Handling Conflict in the Workplace
Written by Abi Broda, Assistant Director
This is one of those things that should be talked about more in school because it’s a part of life that we all face sooner or later. Handling a discrepancy with a friend or family member is inevitable, but we can learn to adapt. When we get our first job and have to deal with a coworker who we might not know very well, but disagree on something…what do we do?
Pause
The best advice that I ever heard was to pause before you send the “heated” email. When you get news that is not what you were hoping for at work, type out your response. This helps get it out of your system but don’t send it. Pause. Wait until the next day before you send a new response. Giving yourself that space to process and breathe can save you from more difficulty.
Pray
I’m listing prayer as the second step here because it is not always our first thought when we are in a tough situation. Taking a moment to pause and the process is sometimes a realistic first step. However, God is there in all parts of your life no matter how big or small. He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to hear you talk about your concerns, and He wants you to be still so He can talk back. All the answers in life lie within the pages of the Bible. Sometimes these can come from previously stored data in our brains, sometimes these can come from spoken words from a mentor or spiritually mature person in our life, and sometimes this requires us to seek the answers from the pages of the Bible ourselves. The Bible tells us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7.
Proceed
Depending on your personality type, you may struggle with one of the prompted action steps of this blog post. For me, an introverted, enneagram 5, the ‘proceed’ step is the hardest. Putting into action what I have thought and prayed about can be scary. This is the part that brings about change and progress in a situation. It is important not to proceed in a stressful situation irrationally. This takes practice. However, we make a stronger church body when we can face each other in tough situations and work together toward solutions. So, prepare your thoughts and kindly approach the situation with what needs to be said.
