What is Conflict Costing You and Your Culture?

Surveys by many different groups across the years indicate that the average manager spends anywhere from 8 to 12 hours of a five-day work week dealing with conflict. The primary causes of this are attributed to personality clashes and warring egos. The cost of workplace conflict to businesses amounts to over $359 billion dollars a year. Clearly, the amount time wasted in unproductive conflict or avoidance of handling issues is astounding.

Being destructive with conflict is easy. Humans approach conflict in a variety of ways, often pretending that it either does not exist or conversely, approaching conflict aggressively and attacking others from a mean-spirited place. Workers might even exhibit bullying behaviors when they do not get their way. Predictably, tension is high and resentments have built up by the time you finally sit down to address the conflict.

What about conflicts that go unnoticed or unaddressed?

Unresolved conflict is one of the largest reducible costs in your organization. Many leaders falsely believe there isn’t enough time or resources for training. Clearly, leaders that continue to ignore the problem and do things the same inefficient way will get the same results over and over again.

What does conflict cost you and your organization? What is it costing you in terms of energy that drains you rather than providing time to grow your business? What is it costing you in regards to your personal and professional relationships?

Now is the time to create a weight loss plan for your business by decreasing the tension and the conflict.

Coping styles when dealing with conflict can vary from person to person, depending on their individual DiSC Style. There are four main DiSC styles that people use in approaching situations: Dominance, Influencing, Steadiness and Consciousness.

When tension builds, here is what might happen for you or your workers according to the DiSC styles:

• A Dominance style might dismiss others and become argumentative.
• An Influencing style may become very expressive, dramatic and blame others.
• The Steadiness style may become very feeling-oriented, cave in or withdraw.
• A Consciousness style might become defensive and argumentative

Is this how you envision your workplace? Are you open to other possibilities? What would it look like if you created a workplace that brought out the best in others?

I invite you to imagine how learning to effectively reduce and resolve conflict can save you both time and resources.

When organizations agree to use DiSC as a common language, they can move from judgment to acceptance. Individuals will gain insights into why another person might act the way he or she does as well as insights into his or her own behaviors. This understanding can help diffuse conflict and give team members a more productive way of handling conflict and differences.

With DiSC education and training:

• A Dominance style will become higher performers and better problem solvers.
• An Influencing style will become more optimistic and inspired.
• The Steadiness style will become the glue that works to hold the team together.
• A Consciousness style will gather the facts and data and synthesize it for the team.

How do you turn conflict around?

Organizations who embrace the Everything DiSC Workplace Profile and Building Team Relationships Program will change their lives and change the culture in a positive way. Now is the time to learn how to modify your approach and bring out the best in yourself and your team members. You have it in you to create win-win relationships.

Ask yourself: What would you do with the extra time every day? Every week? How much more productive could you be? How would it positively impact morale and personal happiness?

Get started today.