A diversity in life experiences and perspectives amongst a workforce is largely beneficial, as this can lead to healthy challenge and debate, as well as creative thinking. However, this can also sometimes lead to conflict in the workplace, where people may react differently in certain situations. As a result, misunderstanding and conflict may arise.
So, how do we manage conflict in the workplace? The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) released a report on, ‘managing conflict in the modern workplace’. The report provides a detailed insight into how managers and employers can proactively work to minimise negative conflict in the workplace. To combat conflict in the workplace, it is helpful to address concerns at an early stage before they progress to a more impactful dispute.
What can cause conflict in the workplace?
Conflict can occur between individuals at work for a variety of reasons. This can range from a minor disagreement over an issue or a personality clash, to bullying and harassment.
The following are clear sources of conflict in the workplace:
- Bullying behaviour and harassment
- Discriminatory behaviour
- Poor performance
- Poor attendance and timekeeping
- Unacceptable language
- Excessive personal use of the internet or email
- Theft
- Drink or drug problems
The below are considered less obvious but can still be sources of conflict:
- Differences in personality style or ways of working
- Taking credit for other people’s work or ideas
- Not valuing other people’s views, background or experiences
- Talking over or interrupting people in meetings
- Excluding people in email chains
- Ignoring people or being discourteous
- Poor personal hygiene
These less obvious sources of conflict can be equally destructive, and are more likely to cause a buildup of tension over time if not addressed. This could result in disputes in the workplace.
Five tips to prevent workplace conflict
The CIPD found that conflict is common in the workplace, with 35% of respondents reporting that they had experienced interpersonal conflict. Encouragingly, around 75% of employees in the UK feel their organisations are doing enough to prevent and manage conflict in the workplace. To ensure we can continue to do this effectively, managers should intervene in tensions at an early stage in order to address them before they intensify. The report from the CIPD suggests a number of ways that managers can address conflict in a proactive way. We’ve summarised five tips for preventing workplace conflict below.
1. Build strong working relationships with your team
Get to know your team well. Understand what matters to them, what triggers their stress levels, how they feel in their role, how they prefer to work and whether they feel like they belong in the team.
This understanding will help you to pre-empt and identify when conflict might arise between individuals in your team. Building strong working relationships with your team can help to establish an environment where your team feel comfortable with approaching you with any personal issues they are experiencing that they feel are affecting them. Additional stress in this respect can trigger a reaction in the workplace.
2. Be mindful of low-level tensions
Different people exhibit their tensions in different ways. Some people will be immediately open about how they are feeling and their reaction about a particular issue. However, others may not be outwardly expressive, and it may be more difficult to visibly see that they are frustrated.
Therefore, managers should be confident in challenging any inappropriate behaviour straight away, as this will send a positive message to their team that you will not tolerate such treatment. Holding regular one to ones with your team will help to build strong relationships in which employees feel able to share their frustrations, and to intervene in situations as early as possible if they feel tensions are simmering. Mechanisms such as 360-degree feedback and employee surveys can help to identify areas of frustration to be addressed.
3. Address instances where one individual is causing stress
There may be occurrences when one particular individual in a team is disrupting the harmony. They could be exhibiting behaviour such as the below, which managers should look out for and address as soon as reasonably practicable:
- Being excessively critical
- Being short tempered
- Making personal and/ or insulting remarks
- Not sharing information
- Talking about others behind their backs
- Poor time keeping and attendance
- Repeatedly avoiding taking on specific team tasks
In order to address the source of conflict, create an environment in which individuals feel comfortable in sharing their concerns regarding workplace issues or if they are experiencing stress due to personal issues. By understanding this context, managers will be able to better understand how stress affects them and their reaction to this, so that it can be addressed appropriately.
Immediately address your concern with the individual as they may not be aware of how they are acting or the impact that it is having on others. In most cases, the individual will respond positively, and they can then work with their manager to adapt their behaviour. If their behaviour continues to be a problem, it would be prudent to have a more formal conversation to understand if there is an underlying problem triggering the behaviour.
4. Set clear expectations around team behaviour
It is a good idea for managers to set clear expectations around what behaviour they consider is acceptable and constructive, and what is unacceptable and damaging. Managers should embody the desired behaviours as role models, to inspire their team to demonstrate similar behaviours and the values of the organisation.
