Conflict at work can either fuel or disrupt the momentum of an organization. When teams are working in a hectic and tense environment, it gives rise to disagreements and unnecessary arguments.

Managing conflict can become challenging, especially for leaders who are not familiar with the intricacies of daily operations and the concerns of the team members involved.

Even a trivial issue can create ruckus if it is not handled at the right time and in the right manner. It becomes the responsibility of leaders in such crucial times to take effective steps in order to prevent conflicts.

“A true leader should assess conflict situations correctly, and handle them carefully so that healthy team tension doesn’t turn into disruptive chaos.”

Sadly, many leaders prefer to avoid tense situations and insist on maintaining a fake harmonious environment. This helps enhance their popularity in the workplace initially. However, what they don’t realize is that this eventually leads to further build-up of negativity and internal disruption amongst team members.

A leader must try to actively neutralize or minimize such difficult situations so that they do not get out of hand. When leaders help resolve conflicts, it strengthens the trust within the team. Employees are then better able to optimize their output and efficiency for the growth of the organization.

How to Deal with Conflict

It is a leader’s responsibility to create and sustain the workplace momentum, engage employees in healthy discussions, and handle conflicts delicately. To help with this process, the following will help:

1. Right Timing

Most conflicts occur due to differences in understanding. Timing is of utmost importance in such situations. A leader should assess these misunderstandings and facilitate a healthy discussion in an open environment to avoid the escalation of the conflict. 

It is also essential for leaders to take action when there is definite proof of an employee’s track record of wrongdoings that have been adversely affecting the morale of the team.

Employees look up to leaders to intervene and take effective steps. If they know you are aware of their concerns and are not acting upon them, you will lose their trust. Timely action in confronting the issues is a must for every leader. If you hesitate while making a decision, your reputation will suffer along with the progress of the organization.

2. Don’t Overstep Boundaries

Coaching your team and learning about them is essential while dealing with and resolving conflicts. This will help you understand the limitations and boundaries of your employees. As a leader, you must understand the risks and rewards of conflict resolution without overstepping the boundaries of each employee.

When you know your team members closely and understand their expectations, you can openly communicate with them about their drawbacks in the workplace. 

Once you have identified behavioral tendencies that trigger such conflicts, you can create awareness to their behavior sensitively. This can be better accomplished with open interactive sessions where you set precedence and reinforce performance expectations for every team member. This will help them become more aware and actively prevent any conflicts from arising.

3. Respect Differences

Leaders should seldom pull rank and authority while handling conflicts in the workplace. The authoritarian approach to conflict resolution doesn’t resolve anything. Instead it fuels internal negativity amongst employees.

As a leader, you should respect the unique differences in people and try to understand their individual viewpoints before arriving at any conclusion.

Conflict resolution isn’t simply black and white. There are grey areas in the workplace that have gained prominence with rising cultural and generational diversity.

As you understand your employees better, you can not only avoid the conflicts but also resolve these conflicts (if they arise) by bringing everyone on the same page through effective open communication. This will help you as a leader retain the trust of teams, and enable them to value when guidance is needed during conflicts.

4. Confront the Tension

Leadership is not a popularity contest. As a leader, you will have to confront tension in the workplace and sometimes make decisions that might not be well received. Conflicts give rise to heightened emotions that make the workplace more difficult. That is why it is important to address such situations at the earliest stage before they spiral out of control.

Conflict resolution is quite similar to other challenging decisions that you make in the organization. You must trust your gut and wisdom to make the right decision. Waiting and hesitating makes things only worse and complicated.

See conflict resolution as an opportunity to enable an open and healthier environment in the workplace.

“A true leader understands that facing difficult situations together with the team strengthens trust and builds authentic relationships.”

Conflict resolution is not only an opportunity for professional growth for employees, but also an opportunity to improve the maturity level of your leadership.

An effective leader can achieve goals through influence instead of forced compliance. Amazing lessons in leadership can be learned by stepping up to lead in a volunteer organization.

When you are leading a team in a volunteer situation you have no leverage. No one is getting paid to be there, and in most cases you had nothing to do with who is there. You have to work with what you have, or risk losing the people who are there to volunteer along with you.

