Leadership

Managing Conflict at Work – How Can a Career Coach Help?

Conflict-ManagementDo you shudder with fear or dread when you hear the word ‘conflict’? Would you do anything to avoid it, sidestep it, ignore it, or somehow fix disagreements without actually dealing with them?

Unfortunately, conflict is an inevitable part of human interactions, at home or at work, and it won’t go away just because we understandably, would prefer not to deal with it.

Having the skills to manage conflict can make the difference between success and failure in the workplace. Working with a career coach can give anyone facing conflict a better understanding of their situation and the confidence to better manage difficult workplace dynamics.

It can also be useful for those adapting to a change in an organizational structure, work setting, team makeup or direction, or in assisting emerging leaders to reach their greatest potential by managing the inevitable bumps along the way.

In working with a career coach, you will be given the opportunity to:

  • Identify factors that create conflict in the workplace
  • Evaluate conflicts to determine if they can be resolved
  • Understand different behavioral styles and know how to adjust to each
  • Learn how differences in communication styles can produce tense situations
  • Appreciate how cultural experience and background diversity affect interpretations of conflict
  • Effectively deal with difficult people and challenging situations
  • Practice stress-reduction techniques to maintain focus and balance in the workplace

Understand the Factors that Create Workplace Conflict

In working with a career coach, you can explore the multiple causes for workplace conflict. Small problems left unaddressed can escalate quickly into full-scale hostility or worse. In addition to identifying the causes, you can explore the potential consequences that are possible when problems are not resolved.

Evaluate the Situation

Is a conflict real or imagined? Large or small? Solvable or hopeless? A career coach can help you look at the specific situations that are potentially conflict inducing, and evaluate each to determine how serious they might become. You will have the opportunity to discuss possible solutions and learn strategies to solve specific conflicts.

Discover Different Behavioral Styles

How does your behavioral style affect others, and how do you work with others who have different behavioral styles? Learn how to identify your own behavioral style and those of your coworkers. Knowing the differences is beneficial to all who hope to prevent, preempt, or conquer workplace conflict.

Learn Effective Communication Skills

It’s not always what you say; sometimes it’s how you say it. Explore how to present information to people with different communication styles. By developing your communication skills, you can learn how body language as much as verbal language can be used to put others at ease, convey empathy, and pave the way for honest communication.

Become Aware of Cultural Differences

In addition to behavioral styles, people vary in how they perceive situations based on their backgrounds, cultures and experiences. Learn to look at situations in which conflicts might arise as a result of cultural expectations and differences – and ways in which to anticipate problems stemming for such differences.

Dealing with Challenging People

Sometimes you can do everything the “right” way and still find yourself in conflict with others. Working with a career coach, you can learn different techniques for effectively dealing with difficult people and challenging situations.

Learn to De-Stress

The act of dealing with conflict at work can take a toll on an individual. Discover different ways in which you can relieve work-related stress for the purpose of ensuring your own sense of wellbeing and quality of life at work.

It is absolutely possible to learn techniques and ways of thinking that help us manage and even resolve conflict with co-workers, bosses, or employees. By working with a career coach you can work on skills to resolve conflict in constructive ways, practice alternative ways to replace habitual and counterproductive behaviors, and learn effective strategies for resolving conflict in the workplace.

If you have any questions, please ask below!