Welcome!
How many times has a conflict with a customer, vendor or co-worker caused you countless headaches and hassles? Not to mention lost productivity, mental and emotional energy as well as possible turnover or expensive legal battles.
Conflict is not pretty!
Now, there’s a way to generate rapid conflict resolution where everyone is left in great shape. Pretty impressive!
This month we’re featuring an informative article on Rapid Conflict Resolution, by Doug Walker, MS. Here’s the low down: We asked Doug to help train a team of executives attending a recent Leadership Advance we conducted for the client. Doug put the executive team through the Rapid Conflict Resolution Model and the results floored the audience and me!
The mental, “I get it!” light bulb turned on for every one involved.
Doug has landed on a street tested, effective strategy that produces bottom line results. Corporate America, law enforcement agencies and even schools have sought him out for over 30 years to help increase productivity and positive results.
Here’s a special note: Doug created this model for professionals who were good in their specialty; sales, engineering, operations, research… and then, because they were so good at what they did, someone made them a manager.
That part was good, but it was often done without giving them tools they would need when they were face to face with a direct report dealing with performance related issues. This model is user friendly and instantly applicable. It’s simple enough to be utilized right away, yet profound enough to use and perfect over a lifetime.
Here’s my suggestion: Read the article and ask how it might apply in your situation—at work or even at home. (This stuff works masterfully with teenagers!) Next, make a list of three people where, if conflict were reduced or eliminated, it would improve the quality of your life. Fewer headaches, hassles—you get the drift. Then, start applying the principles in the article. Or, Call Doug at our office for more “How-to” details.
Enjoy the article and be on the look out for new breakthrough possibilities!
To your success,
Mark Rosenberger, CSP
Feature Article
"The Art of Rapid Conflict Resolution"
with Mark Rosenberger, CSP and Doug Walker, MS
WOW: What is Rapid Conflict Resolution?
Walker: Rapid Conflict Resolution-RCR for short--is a two-session, eight-question intervention designed to get conflicted parties to come up with solutions to their own conflicts in a hurry. If they design their own solutions, chances are almost 100% they’ll implement them. Since implementation starts the day of, or the day after the 1st session, results are immediate.
WOW: I might be asking the obvious, but why should business leaders be concerned about Rapid Conflict Resolution?
Walker: Let’s jump right to the bottom line--because conflict costs them money. Workplace conflicts waste a lot of people’s time. They prolong decisions, blur focus, prevent progress and drain energy from individuals, teams and organizations. If employees are immersed in a conflict, they’re not performing for the company. Conflicts demand a lot of attention and consume a lot of energy.
Conflict adversely impacts others. It’s costly enough when it’s affecting other colleagues, but conflict ultimately cheats the customers, too. It robs them of the full attention they pay for. It takes employee’s eyes off the task the customer pays them to perform. It delays action and compromises quality. In some cases, it compromises safety. Customers can feel conflict and it makes them uncomfortable. When people are uncomfortable, they leave.
Because of the costly negative impact conflict has on customers, companies like the very successful Southwest Airlines, have policies that are some version of: “If you’re in conflict with a colleague, stop what you’re doing and get it worked out. Don’t return to your duties until the two of you have come up with a solution to the conflict.” RCR helps conflicted parties comply with that policy productively and quickly. In short, conflicts cause needless headaches and hassles. WOW: What are some common conflict resolving strategies used by organizations today?
Walker: There are probably four major strategies of resolving conflicts in use:
a. Wishing, hoping and ignoring
b. Firing one or both of the parties
c. Ordering the two people to work it out on their own
d. A facilitated intervention – RCR
Let’s look at the four methods in more detail.
Wishing, hoping and ignoring may work sometimes but it usually costs the most, takes the longest and works the worst. Ostriches can put their heads in the sand, but managers shouldn’t. Accidental solutions are a risky way to run your organization.
Firing one or both of the parties can be costly. According to government statistics, the cost of replacing an employee is 3 times their annual salary. Costs of wrongful termination lawsuits, whether you win them or not, can add up, too. It’s an option, but a risky one and teaches no one how to work things out.
Ordering the parties to work it out on their own can work, but it requires a certain amount of maturity on the part of the conflicted parties. If they were that mature, they would have worked it out already or not gotten into the conflict to begin with. Since they are the same people who got themselves into the problem, it’s unlikely this approach can produce results very quickly. The combination of egos and lack of a “work-it-out” skill set, make this option only moderately effective.
A Facilitated intervention is the best choice, especially if it’s RCR. Having a neutral 3rd party keep the parties focused on immediately implementing able solutions, rather than on blaming and accusing, hastens the resolution.
