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5 Conflict Resolution Strategies: Steps and Tips
Published on:
May 30, 2025
Updated on:
June 3, 2025
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Conflict in the workplace is unavoidable. That is why conflict resolution skills rank among some of the most important HR competencies in 2025. Yet it is not just a matter of skill but of strategy.
One of the most thorough pieces of research conducted on workplace conflict, The CPP Human Global Capital Report: Workplace Conflict and How Businesses Can Harness it to Thrive, suggests that employees spend an average of 2.8 hours per week dealing with conflict.
We, by no means, are claiming that all that time is avoidable, no matter how skillful you may be at resolving conflicts in the workplace. That being said, with the right conflict resolution strategy, you can make sure that your team comes out of the other side of that conflict stronger.
So in this article, we will be going over just what the report by CPP means, as well as some conflict resolution strategies based on the findings of that report.
Before we dive into conflict management strategies, let’s go over just why resolving conflicts effectively in the workplace is so important to fostering a productive work environment.
When leaders refuse to manage conflict, they negatively impact their organization both morally and financially. Let us take a look at the numbers and the research:
According to the CPP research we linked to above, a striking 85% of employees deal with some degree of conflict at work, with Gen Z experiencing disputes over once a week. Yet 72% of organizations do not have a formal policy in place to resolve workplace conflicts.
Here's the real financial impact of workplace conflicts:
Teams that navigate disagreements constructively and excel at workplace conflict resolution develop stronger problem-solving skills. They surface issues early before they become major disruptions. Employees feel heard and valued, which directly impacts retention.
It is absolutely crucial to understand that resolving a conflict is no easy task and there is a neurological reason behind it. According to a Harvard Business Review article, conflict triggers a fear response in us, “Wreaking havoc on our brains and triggering a strong impulse to protect ourselves.”.
Considering the strong effect conflict has on us, the gap between conflict frequency and preparation is staggering. Most organizations react to conflicts instead of preventing them. Without proper systems and training, small misunderstandings quickly escalate into major disputes, leading to employee disengagement and burnout.
Some of the most common causes of workplace conflict, according to the CPP Human Global Capital report, include:
Communication breakdowns and personality clashes are the most frequently cited causes of workplace conflict.
When information gets lost, misinterpreted, or delivered poorly, small misunderstandings become major disputes. 49% of professionals cite clashing egos and personalities as primary triggers.
Limited resources create natural friction points. When budgets are tight or deadlines overlap, teams fight for the same resources. Each department has legitimate needs, but without clear prioritization, competing demands turn into territorial battles. This leads to the some of the common causes of conflict we mentioned above, such as stress in the workplace and heavy workloads.
Company culture can be the cause or the solution of ongoing workplace conflicts. Each employee in an organization has their own unique way of approaching work and sometimes these work styles cause can be root causes of conflict.
Common work style conflicts include:
Effective conflict resolution strategies give you multiple tools for different situations. Each approach has its place, and skilled professionals know when to use each one.
These conflict resolution styles aren't one-size-fits-all solutions. The key is matching your strategy to the specific situation, relationships involved, and desired outcomes.
Collaboration represents the gold standard of conflict resolution strategies. The collaborative approach to workplace conflict resolution seeks solutions where everyone's core needs are met and everyone’s point of view is acknowledged, creating genuine win-win outcomes.
When to use collaboration:
Start by practicing active listening with each party. Let each team member fully explain their perspective without interruption. Ask clarifying questions to understand their underlying needs and not just positions.
Focus on shared goals and common ground. Most workplace conflicts involve people who ultimately want similar things, be it project success, fair treatment, or clear communication.
Brainstorm solutions together rather than advocating for predetermined fixes. This problem-solving approach often reveals creative options nobody considered initially.
Conflict Resolution Example: Two department heads disagree about project timelines. Instead of choosing sides, their manager facilitates a session where they map out dependencies and find ways to parallelize work, actually improving the overall timeline.
One of the best lessons in this regard comes from Anna Wildman, the inventor of the CEDAR feedback model. She encourages all participants in a workplace conflict to remember that:
“It’s not you against me. It’s us against the mountain.”
Insights from Anna and other legendary people managers can be found in our article: People Management Tips: Lessons for First-Time Managers.
