Conflict!

The CIPD say:

"Poorly managed conflicts in the workplace are crippling British business. The average UK employee spends over two hours a week dealing with conflict, which means in total more than 370 million working days were lost last year at a cost to British employers of more than £24 billion.

The statistics are from a new global report Fight, Flight or Face It, jointly authored by business psychology firm OPP and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)." *

Now those are eye opening figures! But what do we mean by conflict management? Isn't managing conflict a "state too late"? Shouldn't it be conflict resolution we are all interested in?

Conflict management as a solution is destined for failure, because conflict resolution demands leadership, not management. Management provides compromises on issues under debate, but does not deal with the root causes of the conflicts. Leadership deals with the fundamental roots of conflict, not just the topic on the table, so what should leaders do?

For a start, leaders need to recognise that few conflicts are really about the issues people are disputing. Conflicts often arise from the different ways in which people view issues. We look to leaders not to get rid of conflict once and for all, but to channel the energies created by conflict into something constructive and creative. Not all conflict is necessarily bad; without conflict as the grit in the oyster, organisations can stagnate and die. When conflict presents a new view on a subject or a procedure, it can result in solutions not previously explored.

But can you teach people how to cope with conflict? The OPP/CIPD report says 'yes'!

"Where training does exist, it adds value: over 95% of people receiving training as part of leadership development or on formal external courses say that it helped them in some way. A quarter (27%) say it made them more comfortable and confident in managing disputes and 58% of those who have been trained say they now look for win–win outcomes from conflict."

But does that mean any old training will do? I would hesitate to say yes, you need to ensure that the training delivered has a real focus on the issues that face the organisation and aren't just 'off the shelf'. The Thomas-Killman conflict instrument (which is managed in the UK by OPP!) is perhaps the best known and, of course, highly successful conflict management tool, but what else is out there?

Using tools is one way of addressing a problem, whether it's a leadership model, communications model or conflict tool. Using them in the right context and with the right knowledge and understanding of the whole issue though is crucial to the learning having a real effect in the workplace.**

Keith Patching, previously a Director at Cranfield School of Management, says:

"In the area of conflict, for example, so many of the underlying assumptions have been that there is such as thing as a 'conflict' to manage. By objectifying (or 'reifying', as we philosophers say) 'conflict' it becomes in people's minds the thing that has to be dealt with. But, in reality, 'conflict' is not a thing to be managed or dealt with. The reality of conflict is the people, and their different views, attitudes, and perceptions."

Keith comments on the lack of tools out there for training leaders in good conflict resolution:

"There are many conflict management tools around these days, but the problem is as big today as it has ever been. Why don't the tools do their job? The answer is that most of them forget that conflicts do not exist on their own. Conflict resolution needs leadership, because conflicts are about people. You can't manage conflict if you can't lead the people involved in that conflict."

This is why Keith has partnered with the Complete Trainer to create a great one day leadreship programme that specifically addresses the areas that are lacking in many 'conflict management' training programmes. The LCS leadership and conflict programme helps leaders understand and deal with the causes of conflict, not just try and treat the symptoms.


* If you want to find out more about that report, either visit the OPP website or contact:

Gavin Collins / Orva Smith
Mandate Communications
E: gavin.collins@yourmandate.com or orva.smith@yourmandate.com

** For further information on the leadership and conflict training programme, developed using the Leadership, Character and Strategy model, then visit: http://www.completetrainer.co.uk/LCS_Leadership/Leadership_Conflict