How to deal with uneasy tension in the office - SmartCompany

In a business, conflict and tension, if well managed, can be positive and allow employees to grow. 

A business that has no conflict and tension is often stagnant; people are not challenging one another and bringing new creative ideas to the table. 

... “my side”, “your side” and the truth. 

It is often helpful to take each party aside separately to find out their concerns, but over and above this try to find a neutral party who may have witnessed or seen the conflict from a different angle.

Once you have addressed the parties separately, tension will not be resolved until the parties are able to talk face to face. 

This must always be done with a mediator who can remain objective. The mediator would have heard both sides and can better portray the feelings of each party to the other.

No matter how much conflict and tension there may be between two parties there is usually something that can agree on. Using this as a foundation, one can more easily bridge the gap between the conflicting parties.

In a working relationship, the resolution must be reached as people need to continue working together. Compromise is essential to find a resolution that allows everyone to continue with business as usual.

Negative feelings that come up during the conflict need to be confronted. If they have not been fully worked out they need to be brought up again. 

If this is not done effectively in the beginning things may look like they are sorted out only to resurface sometime later.

There are things that a business owner or manager can do to reduce the chance of conflict and tension happening. 

• Have an environment where employees feel like they are part of the bigger picture and buy into owners’ and management’s vision for the company.
• Have something in place where employees feel they can anonymously air their grievances, be this a management open-door policy, or a suggestion box.