Everyone, thank you for joining us for FountainBlue's April 7 Front Line Managers Online program on the topic of 'Resolving Conflicts When Stakes are High'. Please join me in thanking our panelists.
as a People Leader - Tammy Sanders, Lam Research
as a Program Leader - Dennise Gearty, Cisco
as an Engineering Leader - Kamal Kharrat, Bestow
We were fortunate to have such experienced, empathetic, and wise panelists speaking on such an important topic this afternoon. Their experience and background was wide-ranging, but they had much in common which helped them navigate conflict-ridden scenarios at work.
They are great communicators who listen deeply and empathetically.
They care deeply about their product, team and organization and are invested in the success of all.
They are resourceful, open-minded and resilient when tackling issues and committed to delivering results for the people they serve, making each conflict a learning opportunity in disguise.
Below is a compilation of best practices from our esteemed panelists.
Know Thyself.
Know yourself - your strengths, foibles, idiosyncrasies, your weaknesses etc., so that you can better self-manage, and help others to manage themselves.
Lead with Humility, Empathy and Kindness.
Be Other-Focused.
Make the time to develop relationships with those you work with.
Accept that we are all different and welcome the differing perspectives.
Know your audience.
Listen Deeply and Fully.
Align to Core Values as well as Business Imperatives.
Focus on a common purpose rather than personal vendettas and political maneuvering.
Align to corporate values as you work with the team on achieving milestones and objectives.
Prioritize conflicts so that business deliverables are met, even if that means an important area of conflict is temporarily tabled.
Keep conflict front and center, call out when conflict goes 'under-cover' - if an agreement is reached, make sure parties abide to the agreement for example.
Build a Resilient and Open Culture.
Make sure that everyone, particularly in a hybrid world, feels welcome, included and safe to share their perspectives.
Clearly communicate on values and expectations.
Transparently communicate when conflicts arise.
Invite diverse input from a wide range of perspectives.
Welcome respectful and constructive feedback and conflicts, but don't let it get personal.
Keep Growing.
Leverage learnings from conflicts to keep growing.
Turn conflicts into collaborations where appropriate.
Welcome conflict in your life, and look for the learnings with each conflict.
Our panelists all emphasized the importance of open, healthy conflict, even when escalations are involved. Conflict can lead to many great things for individuals, teams and organizations, but only when they are managed well.