ASK FOR ADVICE
Send your career questions to Dr. McIntyre
Conflict And Change
Leadership is like athletic achievement. Natural ability helps, but coaching is needed for peak performance. Whether you are a new supervisor or experienced manager, our free coaching tips can strengthen your leadership skills.
CONFLICT AND CHANGE TOPICS
Some groups are tough to manage. When members have conflicting interests, personal agendas, or aggressive personalities, meetings can deteriorate into pointless debates or angry conflicts, thereby wasting time and harming relationships.
If your team seems to be headed down a destructive path, set some ground rules before blindly leaping into a discussion of issues. Unless your group is truly toxic, members will usually agree to a reasonable set of guidelines. Then, when things start to get out of hand, remind the wayward members of these agreements.
Ground rules should be posted in the meeting room, with copies given to all members. Although every group has specific needs, here are some guidelines that are generally useful for conflict management.
Everyone needs to give feedback to others from time to time. If the feedback is positive, it’s a pleasure. But sometimes constructive feedback is required to suggest a change in someone’s actions or behavior. While these discussions can easily turn into arguments or conflicts, they should really be viewed as problem-solving conversations. The following suggestions can make feedback more comfortable and productive.
When faced with a conflict, our natural reactions are based in biology. As described by the famous “Fight or Flight” syndrome, impending danger spurs us to either attack or run away. Unfortunately, “fight” tendencies can lead to destructive arguments, while “flight” reactions make us avoid difficult discussions. And neither one will ever solve the problem! To replace conflict with problem resolution, you must override your biology and make a plan for tackling those tough topics. Here’s how to do that:
All successful managers learn how to shift their leadership style to work effectively with different types of employees. While most people fall within the “normal” range of behaviors (whatever that means!), some have characteristics that are rather extreme. When confronted with these behaviors, managers sometimes aren’t quite sure how to respond.
In this topic, we look at several types of employees that present specific management challenges, including Challengers, Clingers, Drama Queens, Loners, Power Grabbers, Space Cadets & Slackers.
If you want someone to accept change, you must first understand why they may resist. By anticipating their likely reaction to your plan or proposal, you can make intelligent decisions about how to introduce the change. There are four things to understand: (1) emotions are inevitable, (2) change equals loss, (3) acceptance requires planning, and (4) certain factors increase resistance.
The only thing certain in this world is change. And whenever something changes, people have a variety of reactions. This may be due to the nature of the change or the different personality types involved. But regardless of the reason, managers who want to implement change must effectively respond to the different reactions of employees.
Four common “change personalities” are described below, with suggestions for managing each one.
Secrets to Winning at Office Politics
“Very informative & insightful!”
“I wish I had read this book years ago.”
“Has changed my work life for the better.”
Ask The Coach
Have a question for Marie? Send your concerns to the Office Coach.
Interested in Career Coaching?
Are you dealing with difficult workplace issues, considering a career change, or facing challenges in managing your business?