WOW: What is not dealing Rapidly with Conflict costing organizations?
Walker: Money and productivity are the easy answers. A more detailed accounting reveals the cost of conflict within organizations is significant and includes:
§ Time lost and productivity diminished due to ongoing irritations
§ Damaged or destroyed lines of communication
§ Thousands of dollars invested in replacing key individuals who decide to quit or are released
§ Hundred’s of thousands of dollars spent/lost in law suits
§ Lost motivation – lowered morale
§ Increased headaches and hassles
§ Loss of focus
§ Increased mental and emotional distractions.
Need more?
WOW: I think that builds a solid case. How about the flip side of the coin, what are the benefits of RCR?
Walker: The benefits to solving conflicts by using Pro-active RCR include:
§ Increased productivity and cooperation
§ Immediately Improved Communications
§ Increased retention of key-employees
§ Reduced Risk of lawsuits
§ Relief from stress for any who struggle with colleagues or direct reports whose conflicts adversely impact the organization.
WOW: Why is RCR so effective?
Walker: Because an RCR intervention will get participants to:
§ Determine, commit to, and practice a change in behavior that will have a significant positive impact on the organization.
§ Immediately reduce hostility and counter-productive communications that accompany significant conflicts
§ Evaluate the benefits of the new behaviors and commit to sustaining or improving them.
§ Utilize tools for continuing the changes they make the first week
It involves the conflicted parties in the solution creating process. This is powerful.
WOW: What are a few of the fundamental steps or processes involved in RCR?
Walker: The beauty of the process is its simplicity. Four easy to master steps:
1. RCR begins by getting each person to buy into the benefits of solving the issue.
2. RCR gets clarification around who is responsible for whose behavior. (Hint: RCR has a unique way of getting each person to agree that she/he controls her/his OWN behavior.)
3. Issues are identified
4. Solutions are designed, declared and committed to.
WOW: Give us some examples of how organizations have benefited using RCR?
Walker: I’ll share a couple examples and of course change the name to protect the innocent.
· A Fortune 100 company: communication/performance breakthrough between senior level managers: Achieved a breakthrough in communication and alignment from a stubborn senior manager in 2 sessions that had been frustrating leadership for more than 3 years, saving that manager's job and the company the substantial cost of replacing him.
· Another Anonymous Company (for reasons of confidentiality) sexual discrimination and harassment intervention: Saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and settlements by successfully conducting Conflict Resolution Sessions for client where employees were involved in Sexual Discrimination and Sexual Harassment issues.
· San Diego Police and Sheriff's Academy tactical communication training: Received through the roof evaluations for development and delivery of on-going course on gaining voluntary compliance from people in high-stress high-risk situations. Foundation of this course was the RCR material.
· A Software Development Company communication breakdown between three partners: Software Development Engineer would not communicate with Operations or Sales Partners about what he was working on. Problem was chronic for more than 2 years. Forty-five minutes into the intervention he said, “I need to open my kimono a little more to these guys so they can see what I’m working on.” They agreed to set up regular update meetings, which until that moment, he’d refused to participate in.
· A Small organization, 11 people, 3 teams. The precipitating event was a major blow-up in front of the board and a significant portion of their client base. Staff members were threatening to quit and yelling at each other. Board mandated that we be brought in. Fear, anger and other counterproductive emotions ran high, yet in the first session participants were saying:
§ “I need to seek someone out and apologize for something.”
§ “I will increase the frequency of my communication with the team.”
§ “I’ll share best practices with colleagues I’ve been avoiding.”
WOW: What’s the best way to learn RCR?
Walker: Best way to learn RCR is in the context of the model, which has four, easy to learn and use modules:
§ A template of leverage points to help a manager determine the most effective place to focus his or her efforts.
§ Motivation?
§ Morale?
§ Goals?
§ Current Situation?
§ Skill sets/skill enhancements?
§ Processes/workflow?
§ Confront and Correct – a model for dealing with performance issues with an individual
§ RCR – the model for dealing with conflict between individuals
§ Breakthrough Process Redesign Lite – the model for increasing quality or efficiencies that teams produce
WOW: I’m confident every reader has two or three people they’d love to involve in this process. Give our readers one pointer for being more effective at resolving conflict.
Walker: Breakthroughs occur when individuals and teams understand who is responsible for their behavior. When I see I’m responsible for how I act and react, we have a basis for shifting those behaviors from a position of ownership not victim-ship.
WOW: Well stated! Thanks for sharing your strategy with our readers.
For information on getting your management team trained or certified in Challenge to Performance Management, contact Mark Rosenberger at WOW! Performance Coaching, Inc.
1-858-675-0090.
