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Important Topics on Harnessing the Power of Conflict

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Resoblog

Four Myths That Perpetuate Abrasive Behavior At Work

When we join a company, partnership or team, our expectation is that everyone involved will exhibit professional behavior toward us and each other. Instead, it’s highly possible that we may become one of the more than 60 million adults in the United States who are affected in some way by bullying behavior at work.

What kind of behaviors are we talking about? Our definition is any interpersonal behavior that causes emotional distress in others sufficient enough to impede their productivity or disrupt organizational functioning. It isn’t just a personality conflict — it’s a chronic pattern of disrespectful behavior.

When your business team starts spiraling down

A healthy business team is one with strong relationships and vibrant engagement. It’s a beautiful place to be, where people feel heard and creative ideas bump against each other in an open, constructive way. We call it the Creative Tension Zone and it’s the dream (or should be) of any organization with an aim toward consistent growth.

Teams fall out of this place for various reasons, and the spiral downward can devolve into destructive conflict. It is critical to know where you and your team are on the Conflict Curve in order to make good decisions in “real time” so you can recognize what’s happening and pull your team back from the Conflict Spiral abyss.

The Difference Between HR and Organizational Ombuds Functions

On average an ombuds will see 3-5% of an organization’s members in the course of a year. Our work as organizational ombuds has increased steadily over the last couple of years, where we’re initially called in because someone in leadership is being dogged by a “small” conflict that won’t go away but keeps festering and growing until they can’t sweep it under the rug any longer. (From there, we typically enter a contractual arrangement with clients where we serve as their ongoing go-to ombuds, mediator, and conflict adviser.)

10 Ways an Ombudsman Can Increase Your Workplace Productivity

He could have been sitting in the corner of the conference room where I was convening as Organizational Ombuds for a team that was stuck - there was (emotional) clutter, plenty of discord, and a really difficult situation. Tension was high, people were venting. At any moment (my experience told me) someone could explode with frustration. It was like a freight train approaching the room, about to crash!

Creative Tension in the Workplace: Who needs it? You do!

Creative Tension Zone is where huge ideas emerge, innovation thrives, and empires are built! The most successful workplace teams know how to manage constructive conflict to encourage creative tension. What every leader needs to know about leveraging the power of conflict in a team.

Workplace Conflict: How to Deal with Hot Buttons

Have you ever said: “That person just presses my buttons”? We call these 'conflict hooks', because your reaction to the button-pusher has the potential to feed conflict. Understanding what conflict hooks are can help you and your team make better response choices.

9 Early Warning Signs of Workplace Conflict

Conflict doesn't just appear out of nowhere. There are always signs warning that a conflict is developing. Managers who know what these signs are can be more effective leaders by confronting the problem before it rages out of hand. By resolving conflict in the early stages, the company will run much more smoothly and the overall productivity level will be increased considerably. What are these subtle signs of conflict to look for?...

December 05, 2023

When you find yourself on the receiving end of conflict at work

December 05, 2023/ Mark Batson Baril

In the heat of a tough conversation that hooks us (or the other guy) emotionally, those emotions can get the better of us. Our egos get slapped around, our precious values are attacked, even our personal safety can feel threatened.

The truth is that conflict is natural. When two or more people, or groups of people, are not meeting each other’s needs, conflict can arise. When managed well, the conflict can become a productive, creative exchange that brings out something new, collaborative and wonderful—positive conflict.

November 15, 2023

7 benefits to building conflict resilience into your org culture

November 15, 2023/ Mark Batson Baril

Why build conflict resilience into your company’s culture?

Fact: In any business environment, challenges and disagreements WILL happen. For a productive and happy workplace it’s crucial to have a plan in place to manage and de-escalate negative conflicts—with the intention to head them off before they begin.
The costs of conflict to your business are real and they are high.

February 23, 2023

What if your employees are afraid to speak out?

February 23, 2023/ Mark Batson Baril

"See something, say something" or "Snitches get stitches?" headlines the 2023 Ethical Culture Report, recently released by Ethisphere Institute. The standout for me from this analysis of global trends in org culture was about unethical behavior in the workplace and how, or if, employees are reporting it.

What struck me is that even though employees responded that they were willing to report misconduct when they saw it, only about half of them actually did so.

Why do they make the choice not to report misconduct?

August 02, 2022

Five Steps to Build Better Team Relationships

August 02, 2022/ Mark Batson Baril

Building great companies takes building great teams. Building great teams takes...conflict.

Sound counterintuitive! Especially in an economy where going out on a limb imposes a lot more risks than usual, who would want to add conflict to the equation?

It’s natural to avoid conflict. It’s what separated life and death for early cavemen; we have evolved but with that same wiring embedded in our psyche: “Keep things safe'' and “Don’t rock the boat.” In today’s world, avoiding conflict actually becomes a detriment in building the relationships teams need in order to work together and get things done.

February 01, 2022

Outside Help for an Inside Problem: What can mediation do for you?

February 01, 2022/ Mark Batson Baril

Have you ever witnessed something that had you wondering if you should call someone? Someone on the ground, a car accident, a kid by themselves— these situations leave most of us wondering if everything is alright, if help is already coming, if we need to do anything, or if the situation will resolve itself.