A good leader in a volunteering situation learns to enroll people into a vision, and finds ways to influence others through collaboration, empathy, and through a co-ownership approach to work.

“The key to enrolling people to accomplish goals as a team is trust.”

Placing trust in people motivates them to work harder with accountability to deliver on their targets. Micromanaging and unnecessary intervention discourages people and makes them feel undervalued and underappreciated.

With constant scrutiny and overly detailed instructions, leaders attempting to gain control of growth actually end up causing stagnation and a highly disengaged organization.

If you want loyal, long term customers, you have to build trust with them and deliver value. This starts by building trust internally and adding value to people’s lives.

Many companies mistakenly look at employees as assets they need to derive an ROI from, instead of partners to team up with by focusing on mutual value creation.

If you think anyone can do the job and treat people that way, you’ll end up with customers who also think any company can deliver what you do. Is that the kind of business model you think will turn you into a market leader?

“Disengaged organizations translate into similar customers who simply don’t care about you as a brand.”

Avoid Micromanaging

If employees feel their working-style is being constantly interfered with, they might start believing that they are not the right fit for the job. Not only will it increase unnecessary pressure on them, but it will also dissuade them from learning or upgrading new skills. This will inevitably lead to poor performance on their behalf and shortfalls on achieving company goals.

People must be allowed to set their own working process, and set their own accountability terms, so that they are in full control of themselves.

“An effective leader will identify key performers and trust them to deliver the projects on their own volition.”

Those lagging must be mentored and coached in a way that supports their independence, so that they can build confidence in handling projects efficiently.

Self-accountability provides your team with a purpose to work towards contributing to the success of the organization responsibly. As opposed to micromanagement, accountability and trust reflects that the team is competent. This reflect a competent leader who has matured in their ability to enroll and influence, instead of command and control.

How to Achieve Goals Without Micromanaging

Micromanagers are unaware of the fact that they are creating obstructions in the organization. They choose to believe that they are “running a tight ship.”

A good leader must be aware of their role in the organization. and create an environment that supports the independent growth of each employee.

The following are some proven suggestions to help your teams achieve their goals without micromanagement tactics:

1. Set Clear Goals and Expectations

Specify targets with employees, not for them. They need to be realistic and must be conveyed clearly to all stakeholders on the team. Get to the what and why something needs to be done together with them. You might know how a job can be done, but you have to look at the bigger picture that incorporates your team. They should do things on their own terms. More often than not it turns out that they discover new and more efficient ways of doing things. You should also hear out their concerns and expectations.

2. Define Success

Once you have clarity on the goals, define what the success of these goals will look like. Your team should also jointly design the benchmarks and outcomes. Everyone should understand the parameters of the job at hand, and the end picture. This will help you and your team contribute to the organization as equals, to achieve jointly measurable and meaningful goals.

3. Develop Trust

Focus on creating a competent team from the earliest stage. Identify the strengths of every member of your team by communicating with them. Delegate tasks accordingly, so you can be sure that they can handle them efficiently within the required time. This will help you to earn their trust and you can recognize and reward them for the desired outcomes. When you don’t micromanage your team, this will generate an upward spiral of trust across the organization.

4. Don’t Dominate. Coach Instead. Let Go

Whenever there is a problem in the organization, you don’t have to roll your sleeves and go fix it. With constant interference you will encourage micromanaging tactics. It is important to understand the role of coaching to inspire your team. You might be an expert in handling problems because of your experience, but it is your responsibility to teach your workforce to do the same. Doing their job will not help them at all. It might be hard to step back in such cases, but you must trust in the competency of your team. When they seek help, mentor them and entrust them to handle the problems on their own. You can’t be in control of every little thing in the organization.

“Trust and mentor your team to take care of issues on their own and then let go.”

Most often, leaders believe that they are ‘helping out’ but instead end up micromanaging. This demotivates people and affects their performance. As a good leader, you must understand your role as a mentor and coach.

You need to trust in your competent team and let them handle issues. When you let go of micromanaging, you will also benefit from less stress on yourself, gain better performance from your team, and improve overall organizational results.

