Conflict is a dispute or misunderstanding that may occur in a variety of situations and environments, including the workplace. No serious partnerships and work conditions have total harmony. You must learn how to work with disagreements to be effective. If you are going to succeed in resolving disputes, you may also have to read and manage your feelings to consider the situation of opposing parties in a verbal and nonverbal way

Workplace conflicts can be caused by differences in intent, viewpoint or style between two or more parties. Conflict resolution is the practice of overcoming such differences and seeking shared ground for peaceful collaboration. Often the individual who settles a dispute may be a neutral member or mediator, whereas others may require a third-party view to find a solution.

The ability to resolve conflict is helpful to any organization. The steps listed below can help you resolve most conflicts that arise in the workplace:

1. Stay calm and maintain steady body language

It may be beneficial to take some deep breaths before you proceed the dispute resolution. Instead of standing, you should sit straight and pull your shoulders back to calm yourself. Additionally, you should avoid crossing both your feet and arms.

2. Find a private, comfortable place to discuss the conflict

Conflict and conflict settlement may be troublesome for those around you. Go to a private spot where you can focus on this issue. Participants in the dispute should be seated at reasonable distances from one another. Plus, there should be few bottles of water available during the conversation.

3. Acknowledge the problem exists

It is quite essential for all parties involved to recognize that there is an issue in order to come up with a productive resolution. Start the conflict resolution by peacefully sharing what conflict genuinely is about and encouraging the other parties to express their opinion. It’s important to use “I” statements, such as, "I feel like my ideas are notvalued” instead of "You never listen to my ideas.” Avoid blaming the conflict on an individual and instead create a safe place for everyone to voice their opinion

4. Agree to find a resolution

When the problem has been recognized, all must agree to resolve it. If you are mediating a situation and one person is unable to reach a settlement, you will need to seperate them individually and understand why and how it is possible for you to persuade them to participate.

5. Work to understand the perspective of everyone involve

People do not normally feel the need to cause trouble with others at the workplace. However, misunderstandings are more likely to be the root of dispute. Disagreement might not occur if you consider spending some time listening to and understanding the experience of your coworkers. (In some situations, individuals are attempting to cause the conflict. Therefore, HR may need to be involved sooner.

6. Take note of what triggered the conflict

Most people have to face a range of unknown stressors everyday, so they sometimes cannot control their emotions and bump into troubles with others. Deadlines, tiredness, families, wellness, hunger, burnout, and other factors may all play a part in causing emotional outbursts that leads to conflict. Learning the causes and stressors of the other involved parties might help you decrease the possibility of internal conflict in the future.

7. Identify opportunities for compromise

Disputes could end well or be properly resolved unless all involved parties agree to compromise. At this point of the resolution, it is vital to be willing to put aside ego or stubbornness. The resolution will feel best to everyone involved if all parties are able to compromise in some way. As you arrive closer to a resolution, look for areas where compromise is possible.

8. Agree on a plan for resolution

Ideally, at this point, everybody would have guidance about what they should do to make the situation better. Before concluding the discussion, strive to concentrate on action plans for everyone involved. The resolution plan might include apologies and changes in behavior to prevent the same conflict from arising again. For example, if an employee feels like their ideas are not being valued by their manager, the plan for resolution may include the manager setting aside time in 1:1’s to listen to ideas the employee has written down throughout the week.

9. Check in to make sure agreement is lasting

In settlement of conflicts, follow-up is critical. The conversation may have gone well, but it will lose meaning if the plan for resolution isn’t being followed. Set expectations by scheduling a check-in point within a few days or weeks to revisit how everyone is feeling and ensure that everyone is following the agreed-upon plan.

10. Involve HR or another third party if the conflict continue

By following the above steps, managers might be able to successfully resolve the internal conflicts. In caseone or more groups do not cooperate and the dispute may intensify, managers had better involve HR or senior leadership to the dispute settlement.