Workplace conflict and how to handle it
Professor Peterson talks to Fast Company about the management styles that contribute to office conflict
Enormous amounts of energy are wasted at work each year because of workplace conflict, with managers spending upwards of 20% of their time managing conflict, according to London Business School Professor of Organisational Behaviour, and Academic Director of the Leadership Institute, Randall Peterson who recently spoke to Fast Company about the issue.
Addressing the US media outlet about workplace conflict and the detrimental impact it can have, Professor Peterson highlighted two types of conflict – task-based conflict and relationship conflict. He also explained that differing leadership styles can have an impact on workplace conflict and highlighted a number of pitfalls to avoid, such as apportioning blame instead of focussing on fixing the problem.
Not all conflict is bad, however. Having a heated debate about how best to do a task can work in a team’s favour if they can use the tension to work out what works best for the group. Managers that allow healthy debate can help to reduce workplace conflict by managing it rather than contributing to it.
Workplace is just one topic that Professor Peterson has spoken to the media about recently. He was also interviewed recently by Fortune about Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s relationship with the company’s board and whether now might be the right time for him to step down from his CEO role.
