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5 Strategies for Conflict Resolution in the Workplace

• 07 Sep 2023

Any scenario in which you live, work, and collaborate with others is susceptible to conflict. Because workplaces are made up of employees with different backgrounds, personalities, opinions, and daily lives, discord is bound to occur. To navigate it, it’s crucial to understand why it arises and your options for resolving it.

Common reasons for workplace conflict include:

• Misunderstandings or poor communication skills
• Differing opinions, viewpoints, or personalities
• Biases or stereotypes
• Variations in learning or processing styles
• Perceptions of unfairness

Although conflict is common, many don’t feel comfortable handling it—especially with colleagues. As a business leader, you’ll likely clash with other managers and need to help your team work through disputes.

Here’s why conflict resolution is important and five strategies for approaching it.

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Why Is Addressing Workplace Conflict Important?

Pretending conflict doesn’t exist doesn’t make it go away. Ignoring issues can lead to missed deadlines, festering resentment, and unsuccessful initiatives.

Yet, according to coaching and training firm Bravely , 53 percent of employees handle “toxic” situations by avoiding them. Worse still, averting a difficult conversation can cost an organization $7,500 and more than seven workdays.

That adds up quickly: American businesses lose $359 billion yearly due to the impact of unresolved conflict.

As a leader, you have a responsibility to foster healthy conflict resolution and create a safe, productive work environment for employees.

“Some rights, such as the right to safe working conditions or the right against sexual harassment, are fundamental to the employment relationship,” says Harvard Business School Professor Nien-hê Hsieh in the course Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability . “These rights are things that employees should be entitled to no matter what. They’re often written into the law, but even when they aren’t, they’re central to the ethical treatment of others, which involves respecting the inherent dignity and intrinsic worth of each individual.”

Effectively resolving disputes as they arise benefits your employees’ well-being and your company’s financial health. The first step is learning about five conflict resolution strategies at your disposal.

Related: How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Employees

While there are several approaches to conflict, some can be more effective than others. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Model —developed by Dr. Kenneth W. Thomas and Dr. Ralph H. Kilmann—outlines five strategies for conflict resolution:

• Accommodating
• Compromising
• Collaborating

These fall on a graph, with assertiveness on the y-axis and cooperativeness on the x-axis. In the Thomas-Kilmann model, “assertiveness” refers to the extent to which you try to reach your own goal, and “cooperativeness” is the extent to which you try to satisfy the other party’s goal.

Alternatively, you can think of these axis labels as the “importance of my goal” and the “importance of this relationship.” If your assertiveness is high, you aim to achieve your own goal. If your cooperativeness is high, you strive to help the other person reach theirs to maintain the relationship.

Here’s a breakdown of the five strategies and when to use each.

1. Avoiding

Avoiding is a strategy best suited for situations in which the relationship’s importance and goal are both low.

While you’re unlikely to encounter these scenarios at work, they may occur in daily life. For instance, imagine you’re on a public bus and the passenger next to you is loudly playing music. You’ll likely never bump into that person again, and your goal of a pleasant bus ride isn’t extremely pressing. Avoiding conflict by ignoring the music is a valid option.

In workplace conflicts—where your goals are typically important and you care about maintaining a lasting relationship with colleagues—avoidance can be detrimental.

Remember: Some situations require avoiding conflict, but you’re unlikely to encounter them in the workplace.

2. Competing

Competing is another strategy that, while not often suited for workplace conflict, can be useful in some situations.

This conflict style is for scenarios in which you place high importance on your goal and low importance on your relationships with others. It’s high in assertiveness and low in cooperation.

You may choose a competing style in a crisis. For instance, if someone is unconscious and people are arguing about what to do, asserting yourself and taking charge can help the person get medical attention quicker.

You can also use it when standing up for yourself and in instances where you feel unsafe. In those cases, asserting yourself and reaching safety is more critical than your relationships with others.

When using a competing style in situations where your relationships do matter (for instance, with a colleague), you risk impeding trust—along with collaboration, creativity, and productivity.

3. Accommodating

The third conflict resolution strategy is accommodation, in which you acquiesce to the other party’s needs. Use accommodating in instances where the relationship matters more than your goal.

For example, if you pitch an idea for a future project in a meeting, and one of your colleagues says they believe it will have a negative impact, you could resolve the conflict by rescinding your original thought.

