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Simple steps will help in mediation process
By Robert D. Smith
Special to the Beacon Journal
Published on Monday, Dec 01, 2008
People living during these difficult and turbulent economic times are major candidates for stress and conflict. And it's no wonder. Budget tightening, fear of job loss and organization disruption are key ingredients.
Disagreement, tensions and increasing competition over scarce resources surface in business organizations, small and large. Once friendly co-workers now compete for the same thing, feelings are hurt, emotions rise and anger increases.
The pressure is on leaders who are charged with maintaining a supportive and productive organization. They are expected to cope with disagreements and practice effective conflict management.
During stressful times, positions harden and resentment grows. As a leader, it is vitally important to know yourself and how you deal with conflict. Is it ''fight or flight?'' Do you attack or do you run from the issue? Either approach might only cause the problem to worsen.
The heart of conflict is a mix of powerful emotions, both positive and negative. It is important that you think ''win-win.'' Be creative and seek an option that allows both parties to emerge feeling that personal success has been achieved.
Here's an example of how it can work in a home situation. Dad wants his son to eat the spinach on his plate, declaring, ''Eat the spinach or no dessert tonight!'' Son eats the spinach because he wants the dessert, so father wins, son loses.
How to get a win-win? Dad says, ''What do you want, son?'' He replies, ''Dad, I like food that tastes good and spinach tastes terrible. What do you want, Dad?''
He counters, ''Son, I want you to have nourishing food.''
The win-win solution is to find nourishing food that tastes good.
The same logic applies in business. The president of a small company says to his plant manager: ''Terminate John. He has been late four straight days.'' Manager responds: ''John is our most qualified machinist and has to take his children to school in the morning. I can't afford to lose him.''
Win-win solution: Change John's starting time to allow him to arrive one hour later and then stay another hour at
shift's end. President agrees. Conflict resolved.
Conflicts in organizations can be too low or too high. If there is no conflict among departments, there will be slow adaptation to external changes; there will be apathy and little incentive to offer new ideas. The organization will likely stagnate. If conflict is high, there will be disruptions, chaos, limited, if any, cooperation and a serious obstacle to productivity.
It is up to the leader to decide how he or she will deal with it in order to maintain good balance.
To be a successful mediator, these steps are a place to begin:
• Ask one of the upset persons to explain the problem and how he or she feels.
• Ask the other person to listen and paraphrase what has been heard.
• Then the second person talks about the situation as he or she sees the problem. The first person listens, feeding back what has been heard.
• The other person now states an expected outcome (or goal), which is paraphrased by the first party.
• The process of describing, listening and paraphrasing is continued with the goal of clarifying the issue(s) and digesting the desired outcomes. When agreement is reached on a desired outcome, the process ends. If no agreement is reached, compromises can be considered.
Don't let conflicts fester. Address them head on before they reach a boiling point. Not doing so can spell disaster for an organization.
Dr. Robert D. Smith is a SCORE counselor and Kent State University professor emeritus, management and leadership.
If you would like more information on this or other business-related subjects, contact Akron SCORE via the Internet at http://akronscore.org or by calling 330-379-3163. Services are free and confidential. SCORE is a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
People living during these difficult and turbulent economic times are major candidates for stress and conflict. And it's no wonder. Budget tightening, fear of job loss and organization disruption are key ingredients.
Get the full article here.
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