One of the most popular sections of our management open courses is the discussion on managing conflict in the workplace. Everyone, it seems, has to cope with situations where factions, differences of opinion, or worse, occur between two or more people.

Our trainers often ask what proactive measures managers put into place to avoid conflict happening in the first place, and very often they’re met with glazed expressions and silence.

Many managers feel this is something that can only be dealt with after it occurs. After all, why would you put something into place to deal with events that aren’t happening?

But putting measures into place that can avoid conflict in the first place is not only sound practice, but relationship-building as well.

Let’s look at some ideas that will help you avoid conflict in the workplace:

• Keep your team involved and informed. Keeping information back can cause rumour and worry, the first stages of possible conflict. Misinterpretation of situations can result in accusations, blame and personal attacks. Keep the communication lines open to avoid this

• Resist becoming involved in conflict-generating games that people play. Think before judging others in public. Don’t make personal attacks on people behind their backs. Your example will be looked upon by others as something to follow, and it may cause conflict to be raised when there shouldn’t have been any

• Be cautious with any criticism you offer. Check before you over-react to situations and fact-find before making any decisions. Did you mishear or misunderstand? Check it out first

• Support staff rather than criticise them. The way you deal with potentially conflict-building situations could determine whether they cool down or heat up

• Tolerate others’ opinions and values. Although difficult, it may be better to view others as simply being human, and admit their ideas are different to yours. Always trying to prove yourself right may not be in the long-term interests of all concerned

• If there is a difference in opinion or misunderstanding, get each party to state their positions and get everyone to understand those positions before making themselves heard. This is part of Stephen Covey’s fifth effective habit out of the seven he wrote about (The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Simon & Shuster Ltd). The situation becomes less emotional, as both people have to think and listen, using different parts of their brain. The more rational people become, the less likely they are accelerate towards conflict

These proactive ideas may help you identify situations where you can avoid conflict rather than have to deal with it.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

What day do you find it hardest to get up and out of bed in the morning? Most people would say it’s the first day of their working week, after the weekend.

In fact, according to Tokyo Women’s Medical University, most heart attacks happen on the first morning of the working week, between 4am and 10am. Why? Because many people see only the pain of restarting something they wish they didn’t have to do, and hence cause themselves a lot more stress than usual.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. How can you motivate yourself on a Monday morning every week? What can you do to plan effectively if you have trouble with this well-known phenomenon?

• Tidy up your work area at the end of the working week. If you arrive at work after the weekend to find last week’s work still there, it can cause more stress.

• Finish as many jobs as possible before you leave for the weekend. Then these tasks aren’t unconsciously hanging over you over the weekend.

• Set a new goal for the working week. This will help you start the new week running instead of moping.

• Try some exercise on Monday morning. It will get the blood and oxygen coursing and help you think more efficiently.

• See if you can get up 30-60 minutes earlier than normal, and spend those extra minutes boosting yourself before starting out for the week.

• Avoid massive tasks on Monday mornings. See if you can spread them out through the week

• Listen to upbeat music on your way in to work. It can do wonders for your mood.

• Listen to motivational CDs or MP3s. These will help brighten the commute as well.

• Vary your activities so they are spread over the week. Schedule something enjoyable for each day of the week, even if it’s only for a few minutes. This way, you look forward to some things throughout the whole week.

• Set the example for your team to follow on the first day of the week. If enthusiastic team members see you down, they may feel they have to follow your example

These may not chase away the blues every time, but at least they help you to be proactive and choose your mood when you get to work. But be warned: be prepared for others to ask what you were up to at the weekend!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Manager Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

When you’re in a meeting, do you often find your mind wandering to other stuff that needs doing when the meeting’s finished? Are you sometimes looking through emails on your laptop while also talking to someone else on the phone about totally different matters?

If so, you are probably practicing multi-tasking without realising it. But is this the most effective way of getting work completed?

Well, recent research at Stanford University has unearthed some interesting results concerning when we try to get more done by multi-tasking. They found that people who multi-tasked regularly performed worse on a test of task-switching ability, likely due to the reduced ability to filter out interference from other tasks.

They concluded that we, as humans, are not suited to paying attention to multiple tasks, and having multiple things to do at the same time.

Professor Earl Miller of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that our brains have to skip inefficiently between tasks, because it finds it difficult to concentrate on more than one task at a time, as it causes an overload on its processing capacity.

When we try to multi-task, we are often using the same part of our brain to do two different things, like when we are talking on the phone and writing an email. The processing power simply slows down.

When students took part in an American study, it took them up to 40% longer to completely solve problems when they had to switch to other tasks, than when they spent time solely concentrating on the problem itself.

And Glen Wilson, from the University of London, found that trying to multi-task similar situations could knock a whole 10 points off your IQ: the equivalent of losing a whole night’s sleep.

Does this mean we shouldn’t be doing more than one thing at a time? Naturally, we are able to flit our thoughts around while working on a task, but it seems that we are unable to work faster and accomplish more. In fact it can produce more stress, worry and frustration. We tend to go onto autopilot when we multi-task, and so we don’t use parts of the brain that form strong neural connections.

The obvious answer is to concentrate as much as possible on one thing at a time. But if you have to multi-task, here are some ideas:

• Overload often happens when you’re tired, so try to accomplish more things in the mornings, rather than leaving them to later in the day
• Multi-task with simple things that don’t take much brain work
• Try not to do too many similar things at once, as our brains will be using processing power that will slow down our responses if we do
• Take a break (5 minutes or so) every 90 minutes, so you refresh yourself

By the way, it’s a myth that women can multi-task better than men! Women have learned to do more diverse things better, so their brains are being utilised in a different way. Men can learn that, too!

Anyway, back to those e-mails, before another phone call comes through!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Manager Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

Small businesses have not done enough to put post-recession recovery plans in place, according to a new report from the Open University Business School.

Newbusiness.com said the report revealed that only 10% of small firms have put together a plan for the recovery and that those businesses with a plan were most confident about their immediate prospects.

“Just under a third of business owners with no plan in place said it was because the effects of the recession had not been significant enough for their business. A further 18% said recessionary effects on their customers are still too uncertain,” said Professor Colin Gray, professor of enterprise development at the Open University Business School.

“Although there are increasing signs that the economy overall may be turning the corner, recovery remains elusive for the 95% of all firms in Britain that employ fewer than 10 people.”

The question now is, What are you and your colleagues doing to plan your future progress? Are you specifically looking at ways to improve your cashflow or ROI? Which areas of your business are getting the most attention?

The answers to these questions may well dictate how quickly things pick up for you.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”