| Conflict Resolution Professionals! Did you know there are over seven million privately owned companies in North America? Connect with the universe of family owned companies who need your services as a professional who speaks their language! Add your profile to our directory of professionals right now. |
|
Conflict at Work May Be the Snake Under the Rug (Part 1 of 2)By Tammy Lenski Once upon a time there was a rug merchant who saw that a beautiful carpet he acquired had a large bump in its center. He gently stepped on the bump to flatten it out. He succeeded, but the bump reappeared in a new spot beneath the carpet. He jumped on the bump and it disappeared...for a moment, until it appeared in yet another new spot. Again and again he jumped, scuffing and mangling the rug in his frustration. Finally, he lifted one corner of the carpet and an angry snake slithered out.
I love this story, which I found in a book by systems guru Peter Senge, because it leaves a vivid image of the problem created by failure to raise and address conflict at work---it just becomes the snake under the rug.
A few years ago the Harvard Business Review published a piece of research about the price of silence during organizational or interpersonal problems at work. In "Is Silence Killing Your Company," authors Leslie Perlow and Stephanie Williams explore the reasons for and the results of employees’ decision to keep silent instead of questioning or confronting a problem.
They suggested there are several reasons people hold their tongues: It’s better, as the old adage goes, to be quiet and thought a fool than to talk and be known as one. People sometimes keep quiet to avoid embarrassment or follow ingrained rules of etiquette. And organizations send a message---intentionally or unintentionally, formally or informally---that it’s best to fall in line and doing so will preserve job security. And even as adults, workers experience the need to conform, to feel part of the group, and the fear that raising difficult issues will marginalize or disenfranchise. Finally, people sometimes hold their tongues in the short-sighted belief that it’ll help get a task done more efficiently.
But, the authors
Our articles continue...
|
conclude from their research, it turns out that patterns of silence in an organization, whether due to the workplace culture or an employee’s own background, are "extremely costly to both the firm and the individual." They found this to be true for organizations ranging in size from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations and government agencies. "Silence,"by preserve the relationship or contribute to getting work done effectively or efficiently. Failing to raise concerns, confront conflict or talk about differences in organizations can, and often does, lead to these problems:
There’s an increase in "behind closed doors" anger, lament or plotting, as concerns are shared with trusted colleagues. Most employees don’t initially take a concern behind closed doors with ill intent. But they do want to be heard, to be told their concerns are reasonable, and they'll turn to co-workers they consider allies to get such reassurances. While a natural step in some ways, it’s also a trap for the individual and the organization.
There’s an increase in anxiety, anger and resentment, since silence doesn’t erase a difference but instead sends it underground, like the snake under the rug. It just moves around, sometimes growing larger and larger. If a person really care about something, it’s pretty hard to shrug it off and pretend it’s not bothering them.
Insecurity grows. The authors argue that when employees feel defensive and self-protective, they become increasingly more fearful of speaking up. This cycle leads to more silence and thus more insecurity, in what they call a "spiral of silence."
Relationships are damaged, sometimes badly so. Real concerns about a colleague’s behavior or decisions don’t simply go away when stifled. The psychological distance create by silence can and often does do more damage to the relationship in the long run than having the initial difficult conversation could ever have.
Creativity and effective decision making decline. I often say that the best organizations aren’t ones without conflict, they’re the ones that know how to work effectively with conflict. Difference, well managed, leads to greater creativity and better decisions. When important conflict is ignored, the work environment suffers in terms of morale, physical health, employee retention, and quality decision-making.
So how do you let the snake out from under the rug? How do you keep employees and organizations functioning well once the snake’s loose? In part 2, I’ll discuss how to break the spiral of silence, when it’s best to speak up, and how to do it effectively.
Copyright © 2005 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.
Visit http://www.lenski.com for more tips and resources on talking things out in the work and home relationships that matter most.
