Recognizing the Significance Effective Interpersonal Communication
I have also learned that many types of interpersonal conflict in the workplace begin as little more than ineffective communications and misinterpretations by one or more individuals. The email communications medium has demonstrated itself to be particularly vulnerable to unintended tones or to unintended interpretations or assumptions. For that reason, I may sometimes review email exchanges. In our organization, the privacy policy is that supervisors have the authority to review employee emails at any time. While I do not make this a regular practice without a specific cause, I may review email exchanges to identify possible routes that may have led to animosity between individuals.
In that respect, I have learned that one of the most sensitive elements in email exchanges is the "audience" factor. Specifically, all of us (myself included) seem to have a shorter fuse and to be more likely to assume the worst and to respond in kind when we believe another person has embarrassed us in front of others. In fact, certain exchanges that would probably have not necessarily been problematic if they had been limited to the two individuals involved escalated quite quickly to animosity by virtue of the fact that those exchanges were conducted in the full view of others. In some instances, is possible to review email exchanges and to pinpoint exactly what the first sign f trouble was and what provoked an escalation on either side (or both).
The impersonal nature of email and the extent to which it is prone to misinterpretation on one hand or to unintended slights on the other hand have prompted me to include this issue in staff training sessions. On those occasions, I use fictitious emails that I have created to illustrate that concept, but most of them are very similar to exchanges that I have encountered (or been guilty of myself) over the years. I have learned that when it comes to effective communications, one of the most important elements of conflict resolution is to call attention to some of the potential...
Generally, employees who feel that they are respected by other employees are far less likely to react negatively to situations where substantive disagreements naturally occur over business matters. Conversely, employees who perceive that their coworkers do not respect of value them tend to develop very short fuses and to react as negatively as possible to any situation that holds the potential for conflict. In many respects, the way we communicate and allow others to communicate demonstrates that we respect one another and that we value one another's contributions to the organization.
Conclusion
Returning to the initial distinction between substantive conflicts and interpersonal conflicts merely masquerading as substantive conflicts, I believe that the vast majority of the latter can be traced directly back to issues of the perception by one employee (or by both) that a coworker lacks respect for their contributions or for them as individuals. In my experience, this is most evident among coworkers who fall into patterns of continual low-level conflict with one another in which any actual substantive issue provides the spark to ignite an already tense situation. As a supervisor, I consider it good business practice and also my responsibility to my organization to maintain a hands-on approach when it comes to recognizing patterns of negative relations of this type that present the potential for more intense conflict periodically. Therefore, on occasion, I may ask to meet with some of my employees if I believe I detect an undercurrent of negativity between specific employees that does not seem to resolve itself (genuinely) in the very short-term. This, again, is part of my approach to resolve conflict wherever possible, before it actually occurs.
