Shift your Conflict Mindset
Shift your Mindset – How to Have Positive Conflict at Work
BY ALEXANDRA EFTHYMIADES
Workplace conflict is a normal and inevitable occurrence, but it doesn’t have to be negative. According to Alexandra Efthymiades from Consensio, a positive mindset and collaborative response can transform conflicts into opportunities for honest conversations, stronger relationships, and innovative ways of working. Embracing mediation as a powerful tool for conflict resolution can further enhance these outcomes. Are you ready to shift your conflict mindset?
Workplace conflict happens in all organisations. Contrary to what many of us believe and often experience, conflict is normal, inevitable and not inherently negative.
Under the right conditions, conflict can be positive because it can offer us the opportunity to have more honest conversations that will strengthen our relationships and lead to more innovative ways of working.
Conflict mindset and response determines the outcome. A positive mindset and a collaborative response help us to proactively approach the difficult yet necessary workplace conversations that we all need to have.
Most of us have a default negative conflict mindset due to the stress, anxiety and relationship breakdowns conflict can cause.
This mindset leads to the avoidance or repression of disagreement and conflict, or an attempt to deal with these through punitive processes, such as formal complaints.
This mindset is unhelpful because it tends to inhibit collaborative dialogue, which is key to achieving a constructive result.
If we shift our mindset to view conflict as an opportunity to reflect on how we can improve our communication and ways of working, then we can use this knowledge to forge stronger workplace relationships that will drive improvements in our wellbeing and performance.
This shift is not easy but entirely possible.
We can think about some of the beneficial outcomes of our past conflicts and revisit instances where conflict conversations – with family, friends or work colleagues – ended constructively.
Did they clear the air? Did they result in more understanding and learning? What can we take from those experiences that we can apply to current or future situations?
