Conflict resolution 101: This CEO explains why he encourages his employees to speak up

Unresolved conflict inside an organization can spell disaster for culture and productivity. And while it may seem easier to avoid conflict altogether, giving employees permission to air their grievances may actually be the key to a harmonious team. 

Eighty-five percent of U.S. employees have some level of conflict at work, according to software and digital service directory, Gitnux. So much so that managers spend around six hours per week — or roughly 15% of their time — solving work conflicts. But much of that time-consuming stress and frustration exists because workplaces are still afraid of engaging in conflict, according to Steve Blue, CEO of technology company Miller Ingenuity. Instead, they should be encouraged to.

“The first question I’m asked about my conflict resolution stance is: ‘So you actually want your employees to fight?'” he says. “And therein lies the problem. In many organizations, the reason they bury conflict and don’t address conflict is because it gets out of control and it ends up being a shouting match or hate fest, and it doesn’t really accomplish much. And when people think about it in those terms, they immediately conclude that conflict resolution is a fight, but it’s really not.”

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Only 57% of U.S. employees have received some form of conflict training, according to the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness. Yet 95% of those with training reported it helped them find positive conflict resolutions. While Blue doesn’t encourage infighting at any level, he does promote conflict in his workplace by regularly asking his employees point blank when he feels like there is something wrong. 

It’s not easy, he says, but it’s healthy for everyone — including the organization as a whole. And as long as his employees promise to be honest, Blue doesn’t penalize them for having thoughts or opinions on certain issues. 

“One time I stopped a meeting because it felt like something was wrong,” he says. “So I said ‘Guys, we’re not leaving the meeting until you tell me what it is you’re not telling me.’ And finally, it started to come out. They were afraid that I would look down on them because there was something wrong, but guess what? There’s something wrong everywhere in the world all the time. That’s nothing anyone should be ashamed of or be afraid of.”

Blue recently sat down with Employee Benefit News and discussed how his views on conflict resolution could actually promote better teamwork and more understanding in organizations.

What is the biggest mistake managers are making when it comes to the ways they handle conflict at work?
They don’t invite conflict or they shut it down as soon as it happens. A lot of managers will ask employees to take their issues offline because it’s ugly. And once you do that one time to employees, it’ll never happen again, and therefore the root of the conflict and the issue never gets addressed. Because when people take something offline, what do they do? They don’t take it anywhere. They just ignore it. Secondly, managers need to not only invite it, they have to insist upon it, which I’ve done many times. You can tell when you’re in a room and there’s a conflict out there somewhere. You can even feel it, and it’s uncomfortable and nobody’s dealing with it. Make sure employees are comfortable and then insist. 

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Dealing productively with conflict is not an optional situation, but it should be mandatory. You just can’t throw people in the deep end of the pool. You can’t say, ‘You guys slug it out and let me know when you’re done.’ You have to teach them the high-level skills of conflict resolution. I do this all the time when dealing with new companies or employees. I’ll bring an industrial psychologist who’s really good at this, and I teach them the principles of conflict resolution. 

What does the day-to-day end up looking like when conflict doesn’t get resolved at an organization?
You don’t know what you don’t know. What ends up happening is that CEOs hide in the bunkers they call offices, and they wonder why things are going wrong, and they don’t understand because it’s a lack of conflict resolution at the employee level. Let’s say you can’t make shipments and you’re consistently late and consistently higher cost. Somebody knows why that is, and it’s usually the guy on the factory floor and the shipping department, but because it represents conflict, they don’t want to tell the top people or people above them because then they’re afraid they’ll get fired. So this means quality suffers, shipments don’t get out, research and development doesn’t hit their targets. Conflict usually is a result of something that is either wrong, or something that could be improved upon. Hidden in every conflict is an opportunity. 

What does it mean to use conflict as an opportunity?
The CEO has to first give permission to engage in conflict — how the CEO behaves will dictate whether things work or not. At the first sign of conflict, most of us CEOs get angry. But if, at first sign of conflict, the CEO goes, ‘That’s terrific. I am so glad you brought that to my attention. Let’s work on that. Let’s see what we can do about that.’ Then guess what? Every time there is a problem, or every time there is a conflict that you need to get involved in, they won’t hesitate and bring it to you. But most of us don’t do that; most CEOs don’t like problems and mistakenly believe that problems shouldn’t exist in an organization. But with a professional facilitator or training, you’re attacking the problem and not the person.