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#4 One-to-One Conflict Resolution



Conflict is inevitable where ever people are involved. It is normal and healthy. Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the presence of respect and equality. Unresolved conflict, however, that continues to ferment under the surface, is not healthy, but all too common. In the business setting, complaints about co-workers often are left unresolved and become just one more irritation that makes going to work drudgery and at best is a distraction to doing one’s best work. The next most popular option is to report the co-worker’s irritating behavior to the supervisor in hopes that she/he will take care of it. Most supervisors will report that far too much of their week is taken up dealing with conflicts between personnel. I have been in that situation myself and he said/she said conversations that ensue rarely lead to a satisfactory solution. It may get quiet, but not peaceful.

In our practice, a large radiology group with multiple practice sites, we adopted a plan to encourage and train people with minor work-a-day conflicts to actually talk to each other privately and create their own resolution. This is not for things like sexual harassment complaints and such, but simple things like a misunderstanding blown out of proportion, or radio too loud in the next cubicle, etc.