BUSINESS CONFLICT—ASSET AND/OR LIABILITY?
When well managed, Conflict in an organization is valuable asset. It energizes employees and creates creative tension that spurs healthy competition and productivity.
But conflict in an organization can have a dark side and become a liability when not managed well. It can be demoralizing and depleting fostering unhealthy competition and negatively affect quality, creativity and productivity. Moreover, if the conflict is with customers, it can negatively affect the bottom line and result in lost accounts.
From time to time destructive conflict will rear its ugly head even in organizations that generally manage conflict well. (Imagine weeds in a well maintained garden.)
DEALING WITH DESTRUCTIVE CONFLICT
It is important to deal with destructive conflict swiftly as it can quickly become contagious. In some organizations, it evolves into a culture of destructive conflict.
OUR MEDIATORS ARE WELL POSITIONED TO HELP
Positive Solutions Group is well positioned to assist organizations of all varieties resolve conflict.
Positive Solutions Group’s mediators have owned and managed small businesses and been executives in large businesses. One has served as President of the Charlottesville Albemarle Chamber of Commerce. One of Positive Solutions Group’s attorney-mediator’s specialty is representing clients in, and mediating case for, those organizations with employment and workplace issues.
Positive Solutions Group’s mediators have had years of success in helping resolve organizational issues—between:
- Employees,
- Employees and employers,
- Ex-employees and employers,
- Representatives of an organization and valued clients and
- Organizations and their volunteers.
OPTIONS FOR HELPING YOU DEAL WITH CONFLICT
MEDIATION
Mediation is a negotiation between the parties with the help of a third party who has no stake in the outcome of the dispute. Very important to successfully resolving a business dispute is that in mediation parties can be heard by each other- without interruption. This can be extremely important to an employee who feels underappreciated, a manager who feels misunderstood or a customer who feels ill-used.
Think about it – most disputes arise out of lack of communication, miscommunication or misunderstood communication. In mediation, with the help of the mediator, communication problems are removed.
Mediation gives the parties control over the resolution of their dispute empowering them.
FACILITATION
While very similar to mediation and using many of its methods, Facilitation can help a business with the big picture. While mediation usually involves the issues between a small number of people (usually two to four) and their particular issues, facilitation can go further to work with units of the organization or, indeed, the organization itself.
This is important as often the issues handled in mediation are systemic and contagious. While mediating individuals’ issues will help those individuals, their solutions will not reach the root cause of systematic conflict issues.
TRAINING
Conflict Training can be used to prevent and to manage conflict. It emphasizes the importance of communication and provides information and methods regarding how to communicate effectively.
Who better to provide such training than Positive Solutions Group mediators, who understand the nature of conflict and communication academically, and also practice them in their profession?
CONFIDENTIALITY
All that is discussed in mediations and facilitations by us are treated with the utmost confidentiality. We know that it is important to keep internal issues internal.
CALL US
See if we can help. There is no charge for the initial consultation.