Understanding Conflict and Resolving through Mediation 

This article will help you understand conflict in the context of conflict resolution, with a specific focus on mediation as a resolution tool. 

What is conflict?

Can you think of a time when you had a disagreement or clashed with another colleague? It can happen between individuals or groups when there are differences in perspectives, goals, values, or interests. This is a conflict. It can manifest in various forms, ranging from minor disagreements to more serious disputes.  

It’s important to remind ourselves that conflict is normal. It is a natural aspect of human interaction and can occur in any environment where people interact, and this of course includes the workplace. As employers , you shouldn’t be afraid of conflict, however without the ability to understand it, managing it can prove a difficult task.  

What is the difference between healthy and unhealthy conflict?

Yes, you read that correctly – it is true that conflict can be a healthy thing! Healthy conflict in the workplace involves constructive disagreements that lead to positive outcomes such as increased creativity, improved relationships, and enhanced problem-solving skills. For example, this can be through delivering constructive criticism to an employee in order to help them improve or understand a mistake they may have made. This kind of conflict encourages open dialogue, diverse perspectives, and collaboration and is a healthy way of working through and resolving workplace issues.   

In contrast, unhealthy conflict manifests as dysfunctional communication, personal attacks, and unresolved issues that can damage trust, decrease morale, and hinder productivity. It can make employees feel stressed and anxious, and can trickle out to impact on wider teams, damaging team dynamics and potentially the organisation’s reputation.  

Why should employers act straight away? Effective conflict management is crucial for mitigating unhealthy conflict and promoting a culture of respect, collaboration, and innovation in the workplace. 

Unresolved conflict can lead to decreased productivity amongst employees, heightened stress levels at work, and damaged relationships among team members. It can create a negative atmosphere where employees become distrustful, negative, and disengaged, which can ultimately result in higher turnover rates and reputational damage for the organisation.  

We recommend the best thing an employer can do is not to shy away from what’s happening but instead, understand when it has occurred and take immediate steps to proactively manage it. This will demonstrate a commitment to creating a positive and supportive workplace culture where employees feel valued and respected and will also reduce the impact and damage that an otherwise unmanaged conflict would create.  

What can employers do?

There are several tools that employers can use to manage conflict. One of the best tools for this is Mediation.  

Mediation is a resolution method used to repair relationships when there is a disagreement at work. It is a process that is held by a neutral person known as the ‘mediator’. The mediator is impartial, therefore they do not side with any party involved.  

Being a trained mediator along with my colleagues, we understand that a key part of mediation is that we are there to facilitate everyone involved find a solution they can all agree to. The process is not about judging who was right or wrong in the past but looks at how to agree on working together in the future. 

Mediation is also often a quicker way to resolve disagreements at work compared to other conflict resolution tools and also feels less formal. This will help employees to relax and be more open to the process and finding a solution.  

Key considerations

When you have a team of people that are diverse, passionate and care about the work that they do, conflicts are going to arise and this is okay – so long as they are healthy. Now that you understand where a conflict is unhealthy, it’s time to act on it. We provide confidential HR advice and support for managing conflicts at work. We are a team of trained mediators who advocate for this type of conflict resolution because we have seen what a powerful tool it is.  

If you would like to discuss any aspect of conflict management, resolution, or specifically mediation, please contact Charlotte Eakin or your usual AAB People contact.