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Keeping Your Cool: How To Deal With
Conflict in the Workplace

It doesn’t matter what profession you go into, at one time or another, you’re going to have a conflict with someone at work. Many people will stay quiet and hope that the conflict just disappears. This typically isn’t the best idea because the resentment and anger will continue to grow. This can be particularly dangerous if you are working in the medical field. If bitterness and anger grow, it may end up causing mistakes in treatment.

Over the last six or so years, conflict among employees increased by 44%, primarily due to politics. Apparently, there was a reason our parents told us never to discuss politics or religion. Sometimes, especially if the conflict is with someone higher up, the conflict could even turn into a bullying situation. If this happens, it’s essential to go to your boss or human resources for assistance.

When individuals take the correct steps to manage conflict, it will keep something minor from turning into something significant. If the company you work for has some type of conflict resolution plan in place, then follow their guidance. If there isn’t one in place, then talk to human resources or your employer about putting one in place. In the meantime, below, you’ll find a few suggestions on how you can deal with conflict in a healthy way.

Talk To The Both Parties To Discuss The Conflict

When you talk to the other individual, you want to try to schedule a time and place where the two of you won’t be interrupted. Once you all can meet up, it’s essential to find the conflict to resolve it. Find out information about the disagreement, listen to both sides of the story, and make sure everyone understands what the conflict is about.

Investigate The Situation

Once the information about the conflict is shared, then look deeper into the situation. Sometimes disputes can occur over the simplest things. Perhaps one worker feels that he’s not as appreciated as the other. This type of conflict is a bit easier to handle than one a bit more serious, like dealing with a disruptive physician.

Try To Find A Compromise

Once you’ve talked with the parties and have looked into the situation, meet with the individuals to see if they can compromise. The objective of the compromise would need to satisfy both parties to make sure that the conflict doesn’t come up again at a later date. If you can reach a compromise, it needs to be discussed in-depth to ensure that a similar disagreement won’t happen in the future.

Agree On The Solution

Once the compromise is reached, then the parties need to agree on how to implement it. What action needs to be taken to get the solution. The more the employees understand that they have one common goal in mind, they will be better able to work together cohesively. At this stage, the individuals can determine the real reason for the conflict, so it doesn’t come up again. This is essentially going to play a major role in your work-life balance.

Pay Attention To How Things Are Going

Pay attention to how things are going in the workplace. Often you can see things starting to become tense before an actual conflict starts to arise. Keep an eye on issues that have come up before to ensure the solution is still working, and if not, you may need to revisit the situation. If you notice that the answer is working well, point it out to the parties. Let them know they’re doing a good job.

Most of the time, employees can handle conflict in the workplace reasonably quickly, with both parties agreeing on a solution. If you find that you cannot resolve your situation, you may want to look into finding another position. If you work in urgent care, because of the high-stress environment, you may want to start looking for openings as an urgent care doctor in a different facility or location.