Get your free copy of Talking It Out in Ten, a worksheet and guide to help you think and prepare for your difficult conversation, by visiting http://www.lenski.com and clicking on Free Guide. You'll also receive Tammy's monthly newsletter and be entered automatically into a bi-monthly drawing for coaching and consulting time with Tammy.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tammy_Lenski,_Ed.D
Dr. Tammy Lenski is the author of I Can't Say That!, a popular blog read by women all over the world. A professional mediator, conflict management coach and educator, Tammy works personally with women who want to keep their balance in conflict and step up to the conversations that really matter.
Here are some more mediation articles...
Managing Conflict: Differences In Opinion
By Valentina Ibeachum
Conflicts can arise from the smallest things to more major issues that might have an impact on the couple's finances, health, children, hopes, dreams, and so on. Most of the time, conflicts Read more...
|
Debt Management: Freeing Yourself From Debt
By Jennifer Siegel
The most common mistake regarding debt accumulation is that people take it lightly and believe that if they keep paying the monthly quota, they will stay afloat. Though it is not the way to deal with Read more...
|
Part 2 The Negotiation.
By MIKE GAMBLE
Dependant on how this part of the process is approached it can be a stress free or stressfull experience. All Media I've read on the subject recomend an adversarial role between you the Read more...
|
Why Do We Have Conflict At Work? – The Ubiquitous Position Description
By Bob Selden
I once applied for a job as a Training Manager in a dynamic and rapidly developing organisation. My application was successful and I was delighted to find out that one of my colleagues whom I got on Read more...
|
Some businesspeople shouldn’t market themselves
Well, That Didn’t Work
Vacation
Oh The Wait, She Kills Me
Marketing To My People Part 4
Blogs & Journalists
Marketing To My People Part 3
Tiger impressions
Bad documentation strikes again
All I Want Is A Simple Contact Manager
How to Protect Your Customer Data and Your Reputation
When it comes to safeguarding customer data, the stakes are higher than ever in today's wired world. A single security breach can create a legal and regulatory nightmare. How vulnerable is your organization to hackers and disgruntled employees? What can you do to protect your company?<br><br>Sponsored by Cisco, this 30-minute BizWise TV broadcast for small and mid-sized businesses outlines the legal, ethical, and business obligations you face. A panel of security experts will show you how to assess your vulnerabilities, implement an effective security plan, handle an employee suspected of committing a security breach, and execute "damage control" through effective PR if a breach does occur.<br><br><br><br>BizWise TV features TV Style Broadcasts on topics relevant to SMBs. Tune in for a new topic on the third Thursday of every month or watch the previous broadcasts on demand at your convenience.
Intrusion Prevention Case Study: Mainova AG - Energy
This case study examines Frankfurt, Germany energy supplier Mainova AG's reliance on McAfee for its network security.
Corporate Incident Response: Why You Can't Afford to Ignore It
This Foundstone Professional Services paper explains the need for an effective corporate incident response plan and highlights common problems associated with inadequate incident response. It also discusses the steps you need to take when creating a corporate incident response plan and serves as a general guide to the phases that should be included in a comprehensive plan.
Making Your Business Disaster Ready with Virtual Infrastructure
Download this white paper to learn how a virtual infrastructure built on VMware server software can help make your disaster recovery strategy more effective and affordable. The paper emphasizes the need for business continuity and disaster recovery (DR) planning in today's enterprises and explains how a virtual infrastructure enables you to:<ul><li>Extend disaster coverage to more applications</li><li>Reduce recovery time</li><li>Make DR processes more reliable</li></ul>
Master Time Management With a Final 7 Time Management Tips
Time management is a hot topic these days. With more pressure on most people to do more with less, people are constantly turning to gurus in this area to try and improve their time management skills. This paper seven more tips to help people in their quest to master their time usage.
Action Plan in Time Management
Action plans are lists of responsibilities that instruct a person "To carry out to achieve an objective." The list centers on the goals immediately needing achievement on demand. The list or action plan enables one to center his attention on the specific obligations required of him. The marketplace has several software programs that help those people that have busy schedules and time management is a struggle.