Some suggested examples of desired behaviours in the workplace include:
- Being respectful of others’ views, experiences and working styles.
- Challenge behaviour which is unacceptable and against expected behaviour.
- Ensure fair treatment of colleagues and avoid favouritism.
- Maintain professionalism and promote an inclusive workplace culture.
If behavioural issues become more of a significant problem in a team, it would be prudent to run a workshop with the team to engage them in identifying desired and constructive behaviours to follow, and to ask them to commit to these moving forwards.
5. Avoid office gossip
Office gossip and getting involved in office politics could become a source of conflict, therefore it is important for managers to avoid engaging in such conversations and challenge individuals who are involved in spreading unfounded rumours.
It is important to encourage an open and inclusive working environment in which people feel they can trust each other, and that each individual’s contribution is valued, and to respect each individual’s privacy.
Conflict in performance management processes
Performance management processes should be constructive and supportive; however, they can sometimes lead to conflict when the individual does not feel that the process is fair or feels their ability has been overlooked.
The CIPD has published the below considerations for managers to minimise conflict in performance management processes:
- Proactively manage performance and ensure that each individual is clear regarding what is expected of them and how they can deliver on these expectations.
- Set clear objectives and realistic deadlines in which these should be achieved for each employee. Ensure that employees are provided with any relevant training and development to support them in achieving their objectives.
- Make efforts to match individuals’ skills and aspirations with roles and responsibilities.
- Provide regular constructive feedback to individuals on their performance, and do not only rely on the annual appraisal process.
- Address any performance concerns as soon as reasonably practicable, by asking open questions on how the employee is doing and whether these is anything that is affecting their performance.
- Where performance improvement is required, ensure the employee is clear on the issues which need to be addressed, any additional support that will be provided, the timeframe in which they are expected to reach a certain level, and ensure regular catch ups with the employee to provide support.
The cost of conflict at work
Acas have published a report by Professor Richard Saundry at the University of Sheffield, and Professor Peter Urwin of the Centre of Employment Research, University of Westminster. The report analysed a range of data on workplace conflict including surveys conducted by the CIPD.
The report estimated that ‘the cost of conflict to UK organisations was £28.5 billion, the equivalent of more than £1,000 for each employee.’
Further impacts of conflict included employee wellbeing, with 56% of respondents to one study experiencing stress, anxiety or depression as a result of conflict.
Costs associated with conflict at work included loss of productivity due to presenteeism, as well as sickness absence. And, time spent in carrying out formal processes including mediation. However, the most significant costs were associated with ending employment.
In comparison, costs associated with the early stages of conflict were low. These findings reinforce the importance of investing in early resolution in order to support employee wellbeing and reduce cost to organisations overall.
As a result, employers should ensure that managers have the skills needed to resolve conflict informally where possible.
Informal ways to resolve conflict
As well as practical measures that employers can take to prevent conflict in the workplace, this may not always be possible, and conflict can still arise and develop. In these cases, it is important for managers to address and resolve conflict as soon as possible before it escalates further and to the point where formal disciplinary or grievance processes have to be used.
Here we have summarised the guidance from CIPD around how conflict can be resolved informally.
1. Prepare to address conflict situations
It is crucial that managers feel ready and confident to speak to individuals about challenging behaviour or conflict as soon as they identify it, in order to set expectations from the outset that this is unacceptable. Managers should frame the conversations in a constructive and sensitive way, remain objective and listen closely to the individual in order to identify and make efforts to resolve the source of the conflict. Make an action plan with the individual for steps to take to resolve the conflict and ensure it does not arise again in the future.
2. Investigate on an individual level
If a manager perceives there is conflict arising between a group of people, it is recommended that they speak to individuals on a one to one basis in order to get to the crux of the issue, ensuring that the individuals are aware that their views will be kept confidential. Individuals will generally feel more comfortable in sharing their views on an individual basis. It is advisable that managers use open questions and allow the individual time to respond, and that they ensure the individual is aware that they will only use the information with the individual’s permission.
3. Facilitate the conversation
When you feel you have a clear understanding of the source of the conflict and how individuals are contributing to the tension, it is advisable that the manager facilitates a conversation between the parties involved. It is important that the manager prepares thoroughly for how this meeting should run and seeks advice from HR if they have not had formal training in such conversations to ensure it reaches a successful aim.