This is useful if the other person is angry or hostile or you don’t have a strong opinion on the matter. It immediately deescalates conflict by removing your goal from the equation.

While accommodation has its place within organizational settings, question whether you use it to avoid conflict. If someone disagrees with you, simply acquiescing can snuff out opportunities for innovation and creative problem-solving .

As a leader, notice whether your employees frequently fall back on accommodation. If the setting is safe, encouraging healthy debate can lead to greater collaboration.

Related: How to Create a Culture of Ethics and Accountability in the Workplace

4. Compromising

Compromising is a conflict resolution strategy in which you and the other party willingly forfeit some of your needs to reach an agreement. It’s known as a “lose-lose” strategy, since neither of you achieve your full goal.

This strategy works well when your care for your goal and the relationship are both moderate. You value the relationship, but not so much that you abandon your goal, like in accommodation.

For example, maybe you and a peer express interest in leading an upcoming project. You could compromise by co-leading it or deciding one of you leads this one and the other the next one.

Compromising requires big-picture thinking and swallowing your pride, knowing you won’t get all your needs fulfilled. The benefits are that you and the other party value your relationship and make sacrifices to reach a mutually beneficial resolution.

5. Collaborating

Where compromise is a lose-lose strategy, collaboration is a win-win. In instances of collaboration, your goal and the relationship are equally important, motivating both you and the other party to work together to find an outcome that meets all needs.

An example of a situation where collaboration is necessary is if one of your employees isn’t performing well in their role—to the point that they’re negatively impacting the business. While maintaining a strong, positive relationship is important, so is finding a solution to their poor performance. Framing the conflict as a collaboration can open doors to help each other discover its cause and what you can do to improve performance and the business’s health.

Collaboration is ideal for most workplace conflicts. Goals are important, but so is maintaining positive relationships with co-workers. Promote collaboration whenever possible to find creative solutions to problems . If you can’t generate a win-win idea, you can always fall back on compromise.

Considering Your Responsibilities as a Leader

As a leader, not only must you address your own conflicts but help your employees work through theirs. When doing so, remember your responsibilities to your employees—whether ethical, legal, or economic.

Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability groups your ethical responsibilities to employees into five categories:

• Well-being: What’s ultimately good for the person
• Rights: Entitlement to receive certain treatment
• Duties: A moral obligation to behave in a specific way
• Best practices: Aspirational standards not required by law or cultural norms
• Fairness: Impartial and just treatment

In the course, Hsieh outlines three types of fairness you can use when helping employees solve conflicts:

• Legitimate expectations: Employees reasonably expect certain practices or behaviors to continue based on experiences with the organization and explicit promises.
• Procedural fairness: Managers must resolve issues impartially and consistently.
• Distributive fairness: Your company equitably allocates opportunities, benefits, and burdens.

Particularly with procedural fairness, ensure you don’t take sides when mediating conflict. Treat both parties equally, allowing them time to speak and share their perspectives. Guide your team toward collaboration or compromise, and work toward a solution that achieves the goal while maintaining—and even strengthening—relationships.

Are you interested in learning how to navigate difficult decisions as a leader? Explore Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability —one of our online leadership and management courses —and download our free guide to becoming a more effective leader.

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• Procedures to Resolve Work-Related Problems

The following procedures and resources are available to employees who seek to resolve work-related problems or to review a work-related decision such as discipline or termination of employment. It is important that workplace issues and problems are raised and brought forward in a timely manner.

These procedures are not available to employees hired as temporary or less than half-time (LHT) employees, those not employed on the regular Harvard payroll (e.g., consultants), teaching faculty and other instructional employee or employees covered by collective bargaining agreements.

No employee’s status with the University shall be adversely affected in any way because he/she uses these procedures. This policy does not change the at-will status of Harvard employment, and an employee's use of these procedures will not prevent, limit or delay any appropriate disciplinary action or enforcement of a policy.

A. Applicability of Resolution and Review Process

The review procedures described below are designed to ensure that work-related decisions and other employment actions are consistent with Harvard policy. Review of discrimination complaints is addressed in  Section II (1) of this policy Manual and review of complaints arising under the Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Policy is addressed in Section II (2) .

This process cannot be used to contest the failure to extend employment beyond a previously established term, the termination of employment due to a layoff or reduction in staff, or termination during the orientation and review period . When an employee has been terminated for other reasons, and only after review at the local level, a request may be submitted for a University-level review of the termination.