Deciding to bring in an outside mediator is kind of like that. Except you don’t watch a split-second event occur; instead, it unfolds over weeks or months, drip by drip, seeping into the environment and culture, until it almost becomes normalized.

But just because something is normal does not mean it’s okay.

April 22, 2021

Four Reasons Why You Need to Train Your People in Conflict Management

April 22, 2021/ Mark Batson Baril

[updated, April, 2018: 5 Reasons to Get Proactive on Conflict Management Training]

The benefits of skillfully managed conflict to an organization’s growth have never been more crucial than in today’s competitive, ever-changing global economy. Conversely, a dispute that is ignored or handled badly can quickly cause distraction, raise stress levels, create barriers to productivity, communications and innovation — and escalate to negative outcomes that cost an organization in measurable ways.

The literature supports conflict-competency benefits and training — but do you believe that there’s ROI on an organization’s investment in training and support for the purpose of developing conflict competency skills and systems before a dispute arises?

March 23, 2021

The High Costs Of Unmanaged Conflict In Your Organization

March 23, 2021/ Mark Batson Baril

Teams conflict can result in positive or negative outcomes, but unmanaged conflict nearly always results in negative outcomes that can be measured in the form of real dollars lost. Conflict is a given, but the outcomes of that conflict are a choice. What are the consequences of choosing to ignore conflict?

Estimating the costs of unmanaged conflict

We have developed a survey tool to help our clients (team leaders, startup partners and other professionals) identify and quantify the likely costs of conflict to their particular organization. Our "Cost of Conflict Calculator" tool estimates costs using averaged industry data and a team's dynamic information. The survey questions are designed to collectively support an estimate of past and future dollar costs of the conflict their team is experiencing.

February 23, 2021

Got Conflict? How to Measure the Dollar Cost of Negative Conflict in Your Workplace

February 23, 2021/ Mark Batson Baril

Got Conflict? Is it helping or hurting your team? Find out right now by measuring the dollar costs.

“Show me the money!”

In my work with companies around conflict and its costs, I have heard that iconic statement from many, many people. Business savvy folks want to know what a conflict is actually costing them in real dollars. We set out in 2013 to build a single calculator that would show exactly that, and the result is the Cost of Conflict Calculator™. A few years later and over 2,000 responses (and counting as we continue to successfully offer this tool), that journey has reinforced three major points:

There is a duality to conflict. Conflict will always exist and there are positive and negative outcomes from conflict depending upon how it is managed.
Creativity and innovation are deeply affected by how a work team deals with conflicting ideas and task conflicts.
We are able to measure and put a value on the positive and negative outcome of conflicts.

December 03, 2020

Five Elements Of Creating Conflict-Competent Teams

December 03, 2020/ Mark Batson Baril

Building great companies takes building great teams. And I believe building great teams takes conflict.

Wait, what?

For many leaders, this might be a tough concept to stomach. It’s understandable that most of us want to avoid conflict like the plague because it’s typically perceived as negative and disruptive. It can also, in more extreme cases, lead to costly resolutions.

October 06, 2020

Organizational Tools: How’s Your Virtual Workplace Doing?

October 06, 2020/ Mark Batson Baril

By now you are settling into whatever your particular virtual workplace needs to be for the next several months. You have some organizational shifts in place, the tech up and running to meet virtually and for your people to work from home (WFH), and made pivots to keep your operations and processes running smoothly.

It must feel really different not to be in the physical workplace — not sitting across from each other in a meeting, popping over to the next cubicle for a quick creative confab, or having the casual contact that builds relationships. You might even be (secretly) happy that the usual “water cooler” gossip, interpersonal tiffs, and snarky obstructionist pushbacks you deal with in the office won’t happen anymore.

Hold on….Don’t go there. Conflict still happens.. Your leadership skills are now being called up to keep your virtual team(s) intact, productive, motivated, and conflict competent.

October 08, 2019

I’m an Ombuds - What’s in My Toolbox?

October 08, 2019/ Mark Batson Baril

The Organizational Ombuds is being seen more and more as an important service for organizations in a complex world. The profession has existed for centuries yet remains relatively unknown, especially as anything beyond someone to call in for disputes to avoid litigation.

Yes, we do that, but the real and lasting benefit is when we partner with HR leadership to build a workplace culture which is empowered to overcome disputes, conflict and barriers that keep the organization from thriving.

It’s a little like building a house: A reputable contractor brings in experts in different areas such as roofing, masonry, and electrical systems to ensure that the building will be up to code, run efficiently, and for a reasonable amount of time. This foundational expertise is as important as the actual structure itself to create a viable, lasting living space.

January 11, 2018

A Case for Disagreeing in the Workplace

January 11, 2018/ Mark Batson Baril

The title of a Harvard Business Review article snagged my attention: “Why We Should Be Disagreeing More at Work.” I have made a science and life’s work out of this concept, called (perhaps loftily) “conflict competence,” and to see it described so simply really turned my head. Author Amy Gallo’s take is refreshing and spot-on, and a recommended read.