It might seem impossible – something as seemingly in-your-face as conflict should be hard to ignore – but all too often conflict goes unrecognised (and therefore unmanaged) in the workplace.

According to Dr Rod Gutierrez from Injury Management Solutions, supervisors and managers often find it particularly difficult to identify problematic differences of opinion and approach when they themselves are involved in the dispute.

“Supervisors,” Dr Gutierrez told us, “Are fairly good at isolating when there is conflict between two co-workers, but when the conflict is between a worker and themselves, they can’t really see it.”

One possible reason for this, workplace conflict expert Dr Remi Ayoko believes, is because supervisors and managers may expect employees to fall in line with their decisions. After all, they’re in charge for a reason. 

“If a manager,” Dr Ayoko said, “Based on their experience, is asking the team-member to go in one particular direction, and that team member is not going in that particular direction, it may be termed as being insubordinate to the manager. The manager might be looking at it from that point of view, rather than thinking this is a conflict that I need to resolve; or manage, if I can’t resolve it.”

Recognising conflict as conflict is, in fact, the first step to managing it effectively.

Regardless of who the “warring” parties are, there are some simple indicators that all is not right in the workplace. Dr Ayoko advised managers to keep an eye out for:

• Changes to the workplace climate, or the general mood of the team – For example, if workers generally greet one another and chat when they arrive at work in the morning, and one or more team members stops doing this, conflict could be the reason;
• Individuals who ignore or avoid each other (or you) – Dr Ayoko explained that “If something is bothering you and giving you a lot of emotional stress, the tendency is that you want to move away from that object, or that particular person”;
• Underperforming projects – Conflict impacts productivity, so underperformance may indicate that there is a problem;
• Excess “sickies” –  A more extreme example of the conflict avoidance phenomenon is when people take days off work to escape a negative workplace situation; and
• Resignations – Workplace conflict can become so damaging that people would rather quit than continue dealing with it.

This all might sound rather grim, but the good news is that once conflict is recognised, it can be resolved or managed successfully. So don’t lose your appetite: the next article serves up some tasty conflict management techniques!