Managing conflicts is one of leadership’s top issues in every company.

A conflict between 2 or more persons can be very damaging to the organization and to you as a leader. It can erode your team performance and increase attrition. As a leader, what do you need to pay attention to in order to manage a conflict efficiently?

Here are a few key steps you should use to manage a conflict effectively:

1. Setup the rules for the discussion, for instance respect the other, no blame, confidentiality, etc.
2. Have each person in turn explain what the issue is from their standpoint. Do not allow interruption from the other person(s)
3. Have each person answer to you directly questions like: What’s happening for you? How do you feel when you hear what is said
4. Once there is shared interest between the people, ask them to confirm that they are serious about solving the conflict
5. Invite the people to have a discussion between themselves and discuss actions they want to take together
6. Get people to commit to doing these actions and set a date to check progress

As a leader, how do you cope with managing conflict? What is a challenge? Tell me in the comments.

For comments or questions, please visit my website or contact me at pascal@p-m-coaching.com