Business Continuity Preparedness Handbook
AT&T's Business Continuity Preparedness Handbook provides a broad range of information to support your business continuity planning efforts.<br><br>The 16-page handbook examines business continuity in the context of two potential catastrophic events a pandemic influenza and a hurricane strike and highlights why taking a proactive approach to business continuity planning is essential for all disaster scenarios.<br><br>Topics include:<ul><li>AT&T's own business continuity preparedness efforts</li><li>Planning assumptions for pandemic influenza and the 2006 hurricane forecast</li><li>Best practices recommendations</li><li>AT&T solutions that support business continuity strategies</li><li>AT&T customer support during business continuity "events"</li></ul>
The Inexpensive Instant Message: Creating an E-Mail Newsletter
How does one share accurate, timely information with employees, customers and the community - and do it faster, better and less expensively than using the normal media outlets? The person should turn to e-mail. Faced with a barrage of negative media coverage as a result of innovative steps that provided a few surprises during the 2000-01 upheaval in energy markets, Chelan County PUD (Wenatchee, Wash.) came to this realization: The media were not going to tell their side of the story for them; they had to do it ourselves.
Using Crises as Publicity Opportunities
There are two kinds of Crisis Management: Internal (for when something happens within a company or externally that affects the company directly) and External (for when something happens in the world that indirectly affects the company). The authors' recommend that every company have a written plan on how to handle a range of both internal and external crises. This paper deals with external crisis management, and how one can, with advanced planning, gain positive publicity for the company when an external event occurs.
Telling Everyone You're Ok - A Key Element in Crisis Communications
Have a person ever noticed that one of the first side effects of most disaster situations is that the phone lines in the area immediately go down? The author believes that the first thing people think about in disasters is how it affects the people they know, or maybe just know of. That's why the phone lines go down - calls to check.
Impact of Past Crises on Current Crisis Communication
Previous research based on Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) suggests that an organization's past crises history affects the reputational threat posed by a current crisis when that crisis results from intentional acts by the organization. The study reported on in this paper provides a wider test of crisis history to better assess its role in crisis communication. Results from the present investigation showed that a history of similar crises intensified the reputational threat of a current crisis even when the crisis arose from the victimization of the organization or from an accident, rather than from the organization's intentional acts.
Sample Source: Crisis Management Plans - Part II
This paper includes specific action steps to take in the event of a crisis. Schools should create detailed procedures for each type of crisis that may threaten the school environment. Each process will vary, according to the type and severity of the emergency. The paper also describes the process in which the school recovers and restores its community.
Sample Source: Crisis Management Plans - Part I
Every morning, millions of students pour into school buildings all across the country. Families depend on schools to ensure that the environment in which their children learn and play is as healthy and safe as possible. Emergencies can take many forms, including severe weather and natural disasters, medical incidents, terrorism, and other threats of violence. Although many of these incidents are rare, it is vitally important for schools to be adequately prepared in the case of an actual crisis.
Media Communication Takes on New Dimensions With RMP
It is puzzling why many companies are doing little to prepare the local press for the information that will soon become public. This may stem from the industry's long-standing mistrust of the media. The good news about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Risk Management Program (RMP) rule is that it could serve as the catalyst for improved relations between the chemical industry and the news media. The bad news is that both are going to have to learn a new set of rules. Before the RMP rule, a chemical company's communications with the local media took place on two levels - routine and crisis.
Crisis Management and Disaster Recovery: The New Reality - Response to 21st Century Threats
The unfortunate truth is that many companies have failed to recognize that physical events or nagging perceptions can be their undoing. As keepers of corporate reputation, people need to step up to one of their most important responsibilities: developing the capabilities for responding to threatening situations. In the process, if the planning is founded on ethical core values and implemented properly, it can help avert loss of public confidence. Today, up to 25 percent of every chief communicator's time requires attention to readiness planning. That planning had taken on new dimensions that will be discussed in this paper.
|
