Clive Johnson - Managing Conflict at Work

MANAGING
CONFLICT
AT WORK

UNDERSTANDING AND RESOLVING CONFLICT FOR PRODUCTIVE WORKINGRELATIONSHIPS

CLIVE JOHNSON & JACKIE KEDDY

Publishers note

Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or any of the authors.

First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2010 by Kogan Page Limited

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:

Clive Johnson and Jackie Keddy, 2010

The right of Clive Johnson and Jackie Keddy to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 978 0 7494 5952 9

E-ISBN 978 0 7494 5953 6

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Johnson, Clive, 1962

Managing conflict at work : understanding and resolving conflict for productive working relationships / Clive Johnson, Jackie Keddy.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7494-5952-9 -- ISBN 978-0-7494-5953-6 (ebook) 1. Conflict management. 2. Interpersonal communication. 3. Interpersonal relations. 4. Conflict management--Case studies. I. Keddy, Jackie II. Title.

HD42.J643 2010

658.4053--dc22

2010014011

Typeset by Jean Cussons Typesetting Ltd, Diss, Norfolk

Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd

eBook by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong

Contents

Working on this book has been a pleasure and an education thanks to the warm support, wise words and keen observation of a host of wonderful people. My special thanks are due to the fine team at Kogan Page, to David and Sue the most exceptional hosts at Hale Farm, my regular retreat for research, reflecting and writing and of course to my inspiring and ever-encouraging co-writer, business partner and dear friend, Jackie. Never a cross word has been shared between us.

Clive Johnson

It has been an absolute joy working on this book, a wonderful creative journey that has touched my heart. Many thanks to the switched-on crew at Kogan Page, Hannah for her faith, and as always to my Denis for his never-ending love and support. Our thanks to Chris Hanney for his contribution to RESOLVE. A special thanks to Denis and Adam and my fantastic, gorgeous family, of whom Im so very proud. To Adriana and Sitka, my lovely friends. To Liz and Mags for all their encouragement, and without a doubt to Clive, my co-writer, dear friend, business partner and ally (my complete dichotomy opposite and with truly never a cross word between us!).

Jackie Keddy

Conflict is everywhere. Even at a time when the number of global armed and political conflicts has actually fallen (), and in the past 10 years, the world has woken up to fighting a new kind of enemy the war against a virtual state terrorist network.

Conflicts play out on any scale: between blocs of trading nations, local communities and neighbours separated by just a garden wall; they can be multinational, intra-societal or inter-personal, and concern ideological, cultural or economic differences, amongst others. But its not just on the global stage that conflict abounds. Bitter battles flourish in the boardroom, divorce courts, between businesses and their suppliers and over service commitments.

Whilst set in different contexts, the lessons and insights that can be learnt by studying conflicts of any kind are invaluable for understanding how to confront disputes in the workplace. Well therefore borrow from the wide base of know-ledge built up from the experience of resolving conflicts in general, not confining ourselves to lessons learnt about conflicts at work.

In the workplace, the time, energy and resources spent resolving conflicts is staggering. Recent research suggests that conflict resolution costs UK businesses nearly 40 billion each year ().

Were this not bad enough, legal costs are soaring, with the annual cost of civil litigation related to employment disputes now approaching $300 billion in the United States ().

Its then little surprise that a desire to reduce the volume of conflict-based cases reaching the courts, often without any attempt at earlier resolution, was an important motivation for the recommendations made in the 2007 Gibbons report on employment dispute resolution, commissioned by the UK government in 2006 ().

Meanwhile, in a survey of 1,200 UK organizations, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that respondents spent almost 450 days per year on average on activities relating to grievance, disciplinary hearings and employment tribunals. The survey found that the task of just preparing for tribunal hearings consumed an average 12.8 person-days of effort, considering the input required from line managers, HR and legal specialists ().

Quite apart from the monetary costs involved, employee disputes consume management time, take staff away from productive tasks and may foster ill-feeling and resentment amongst more than those who bring their complaints to their organizations notice, as illustrated in .

Figure 1.1 Left unchecked, conflict involves people, ever-increasing time, and money

This book is about conflict in the workplace the type that creates divisions between people and workgroups, managers and their teams, and between managers and other managers. Well look at the dynamics of unhealthy disputes, how to resolve them and contain their fall-out, but also give attention to those conflicts that are actually positive, such as those that encourage constructive debate, a willingness to air ideas and healthy competition.

Managing conflict is broader than what most people understand as mediation, which we might paraphrase as: an intervention between disagreeing parties involving a third party, aimed at bringing the dispute to a conclusion that both can accept. It is a responsibility that needs to be shared by the whole management team of any organization as much as with those who might often be thought of as the conflict specialists:

• Front-line managers can play a vital role in recognizing the early stages of potentially unproductive conflict, step in and stop many disputes from developing further, as well as helping to minimize or prevent conflict from happening in the first place.