The business world in all its dimensions is constantly wavering between conflict and cooperation. In all sectors, administrations, organizations, institutions, the situation is basically the same. You either have to fight or cooperate in order to put your ideas and projects forward, to give them a place and to make them a reality. Generally speaking, as soon as a group is formed to carry out a project, with motivation and enthusiasm, latent conflicts also appear as an expression of opposing forces. Hence the question of how to make conflict situations in companies a factor of personal development instead of being a problem that can lead to psychological harm? Some elements of answer with Antonino Mercuri, specialist in mediation.
Types of conflict in companies
It should be noted that positive conflicts often allow the emergence of new ideas necessary for the dynamics of the project. On the other hand, useless and destructive conflicts abandon the global idea of the project in favour of a battle of egos. Generally, all managers have a fairly developed capacity to resolve emerging conflicts. Everyone has their own way of dealing with conflict by having developed this ability through practice or through appropriate training. But in a company, managers are well aware of the energy that must be constantly deployed to maintain the always fragile balance between the benign and rather positive conflicts that will help the company’s development and those that are destructive and harmful to the cohabitation that the company needs to carry out its activities.
According to Antonino Mercuri, the psychological impact resulting from hidden or open conflicts is visible on the level of involvement and productivity of employees and leads to long sleepless nights for all parties to the conflict, with the result that aggressive behaviour is the only consequence, which is an increasingly serious situation for the company.
Possible solutions for managing conflict
The solutions to this situation are multiple and depend on the circumstances, the state of mind and the type of conflict: negotiation, personal interview, hierarchical sanctions, calling on lawyers, courts, arbitration or conciliation, or fleeing resignation or illness. But calling on a company mediator would be the most appropriate response.
Because it is rare that with the multitude of all these approaches, the parties concerned get out of the situation without any after-effects. The employee who has won the case will further strengthen his or her winning attitude, while the one who has lost will surely feel a sense of injustice that will lead to further conflicts, this time even more devastating. Even if they all decide to cut the pear in half, it is certain that they will all feel a great sense of dissatisfaction that will continue to aggravate future relationships.
As Antonino Mercuri explains, mediation is a very confidential recourse. The mediator in charge of intervening is bound by professional secrecy and the parties are bound by a commitment by signing a document called “mediation protocol. Likewise, all persons involved in a mediation process must never divulge anything that happens during the mediation unless the parties concerned formally agree. In addition, nothing that takes place during mediation can be used as evidence before a judge, should the conflict ever be brought before the courts.