The success of every business has always mostly been measured by the amount of money that it makes. The focus of leadership, company goals, and market position are all mostly tied up around making money.

However, there is a social responsibility of every business that cannot be ignored. Every business employs people and targets customers. Both are part of the business community.

Unless efforts are made to uplift the community as a whole, no business can fully succeed, and create positive impact on the world.

There is a difference between a businessperson and an industrialist. A businessperson remains involved with the growth of a company, whereas an industrialist focuses on the overall growth of the business, as well as the impact that it creates on the community.

Widening the company’s focus to look beyond profits is not an easy task. It is indeed a competitive market and one must strive to be the best. However, adding a social cause to your company goals will not only push your employees to work harder as they become agents of positive change, but it will also make positive impact on society.

Some companies might provide goods and services that are already working towards the benefit of society. Those who are not involved in such activities can still broaden their scope of social responsibility by including a social cause and encouraging employees to actively work towards it.

“A good leader realizes opportunity to create positive impact and encourages participation from each member of the team.”

Know What Your Business Can Offer

With the changing social and environmental landscape, consumers expect more from companies. They invest their purchasing power in those who they believe align with their own personal values.

Consumers are more inclined towards companies that have their objectives aligned with social and environmental responsibility. Businesses need to reassess their purpose to incorporate social values in their operations and strategies, in order to align with customer expectations.

“Serving the greater good in society is not only a good way to have a positive impact on the world, it meets the expectations of consciously aware customers.”

Every business has a unique skill set, knowledge, and technology to drive innovation in society. Besides generating revenue, they need to use these assets to focus on philanthropy as well.

This new outlook will not only attract customers, but will also help generate career opportunities for youth, minorities, and other diverse communities to bring about real change.

As a company, you need to evaluate the impact you have on people and society on an ongoing basis.

“Just as a business reviews its financial results regularly, it should review its impact on society equally, in order to make a positive impact on the world.”

When you realize the positive and negative impacts your business is having on society, you can strengthen and improve the core objectives of your company.

Every small change matters. It could be using energy-saving techniques within the company, or innovating products and services that will create a positive impact.

Once you identify how you can contribute to society, you can make active efforts in the direction to reinvent the image of your company and encourage like-minded team members to participate enthusiastically towards it.

Create a Core Impact Team

To effectively incorporate social and environmental elements in your company goals, you need to dedicate some people and resources to understand how to create the intended positive change.

You will have to identify key team members that will shoulder the responsibility with you to develop and execute an efficient strategy.

When creating an impact team, you can focus on the company’s core departments, as they will have clear insights into where change is needed. It is also essential to develop an environment in the workplace where employees can openly share suggestions and concerns.

This will help push a culture of innovation and enable new efficient ways to foster change through company actions.

Focus on Measurable Outcomes

When you have set goals and measurable outcomes, you can evaluate the social impact that you are generating, and work on the areas where you are lagging.

With key measurements to track and proper mechanisms to assess them, you will have access to clear and critical reports.

As a company, you can then improve and prioritize efforts to maximize social impact. You should also encourage feedback from your employees and should not undervalue their experiences and stories.

Their personal story can inspire other members of your company and motivate them to work harder towards the cause.

Work with Community Organizations

Besides looking within the company, you can also partner with external organizations that are already dedicated towards your cause. You can connect with such community organizations that have similar interests, to bring about social change.

You can establish trust with them through transparent communication and develop a transactional and/or collaborative relationship.

You can even engage their tools and expertise to equip your employees to volunteer. This will further motivate the whole team towards the company’s goal of creating social impact.

“A truly successful company must push for positive impact by making it an integral part of its core values.”

Focusing on making an impact as a company will encourage both employees and customers to relate more to the company’s goals.

The modern definition of business success must entail social responsibility and be reflected in the company’s overall attitude and vision.

Defining career paths for team members can help you to retain the investment made to nurture great talent in your company. It also helps motivate people to actively contribute to the success of the company.

Leaders who don’t take the time to create and execute career path programs that encourage people to realize a future with the company, are not only short-sighted, but aren’t thinking about the long-term value the company can create by having loyal long-term employees.