B. Resolution and Review Procedures at the Local School/Department Level

a) Informal Resolution

Many workplace issues may be resolved informally at the local level. Employees are encouraged to address issues promptly and, where possible, to resolve them with the party, supervisor or manager involved.

In attempting to reach resolution informally, it may be appropriate for the affected employee to detail the relevant concerns or issues in writing and to suggest possible alternatives or steps for resolution.

If these attempts to reach resolution are not successful, an employee may request assistance or review of an issue by the local human resources officer. In certain circumstances, the local human resources officer may name an appropriate designee to review the matter, such as the department head or appropriate associate or assistant dean. Discussions should be held with all the parties involved, either separately or together, to determine the facts and to work towards a resolution of the matter. In appropriate circumstances, such as an employee’s misconduct or termination, the review process may be expedited or forwarded directly for formal review.

b) Formal Review by the Dean, Vice President or Designee

If a problem is not resolved informally, the employee may request a formal review by their local dean or vice president in a further attempt to resolve the matter. In administrative units that do not report to a dean or vice president, the local human resources officer, in conjunction with the unit director, may select a designee from within the University community to review the matter.

The employee's request for a review must be delivered in writing to the local human resources officer and other person(s) involved in the matter within 14 calendar days of the conclusion of the informal process. The request for review should summarize the problem, the problem-solving efforts to date, the outcome of those efforts and describe what the employee believes to be the appropriate resolution to the matter. The other person(s) involved may, but is not required to, reply to the request. Any reply should be sent to the employee and the local human resources officer within 14 calendar days of the request for review. The human resources officer will promptly forward the employee's request, any reply and other appropriate documentation to the dean, vice president or his/her designee and to the Office of Labor and Employee Relations.

Within a reasonable period of time (normally 45 calendar days) of having the matter referred to them, the dean, vice president or designee will review the documents, investigate the matter further as they determine appropriate, and render a written decision. In appropriate circumstances, such as an employee’s termination or employee misconduct, the review process may be expedited. A copy of this decision will be delivered promptly to the employee, the local human resources officer and the Office of Labor and Employee Relations. This decision is final except in the case of termination of employment (see below).

C. Review of an Employment Termination Decision at the University Level

The following step in the formal review process is to be used solely in the case of termination and is available only after concluding the formal review process at the local school or department level. This review is not available to contest the failure to extend employment beyond a previously established term, the termination of employment due to a layoff or reduction in staff or termination during the orientation and review period.

a) Formal Review by the Vice President for Human Resources Solely in instances where an employee disputes the decision at the local level regarding termination of his/her employment, the employee may submit a written request for a formal review of the decision at the University level. This request must detail the reason(s) the employee disputes the decision and must be delivered to the Vice President for Human Resources (“Vice President”) within 14 calendar days of receiving the decision of the dean, vice president or designee. The Vice President will send copies of this request to the local human resources officer, to the dean or vice president (or designee) and to the respondent. The Vice President or his/her designee, will review the request for timeliness and compliance with the procedures set forth in this policy. The Vice President will review the matter or may designate another individual to review the matter to date, including the decision at the local level. A formal review at the Vice President-level is intended to be a review of the original process. The review may include examination of existing documents including facts supporting the decision and other relevant facts or may involve further inquiries to determine whether due process and policy was applied consistently in the prior proceedings leading to the local level decision. The Vice President or designee may uphold the decision (which will be final), reverse the decision, remand the decision (send the case back to the local level for further investigation and/or process) or may work with the parties to mediate a mutually agreeable resolution. At the conclusion of this review, the Vice President or designee will prepare a written report that contains the findings of fact and the proposed final disposition of the matter, and will provide a draft of the report to the parties and give each of them an opportunity to add written comments or response within 14 calendar days. The Vice President or designee may modify the findings or proposed final disposition in consideration of the comments and responses of the parties. The Vice President or designee will render a final decision and will issue a final report. The final report will be sent to the parties and will include their written responses and comments.

Last updated: 05/21/2008

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Joint Discussion and Problem-Solving Activities to Overcome Employee Misconduct Are

Question 118

Joint discussion and problem-solving activities to overcome employee misconduct are central to

A) progressive discipline programs. B) positive discipline programs. C) nondirective counseling programs. D) management-by-objectives programs.

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