The 5 Most Common Causes of Workplace Conflict

The 5 most common causes of CONFLICT in the workplace

What turns a difference of opinion and ideas into conflict...here are the 5 most common causes of conflict in the workplace.

1. Interdependence - When an individual's success is depending on another person's output/input. For example, John is responsible for providing Mary his sales numbers every Wednesday so that she can include the data in her report due to the executive team every Friday morning. John does not seem to have the sales numbers ready on time or he asks Mary every week to download the numbers herself which causes conflict between Mary and John. Mary and John should work together to come up with a solution to avoid compounding frustration.

2. Work Style Differences - When speed versus quality clash. In this example, we find John, who is task-oriented, prefers to work quickly and move on to the next task. While Mary prefers getting work done slowly and in a particular way, re-checking and reviewing, prioritizing quality of work over speed. John becomes upset with how much work he gets done in a day versus Mary who completes less work in a day. This results in conflict between John and Mary. John and Mary should share best practices and personal processes on how they get work completed in a day. This would allow for better understanding on work styles.

3. Background and Experience Differences - Everyone is not the same. Imagine! You have several individuals working together - all coming from different customs and traditions, languages, ways of expressing themselves and cultural norms yet they all have to get a task completed...together. When cultural norms are not understood, this creates conflict. Be inclusive of all people no matter their differences, be patient, and learn about diverse populations. Asking someone, "I'd like to learn more about you so we can work better together" may be the solution.

4. Leadership Style Differences - One leader may be open and comfortable with office visits and impromptu conversations while the other prefers to be more direct and prefers sending emails to communicate rather than face-to-face conversations. The ability to have others conform to our leadership style creates conflict. Discuss leadership styles and preferences and then...compromise.

5. Personality Style Differences - This is where judgement and criticism come in to play. For example, it is part of Mary's value system to be on time to work every day. When John arrives late to work, she reprimands him and perceives him as being inconsiderate. John perceives Mary to be rigid and vindictive. These perceptions and judgement of character lead to conflict. Rather, Mary should calmly express to John the importance and the impact he is having on the business and his teammates when he is late. Mary should inquire on why John is late; an alternative schedule or additional assistance will move this to a win-win resolution.