Managers should control the conversation and encourage each party to share their views, concerns and what changes they would like to see in order to resolve the issue. The facilitator should listen carefully and offer constructive solutions in order to move forwards and ask for the parties’ commitment to the changes at the end of the meeting.
4. Separate individuals when major tension arises
If there is a major disagreement between individuals and it has become heated, it is recommended that employers take steps to separate them to prevent either party saying something in the heat of the moment that may be more detrimental to the relationship. It is advisable that, once the individuals have been separated, if this is possible for the size of the organisation and is fair to do so, and the situation has calmed down, a conversation is then facilitated between the individuals in a neutral area in order to find and agree upon a resolution.
If the conflict consistently arises between two individuals, it may be necessary to review moving one of them to a different team or a different role, which will of course require full consultation with the individual involved.
5. Engage the team in resolutions to conflict
If a disagreement or dispute is affecting a whole team, for example due to changing working practices or particular workload, it is advisable to meet with them to engage them in finding solutions. It is recommended that a manager engages individuals in discussing the issue and potential resolutions in one to one meetings first, and then hold a structured team meeting to map out next steps.
6. Monitor resolutions
Once a constructive conversation has taken place between individuals and a resolution has been reached, it is important for managers to continue to monitor the tension and to regularly check in with the individuals involved to ensure that conflict has not re-occurred.
How to respond to conflict formally
Despite the preventative and informal responses to conflict in the workplace, there will still be some instances in which these unfortunately do not fully address the issues and a formal response is required. Although it is important to note that all informal measures should be exhausted before a formal approach is required.
If an individual has a serious complaint, it is important that they are made aware of the organisation’s grievance procedure and, where serious incidents occur, it is important that managers address these formally through a disciplinary investigation and hearing.
In addition, mediation can be an effective solution to workplace conflicts. It involves an independent trained workplace mediator who works to facilitate communication between the disputing parties. The mediator doesn’t impose a solution but facilitates the parties with developing an agreed outcome.
Find out more about using mediation to resolve conflict in our guide:
Our HR Consultants are trained mediators, and have the skills and tools to support you in finding solutions to a workplace conflict, so please do contact us if this is something you would like to discuss further with our team.
We hope you found this article useful. If we can help with a conflict management situation in your organisation, please contact us.
Key takeaways on conflict in the workplace
- Early intervention is critical. Addressing issues at a low level prevents escalation into formal disputes.
- Clear behavioural expectations matter. Managers should model respectful, inclusive and professional conduct.
- Informal resolution is often most effective. One-to-one discussions, facilitated conversations and mediation can resolve issues before formal procedures are needed.
- Performance management can trigger conflict. Clear objectives, regular feedback and fair processes reduce misunderstandings.
- Manager capability is key. Employers should equip managers with the skills and confidence to manage conflict proactively and constructively.
Frequently asked questions on managing conflict in the workplace
How can managers prevent workplace conflict?
Managers can prevent conflict by:
-Building strong working relationships with team members
-Addressing low-level tensions early
-Setting clear behavioural expectations
-Challenging inappropriate behaviour immediately
-Encouraging open communication and regular feedback
Proactive management significantly reduces the likelihood of escalation.
When should conflict be handled formally?
Formal procedures should be used when:
-Informal attempts have been exhausted
-There are serious allegations (e.g., bullying, harassment, misconduct)
-An employee raises a formal grievance
-There is potential breach of policy or employment law
Employers should ensure their grievance and disciplinary procedures are followed appropriately.
What are informal ways to resolve workplace conflict?
Informal resolution may include:
-Preparing for and holding constructive one-to-one discussions
-Investigating concerns confidentially
-Facilitating structured conversations between parties
-Temporary separation where tensions are high
-Team discussions to identify shared solutions
-Ongoing monitoring after resolution
Mediation by a trained, independent mediator can also be highly effective.
What role does mediation play in resolving conflict?
Mediation involves a trained, neutral third party who facilitates constructive dialogue between individuals in dispute. The mediator does not impose a solution but helps the parties reach a mutually agreed outcome. Mediation can prevent issues escalating to formal disciplinary or grievance procedures.