Motivated and goal-oriented employees appreciate vision and value being a part of the workplace. When they are aware of their career path opportunities and receive positive push from leadership, they continue to perform their best.

Retaining good talented employees requires charting an engaging career path for them. It’s an ongoing conversation that needs to become part of the company’s culture.

Seven Ways to Enable Career Paths for Employees

1. Clarify Company Objectives

When you align people around your company objectives, you identify the right performers, increase employee engagement, and create a more dynamic and result-oriented work culture. There is nothing worse than to recruit someone with one set of expectations, and then fail to let them do the job they were sold on.

“It’s ok to not be able to deliver on every expectation a new hire might have, as long as there is a transparent plan designed around them to get them there within a reasonable timeframe.”

2. Communicate Objectives Clearly

Leaders must be hands on and be aware of what the company is trying to achieve. With clear expectations, they will be more engaged in the workplace and guide teams in the right direction. 

This is not to say that the top decides what needs to be done, and then demands this on the organization. Employees need to be involved in designing the company’s plan, not just executing it. This will make them feel valued and help them see a bright future with the company.

“Top down leadership isn’t leadership at all. Fostering interdependence across the organization creates a sense of belonging, and gives meaning to employees because they can have an impact.”

3. Forget Vertical Career Paths

It is important to realize that in the dynamic work environment of our time, a career path can be devised in different forms. One can make a lateral shift, be involved in committee engagements, stretched assignments, vertical promotions, and reinvention. Keep these in mind when planning a chart of career progression for employees. Relevant training and curated opportunities will enable employees to find growth in specialization as they discover new paths, and new passions for themselves over time.

For example, someone in sales who has been adept at building trusted relationships for decades, may desire to become an executive coach and help others in the organization better manage relationships for impact.

4. Implement on a Large Scale What Works

It’s important to make big shifts forward only after you’ve made small changes that have proven to be a positive force in the company. You can start this by focusing on a group of employees or a team. Devise a progressive path for them, and initiate innovative engagement measures in the beginning.

You will be able to handle small changes better and work on drawbacks as well. It is advisable to start with top performers as they will be more enthusiastic about change and motivated by new opportunities.

“Once you see measurable changes on a small scale, you can implement the strategy company-wide.”

5. Encourage Career Conversations

Having a formal strategy is important in charting a path forward for anything you do. It is equally important to pay attention to informal moments in everyday working life. Try to catch-up with employees personally to get to know them better. You will be able to understand their challenges, concerns, and more importantly desires. This can help identifying areas that need focus in order to create a constant sense of belonging, growth opportunity and reward.

“We are either moving forward in life or defaulting to the obsolete past.”

6. Utilize Technology

Technology has completely transformed work culture. You have to incorporate its benefits into your strategy. Be it communicating with your team informally through chats, or using Artificial Intelligence applications to evaluate team members. Modern technology is at your disposal to help you do a better job at just about everything.

When you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your team, you can guide them and provide specialized training to better equip them. When employees realize that you are investing in them and in their future, they will be more likely to embrace change and as part of their career paths, enthusiastically.

7. Define Key Success Metrics

When you know how to measure the success of your strategy in achieving the company objectives, you can work towards improving and modifying your efforts accordingly. Regular feedback from employees must be an integral part of this process. This will allow you to understand how employees are reacting to their career paths. You can also rely on other important metrics to evaluate employees.

Track employee engagement, internal mobility, number of alumni that return, and the impact on recruitment costs. When you see positive results in your team members and in their feedbacks, you can be sure that you are on the right track.

Creating a career path for employees will only be effective when you know of the obstructions in their path. Leaders need to actively participate in, and even try to launch frequent career transformation drives.

This will enable you to identify key performers, their strengths, and career aspirations. You can delegate work to them accordingly based on their aspirations and this will motivate them to work harder, but more importantly they will feel invested in the growth of the company.

“A great leader aligns employee goals with the company’s objectives, not the other way around.”

In a competitive talent marketplace, you must identify your key performers and engage them in designing the company’s objectives early and often. With clear communication and active participation in the growth of the company, they will realize their value and potential for growth in the workplace.

