Avoiding Conflict at Work

As you stand to take a plunge into the corporate world away from the comforting company of your friends and well wishers of college days, you may well find yourself dealing with people who are just not your type. And when it comes to working in a team you are bound to face conflicts.
We rely on and spend more time with our colleagues than with most other people in our lives: yet we frequently experience conflict at work. In a way it’s obvious and in a way ironical.
Conflict is such a broad term for what can be experienced, ranging from office gossip to outright being physically aggressive. In nearly every single office there are always going to be personality clashes at some point, and most of the time they will be fairly easily sorted out. However,
sometimes they aren't and there is often no other option than to resign.
The real problem underlying this situation is that people really don't have the skills to deal with these kinds of situations. They frequently accept the problem when it is happening and then get really upset afterwards. I don’t say that you’ll come out winners every time but the five ways in which you can perhaps come out of the tricky situation are:

1. Avoidance (also can be known as Ignoring (I Lose / You Lose)) This is the most frequently used strategy along with accommodation. Here conflict is avoided by simply refusing to engage in the situation.

Example: Someone making a sly comment and the person it was aimed at simply walks
away. While this obviously is not a good way of dealing with conflict the majority of the time as it tends not to help, it is worth being considered as a strategy for when the conflict is just not worth the effort of being addressed.

2. Accommodation (also can be know as Looking Good (I Lose / You Win)) Here you take the conflict and submit.

Example: Listening to unhelpful criticism and believing it. Again, very frequently used especially where there is low confidence and self-esteem. This is another not very successful method of dealing with conflict, but it will do if you know that there is a solution coming soon.

3. Compete (I Win / You Lose)
This one means that you play the person at his or her own game and work hard to get your own way in the conflict.

Example: Someone starts spreading rumors about you, so you do the same in return in an attempt to discredit the power of the other person's word. This can be very useful when the conflict is mild and you are passionate about your stance, but can lead to a vicious circle as the conflict escalates. Be very sure you want to use this strategy as lowering yourself
to someone else's level rarely shows you in the best light.

4. Compromise (Illusion of I Win / You Win but not in real sense)

It’s more of an adjustment from both the sides....but the pinch is still there. A much more useful tactic to use. Here you don't give in to the conflict, but work out a solution somewhere between the two sides.

Example: Someone delegates a huge amount of work to your already over-filled plate, you respond by taking on some of it, and then recommending that this person parcel out the rest to other people. This is the strategy of choice for most untrained managers as this is how we frequently deal with children in real life - and so it is a behavior we all know about. This can of course lead to the obvious downfall of the actual solution leaving none of the sides happy. This is best to use when the goal is to get past the issue and move on - with the issue having relatively little significance.

5. Collaborate (Actually I Win / You Win)

This is the most effective and correct strategy to follow. You start working on Alternative Options. The most useful tactic, particularly with extremes of conflict such as bullying. The aim here is to focus on working together to arrive at a solution, where both sides have ownership of and commitment to the solution.

Example 1: You and someone else are at completely opposed viewpoints over a project.
You sit down with them and work out why they believe in their point of view, and explain your own. Clever and lateral thinking can provide a solution, which answers both sides, but is not a compromise.

Example 2: Someone is bullying you at work. You talk to this person and collaborate
on modifying his behavior.

Use this strategy when the goal is to meet as many of the current needs as is possible. It’s the most difficult strategy if confidence is low as it involves actually naming the issue to the conflict-creator, which can cause huge anxiety and fear.
To collaborate successfully on an issue such as continuing conflict you need to follow few basic guidelines.

You must recognize that part of the problem is your own fault: you allowed it to happen and did not try to address it to begin with. You can use this aloud and actively take part of the responsibility, as this will put the onus onto the other person to take the other part of the responsibility. Remember that we frequently don't like in others what we don't want to see in ourselves, but find occasionally anyway. Be very sure that you have not committed the same conflict and that you do not in the future.

Manage yourself during the resolution attempt - learn calming strategies if you are hot-tempered or confidence boosters if you are shy. Do not to be emotional, as emotion will only make things escalate.
Don't believe that the best defence is a good offence - that is part of the Competing strategy.
Work the issue, not the person: this means addressing the behavior rather than the entire existence of that person. There is a different level of ownership for behaviors, and people will take less offence if you criticize their behavior than if you criticize them personally.

Never lay blame, as this will only fan the fires. If you are not getting anywhere, ask for further information from the other person about the reasons for their behavior, but don't ask the
questions with 'why' at the beginning - if you do this will actively put the other person under the spotlight and they will get defensive.
Remember above all, that people who enjoy creating conflict are ultimately power-seekers who enjoy controlling others. Frequently this is because either they have suffered in a similar way before or feel that they have very little control over their own lives and does anything they can to feel in control. A little compassion will take you a long way both in resolving the situation and in putting it behind you when it is resolved. One of the most important strategies for collaboration is to start "Listening First".