: conflict involves you? It is not always
– teams easy to identify potential conflict if
– large groups of employees you are seen to be the cause of it.
and management. An employee may feel that:
•your management style is too
Conflict between individuals
authoritarian or too weak
Colleagues
Everybody will, at some time, have •you favour other work colleagues
problems or concerns with someone when you assign tasks.
else at work. An individual might feel
angry or upset about a colleague. An employee may talk to you about
There may be: how they feel, or they may suddenly
confront you with a list of grievances.
•a clash of personalities It can be hard for employees to
express their concerns with senior
•strong differences of opinion over colleagues. If they feel unable to
work talk to you they may go to another
manager or an employee
•an ‘overspill’ from personal issues representative. See p3 for more
outside work. signs of conflict.
Conflict between work colleagues
can often lead to accusations of
bullying or harassment. Good
managers should always be ready to
talk. Try to create a climate of open
WHO IS IN CONFLICT? 5
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Conflict between groups It is in the ‘storming’ phase that
Teams conflict is most likely – as people
The way a team works can be quite form cliques and jostle for position.
complex. There are often subtle However, this conflict is essential to
balances between personalities and the development of a successful
work responsibilities to be maintained. team.
Conflict within teams, or between
teams, can often take the form of: Groups of employees and
management
•rivalry between colleagues Conflict between groups of
employees and their employers is
•disagreements over a team’s often characterised by the classic ‘us
goals or shared values and them’ mentality. You may be
aware of:
•resentment that one team is not
pulling its weight. •a general resentment or anger
towards senior management
A lot has been written about the way
teams form and develop. In the •poor morale and low levels of
1960s Dr Tuckman, an educational motivation.
psychologist, developed a model to
describe the way groups behave as Conflict may become focused on
they work together. Tuckman’s specific issues. For example, groups
model identifies four distinct phases: of employees may feel very strongly
about:
•forming: the team is uncertain
how to proceed and behaviour is •health and safety
often reserved
•rates of pay
•storming: the team often argues
about who should do what and •redundancies
how
•lack of proper consultation.
•norming: the team agrees its core
tasks and individual roles within
the team
•performing: the team operates
along the agreed ‘norms’.
6 MANAGING CONFLICT AT WORK