{"id":784,"date":"2017-11-02T01:45:43","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T01:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dynamicteamsolutions.org\/?p=784"},"modified":"2017-11-02T01:45:43","modified_gmt":"2017-11-02T01:45:43","slug":"conflict-maturity-essential-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/02\/conflict-maturity-essential-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Conflict Maturity Is Essential for Your Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine you\u2019re attending your child\u2019s sporting event and see something very strange. Players on your child\u2019s team refuse to help each other. Some accuse and demean their teammates, while targets of that abuse shrink back, resentfully seeking opportunities to get back at their accusers. And the coaches are doing nothing about it!\u00a0 How could this exist in a group designed to \u201cteam\u201d together for the good of all?<\/p>\n

Seeing such chaos and turmoil where teamwork is paramount would appall us. Yet many people experience it in their workplace every day. More shockingly, many organizations accept such a dynamic until it begins to threaten the organization\u2019s stability through legal action or an exodus of employees.<\/p>\n

The need for conflict maturity<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a>Why do organizations accept this? Simply put, they have a low conflict maturity level.\u00a0 They leave workers to deal with interpersonal conflicts without guidance or assistance, allowing them to follow the instinctive, yet immature, conflict resolution responses they developed through childhood.<\/p>\n

By contrast, a high conflict maturity level enables organizations and the individuals within them to deal with conflict in a mature and proactive manner.\u00a0 It requires managers to know and model good conflict resolution styles and to appropriately assist or intervene before minor conflicts fester into crises.<\/p>\n

What is conflict immaturity?<\/h1>\n

Conflict immaturity occurs when we apply our natural fight or fight response to problems that arise.\u00a0 It is evident when we become locked into focusing on problems instead of solutions \u2013 when, individually or as a corporate culture, we personalize each other<\/em> as the problem rather than working toward a collective solution.<\/p>\n

Workers with a confrontational personality get stuck in the \u201cfight\u201d response. They look for a scapegoat, unleash angry tirades, accuse, or demean others.\u00a0 Their effort to solve the problem very likely includes placing demands on others and creates a high level of stress and tension in the workplace.<\/p>\n

Workers with a conflict-avoidant personality get stuck in the \u201cflight\u201d response. They complain to coworkers and nurse grudges.\u00a0 They may try to teach the \u2018problem person\u2019 a lesson through passive-aggressive behaviors.\u00a0 Their quieter actions likewise create a palpable feeling of tension in the workplace.<\/p>\n

In their respective efforts to \u201cresolve\u201d the issue, both lose sight of the original problem. \u00a0And, when the problem persists, each seeks to find support for his\/her opinion by actively or passively soliciting others to that point of view.<\/p>\n

The conflict immaturity of the individuals is only the start of the problem.\u00a0 Organizations often fall into the same immature patterns for handling conflict that individuals do.\u00a0 They may take a confrontational approach and try to scapegoat problems away rather than solve them.\u00a0 Or they may ignore interpersonal conflicts and hope that individuals involved in them will smooth over their differences and get back to productive behavior.<\/p>\n

Neither approach works.\u00a0 If their manager or other leaders in the organization don\u2019t take notice and intervene, feuding individuals typically escalate the conflict, trying to win others to their side. The size and complexity of the issue grows, while the original problem remains unsolved \u2013 lost in the wake of interpersonal conflict.\u00a0 It can even reach a point where the organization has no choice but to call in someone like me to avoid dire consequences.<\/p>\n

What does conflict maturity look like?<\/h1>\n

Conflict maturity, on the other hand, focuses on solving the original problem. Rather than scapegoating, finger pointing, or rallying others to their \u2018side\u2019, employees work together for a joint solution. Rather than taking dissatisfaction with a coworker to others, mature individuals approach that coworker directly, give him\/her the benefit of the doubt and maintain finding a solution as their primary focus.<\/p>\n

Conflict maturity doesn\u2019t develop naturally.\u00a0 It takes a conscious effort for organizations to ensure that their leaders and managers proactively use a planned and mature approach when those whom they supervise engage in problem-focused, rather than solution focused, behavior. Rather than looking the other way as issues occur and more employees are drawn into the clash, conflict-mature managers help individuals identify and solve their differences quickly, privately, and evenhandedly. Rather than focusing on the personal conflict, conflict-mature managers redirect employees back to solving the original problem \u2013 together<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Individuals come and go.\u00a0 Their ability to keep perspective may falter.\u00a0 That is why an organization must have a plan for managing conflict maturely.<\/p>\n

Summing up<\/h1>\n

Sadly, conflict maturity is not a common attribute of most organizations \u2013 perhaps even less common than on youth sports teams. \u00a0Businesses operate with far more complex goals, with less clearly defined roles, and with a much wider range of problems.\u00a0 Unlike a youth sports team, employees don\u2019t have the benefit of having just a season to work through.\u00a0 Their commitment is fully intertwined with their livelihood, their sense of self, and the bulk of their time.\u00a0 Concepts as simple as working together for a common goal can easily get lost when immature patterns of conflict resolution are workers\u2019 \u2013 or organizations\u2019 \u2013 default response.<\/p>\n

Conflict maturity is not a destination at which we arrive. It\u2019s an ongoing journey. It involves both an effort to learn, and constant practice to keep sharp. \u00a0It requires businesses to put a priority on developing a culture of conflict maturity through all levels of the organization. \u00a0The effort is well worth it.\u00a0 As mature conflict resolution methodologies are incorporated, our businesses benefit from healthier communication, greater collaboration, a stronger focus on solutions and a greater level of success.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine you\u2019re attending your child\u2019s sporting event and see something […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.dynamicteamsolutions.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}