Ultimately what you want to do is help employees recognize their essential role in the future of the company, by letting them proactively shape that future.

Change is a constant phenomenon. Small changes occur every day. In the workplace changes are efficiently catered to by an active leadership environment.

From time to time organizations have to adapt to major changes. A leadership change, a reorganization, a merger or acquisition, and or a pandemic can have catastrophic impact on people’s lives when managed poorly.

To successfully manage major changes is difficult but presents both opportunities and challenges for every employee. To be prepared for such changes and maximize benefits in the process, leaders must be active, organized, strategic, and create a suitable safe environment for the workforce to thrive before, during, and after a major change.

As a leader you need to have clarity of your objectives and be prepared to tackle any eventualities for your team. It is essential to anticipate scenarios — both good and bad — and when facing such developments, leaders must show composure, empathy, and compassion to guide teams effectively through change.

It is recommended that leaders have an action plan with clear expectations and responsibilities for all stakeholders.

“The success of any organization is dependent on leaders who can bring teams together while maximizing the talent and strength of every individual.”

Maximizing Benefits from Change

Here are some steps leaders can take to successfully steer through any major change in an organization:

1. Start with a Detailed Plan

Help everyone understand that the business needs to accept changes, in some cases to survive and expand on the dynamics of the market that is causing the need for it. Innovation is key to success and it needs to be part of the culture.

“Innovation gives cause for positive change. Change is life in motion.”

To have an effective plan, leaders should know the strengths of employees and delegate responsibilities accordingly. They should also identify weaknesses in the workplace and actively work on them before jumping into transforming the organization.

2. Clarify the Business Objectives

As a leader, you should be aware of the organizational objectives and be clear about what the business stands to achieve from the upcoming change. You should confidently approach the change and be flexible enough to modify your techniques if required. Only through employee’s active participation through the exchange of ideas and commitments, can you effectively attain goals.

“Domination and coercion tactics will get the job done when it comes to making changes, but not without causing employees to disengage, and leave; ultimately hurting your reputation.”

3. Communicate with Clarity

Communication is critical in times of change so that you gain the confidence of your team. Communication can be effective only if you keep all employees updated on developments and ensure that they understand the organization’s objectives as well.

It is important to note here that communication is a two-way street.

You should engage your employees in the change process by listening to their ideas, concerns, comments, and suggestions. This will make them feel valued as a part of the organization and enhance their involvement in the transition.

4. Identify Key Performers

Every organization has a diverse culture, and it is the responsibility of leaders to identify the strengths and potential of each team member. Those members who are more receptive to change should be immediately made part of the change process. These members will be instrumental in ensuring a smooth transition during the change process and will sustain the morale of their respective teams.

The team members who are change advocates should be delegated important responsibilities to steer through the transition. Their job should be to mentor and get every other member of the team on board with the transition.

5. Aim for Realistic and Achievable Objectives

Although employees put in extra effort and time during changes in an organization, it is indeed a stressful and emotional time for them. Leaders should keep this in mind and aim for realistic targets. That is how you keep the team motivated and able to handle changes at an empathetic and compassionate pace.

We humans naturally don’t like change. With unreasonable expectations, teams will be set up for failure and this will result in a discouraged workforce.

6. Manage Expectations

During the transition, employees might be uncertain at times about their roles and expectations from leaders. In such critical moments, a true leader will manage the expectations within the workforce.

An honest and open discussion will help in understanding what employees expect from leaders, and also what is expected from them.

7. Accountability and Recognition

The workforce must be equipped with the right training, resources, and authority to be able to hold themselves accountable for the valuable role they will play in the change process.

They must also be recognized and rewarded properly for their contributions so that they continue to be a vital part of the new organization. Don’t just say thank you to those leading the charge for change, recognize them with rewards they value. Some value cash, others value extra vacation time.

“Every effort made to reward the members of the change cadres in an organization, is an investment in the success of the organization.”

A major change in an organization is an opportunity that must be maximized effectively. Any related challenges or concerns can be enthusiastically tackled with encouraging transparency, teamwork, bilaterally open and honest communication, and rewards for embracing change.