SOLUTIONS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT By Brock Culpepper
How to resolve a conflict before it manifests itself Focus on and build healthier relationships within a workplace team
T
he world is full of conflicts both large and small. The typical industrial workplace is no different. Even within each of us there are conflicts between competing impulses. Controlling what one eats is a struggle for many of us. Binge-watching favorite television series instead of exercising is another example. The costs vary depending on the activity and the level of participation associated with that activity. Discussions with people in substance abuse rehabilitation programs often contains this advice: “Draw a line in the sand. Decide now, while you are in a safe environment. Understand that entertaining the thought of participation is one step in the opposite direction of where you want to be.” This article focuses on building healthier relationships within a workplace team.
Team members’ conflicts
Consider having to resolve a conflict between team members. Was there a natural response that potentially produced undesirable results, extending a negative situation for an indefinite period of
time, creating a downhill cycle or making things even worse? There is something simple people can do ahead of time that will serve as a template for dealing with and overcoming the future conflict: Conduct a values survey. A values survey is a simple exercise of proactively finding out what is most important to an individual in the plant. It allows discovery of a person’s principles or standards of behavior — one’s judgment of what is important in life. For every employee on the team, find out the top five or so things they esteem the most. Keep that list in a convenient place. For some, those areas can be faith, family, teamwork, integrity, trust, creativity/ innovation and giving. Teams can find a list of values online. Write them on a white board and have people circle their top values. Also available is this free online tool created by Motion Industries: (https://tinyurl. com/y4robrvs).
Know your team
Putting conflict resolution aside, this kind of exercise allows people to get to know their team better. Gaining knowledge concerning what is important to a person gives one a unique insight into how to relate to that person. Give them projects based on certain passions they select. Avoid task misalignment. It may not be desirable to have the outgoing, interactive, people-person who values “community” keying data into an Excel spreadsheet all Figure 1: Begin on a positive note and demonstrate what a “healthy team” looks like from your perspective, as it relates to the situation at hand, through a simple cycle graphic. Courtesy: Motion Industries
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• March 2021
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