Content area
Full text
As Kennedy and Coe, LLC continues to work in the areas of strategic planning, facilitation, and conflict resolution with family owned and closely held businesses, one of the major questions continually arising is "What should we do when family members or business partners are in conflict?" This article, originally written as a four-part series, will attempt to answer that question by suggesting a process to manage conflict in the business.
Before you can actually begin to manage or resolve conflict, consider your own notions of conflict. Do you think conflict is good or bad? Is conflict something that helps your organization, or is conflict a destructive force in your business? I suggest here that conflict is neither good nor bad. Rather, conflict is normal. It happens to all of us throughout our lives, and will always be a part of our existence.
However, the consequences of conflict can be positive or negative. That is to say, if conflict is normal, it is how we handle conflict that makes a difference. Conflict handled in a positive, constructive fashion can lead to new ideas, improved efficiency, and even more trustworthy relationships. Conflict avoided or handled poorly leads to low levels of communication, mistrust, and high tension among family members and business partners.
Realizing that conflict handled in a positive fashion can be beneficial, I suggest there are four steps to positively resolving conflict. Those steps 1) Admitting a conflict exists.
2) Assessing whether the conflict is worth resolving.
3) Analyzing the source of the con
4) Creating options and solutions.
Admitting the Conflict
The first step in the process sounds like a fairly easy task: Admitting a conflict exists. However, I'm surprised at the number of times I hear someone say "I don't have a conflict. . . HE has a conflict." It always seems to be someone else's problem.
It is hard to admit that we have a conflict with someone, because conflict is so often seen as negative. But for any successful resolution of the conflict to occur, everyone has to be willing to admit that a conflict exists. If someone who needs to be part of the solution denies that there is even a problem, you will be wasting your time, working on...