5 Approaches to conflict management at work
4 de February, 2025
Any context in which there are human interactions can be susceptible to conflict. Workplaces are no exception.
Companies are made up of diverse groups of people with different personalities and opinions. As such, disagreements are inevitable.
However, managing these differences is fundamental to strengthening the organizational culture and building a team spirit that promotes collaboration, creativity, innovation and productivity.
Read also: 8 steps to good teamwork
Causes of conflict in the workplace
There are various reasons and situations that can trigger conflicts in the workplace:
- Misunderstandings or poor communication skills;
- Different opinions, perceptions or points of view on a topic;
- Prejudices, stereotypes or conflicting values;
- Different ways of working;
- Scarcity of resources, pressure and overwork;
- Feelings of injustice or discrimination in relation to the distribution of tasks, the objectives set, the way they are treated, their pay, etc.
Approaches to managing conflicts in the workplace
The so-called Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Management Model is an instrument according to which, in conflict situations, the people involved can adopt five postures or strategies for resolving the conflict.
These five strategies differ in their levels:
- Assertiveness: the extent to which each person tries to achieve their goal (importance of my goal or my opinion);
- Cooperativeness: the extent to which each person is willing to satisfy the other party’s objective (importance of the other party’s objective or opinion).
1 – Avoid
It is an approach to conflict in which the person is neither assertive nor cooperative, i.e. it is assumed that they have no interest in defending their own interests or satisfying the interests of the other party. As the name suggests, there is a flight and a withdrawal from the conflict.
This strategy tends to be adopted when the cause of the conflict and the relationship between the two parties are considered unimportant.
Since, in the workplace, the causes of a conflict are expected to be important, as well as people trying to maintain a cordial and lasting relationship with their colleagues, this strategy is not very prevalent in a professional context.
2 – Compete
Competing in the sense of defending a position or an argument, of pushing ahead with your objectives. This is the strategy with the highest level of assertiveness and the lowest level of cooperativeness.
Adopting this approach in situations where the relationship with the other party is considered important – as in the case of work colleagues – can jeopardize trust, collaboration and even productivity.
However, in more urgent or crisis scenarios, it may be necessary to opt for the competitive style of conflict management, as someone needs to assert themselves and take control.
3 – Accommodate
Unlike the previous approach, it is the least assertive and the most cooperative. In these cases, the person ends up neglecting their own opinions and objectives in order to agree with and satisfy the objectives of the other party.
This attitude tends to be adopted when the relationship with the other person is more important than the cause of the conflict. This can happen if you don’t have a sufficiently formed opinion on the matter or if the other party takes a more categorical or even hostile stance, for example.
Accommodation is very visible in a professional context, but it’s important to realize that if people often tend to agree in order to avoid conflict , valuable opportunities for innovation, growth and creative problem-solving may be missed.
4 – Commit
Compromise is the more moderate approach, i.e. one in which people are assertive and cooperative in equal doses. It implies more compromise than competition, but less compromise than accommodation.
The aim is to reach mutual understanding and a solution that is satisfactory to both parties. This may involve evaluating the pros and cons of each position and some concessions from the parties involved.
The strategy of compromise is very recurrent in the workplace, where people recognize that sometimes it is necessary to partially sacrifice their points of view and objectives for the sake of maintaining a good relationship with colleagues.
5 – Collaborate
Collaboration is at the opposite end of the spectrum from avoidance, i.e. it is the most assertive and the most cooperative. Collaboration consists of trying to find a solution that satisfies both parties.
Unlike compromise, in which the people involved only partially achieve their goals, collaboration involves working together to achieve a positive and satisfactory result for everyone.
Collaboration is the ideal approach in the workplace, as people should cherish their relationships – with their peers and managers – as well as valuing their ideas, perspectives and goals. Furthermore, collaboration is a key element in building healthy, constructive, productive and creative work environments.