Building and Sustaining Collaborative Organizations

Working collaboratively is an essential behavior required to enhance your organization’s performance. The benefits of working collaboratively can help to avoid poor behaviors and reduce unnecessary conflict. A recent international survey indicated that 85% of employees have to deal with conflict at work to some degree, with over a quarter of employees reporting that that they do so either always or frequently. For the US, 36% of employees reported that they spend a significant amount of time managing disputes. This was higher than the survey average.

What’s more, nearly half of non managers (43%) think their bosses don’t deal with conflict as well as they should- yet almost 80% of managers reported that they believe managers actually handle conflict well. On average the survey found that each employee spends 2.2 hours per week – or one day a month- dealing with conflict in some way. It’s therefore fair to say that your organization is likely to spend more time on dealing with conflict that is necessary. This means lost time, poor productivity, and increased costs for your HR activities.

What You Have To Do:

Leading practice indicates that you should have:

• a code of conduct that defines acceptable behaviors;
• a process in place for managing disruptive and inappropriate behaviors
• foundational principles of conflict management:

Your organization should therefore be capable of dealing with a range of potential conflicts. The ability to manage conflict and conflict resolution should be core competencies within your workplace.

Did You Know?

• It is estimated that a staggering $359 billion in paid hours per year is lost by US workplaces when dealing with conflict.
• Formal training is recognized as being one of the most effective conflict resolution interventions. Where conflict resolution training is provided, the parties indicate a higher level of positive outcomes from conflict.
• It's reported that a lack of understanding between personalities, stress, and workload are the three most common causes of conflict, and consistently our research indicates inappropriate behaviors contribute to the escalation of workplace conflict.

How Do You Measure Up?

• Has your organization clearly designed approaches to resolving conflicts?
• Are your organization’s policies and procedures supportive of leading practice standards?
• Is your organization- its leaders and staff – conflict competent?
• Are you confident that employee safety and the quality of your service is not threatened by unprofessional or disruptive behaviors?

If your answer is NO to any of the above, your organization is at the risk of NOT providing excellence in quality service. Organizations that do not deal competently with conflict can expose themselves to the high cost of litigation from both patients and employees, and the emotional cost of unresolved conflicts.

If Your Organization Needs Support in Building a Conflict Competent Culture and Approach:

Please contact Carole Jean Rogers of Polarity Human Relationships or a member of team who will be delighted to discuss your needs and suggest a range of solutions to sustain good human relationships which include:

• Organizational Assessment and Conflict Mapping to Identify Your Real Risks with Conflict
• Development of Appropriate Measures, Policies and Procedures To Deal Appropriately With The Range Of Conflicts That Can Arise
• Training and Development in a Range of Skills and Behaviors that Build Collaborative Relationships
• Mediation and Arbitration Services to Address Unresolved Conflicts before they become damaging and expensive distractions to your organization.

For A Complimentary Check-Up

Call 502.418.2175 Now or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it