Compromising involves each party giving up something to reach a mutually acceptable solution. This conflict resolution strategy works well when you need quick results and both sides have relatively equal power.
Best situations for compromise:
Step 1: Set clear boundaries upfront about what's negotiable and what isn't. This prevents the discussion from wandering into non-starters.
Step 2: Identify what each party values most and least. Often, what's crucial to one person matters less to the other, creating natural trading opportunities
Step 3: Focus on interests behind positions. Someone demanding a specific deadline might actually need early visibility into project status, which could be handled differently.
Conflict Resolution Example: A marketing team needs extra design resources during their busy season, while the design team is already overcommitted. They compromise by having marketing handle simpler graphics internally while design focuses on complex projects requiring expertise.
Accommodating means letting the other party have their way, essentially sacrificing your position for theirs. While this might sound like losing, strategic accommodation can be a powerful tool for conflict management.
Smart times to accommodate:
Be genuinely willing to let go. Do not just go through the motions. Half-hearted accommodating creates passive-aggressive behavior later.
Communicate your choice clearly. Let the other person know you're choosing to accommodate, so they understand your gesture.
Learn from the experience. Accommodating should teach you something about the other person's priorities or working style.
Accommodation example: A team member accidentally schedules a client meeting during your planned vacation day. Rather than forcing them to reschedule, you might accommodate by shifting your plans, especially if this client relationship is crucial and rescheduling would create problems.
Sometimes conflict at work requires a firm, assertive approach. Competing means pursuing your goals without compromise, prioritizing results over relationships in the moment.
When to compete:
Focus on issues, not personalities. Attack problems, not people. Keep your language professional and fact-based.
Explain your reasoning clearly. People can accept firm decisions better when they understand the logic behind them.
Acknowledge the impact on others. Competing doesn't mean being callous about how your decisions affect team members.
Effective competing: A project manager discovers that cutting safety protocols to meet a deadline could risk worker injury. Despite pressure from executives, she competes by refusing to compromise on safety standards, clearly explaining the legal and ethical risks.
Avoiding conflict doesn't always mean weakness. Strategic avoidance can prevent minor issues from becoming major problems, especially when emotions are running high.
When avoiding makes sense:
Set a timeline for revisiting the issue. Avoiding shouldn't mean ignoring problems forever.
Address the underlying conditions that created the conflict. Even if you avoid the immediate confrontation, consider what systemic changes might prevent future issues.
Monitor the situation for escalation. If avoidance isn't working, be ready to switch strategies.
Strategic avoidance example: Two team members have a heated disagreement during a stressful product launch. Their manager chooses to avoid immediate intervention, letting emotions cool down, then addresses the underlying workload and communication issues after the launch is completed successfully.
Selecting the appropriate conflict resolution style depends on several key factors that skilled managers learn to assess quickly.
Relationship importance vs. outcome importance forms the primary decision matrix. When relationships matter more than specific outcomes, collaboration and accommodation work better. When results are crucial and relationships can handle some tension, competing or compromising might be appropriate.
Time constraints heavily influence your options. Collaboration takes time that crisis situations don't allow. Competing or avoiding might be necessary when decisions can't wait.
Power dynamics affect which strategies will actually work. If you have significantly more or less power than the other party, certain approaches become more or less viable.
Emotional intelligence helps you read the situation accurately. People with high emotional intelligence can sense when someone needs to be heard (requiring accommodation or collaboration) versus when they need clear direction (suggesting competing).
Consider these questions when choosing your conflict resolution strategy:
Now that we’ve discussed strategies, let’s go over some simple practices, skills, ant tools those in leadership roles can utilize in order to manage conflict effectively:
Prevention beats resolution every time. Smart managers build systems and cultures that minimize serious conflicts before they develop. Some of the ways through which management can prevent conflicts in the workplace include:
Providing regular feedback addresses performance and communication issues while they're still small. Monthly or weekly check-ins catch problems before they become interpersonal conflicts.
Train team members to give each other constructive feedback directly. When people can address minor issues peer-to-peer, fewer problems escalate to the management level.
Create structured feedback processes that feel supportive and include all perspectives. The best way to do so is through 360-degree feedback, including managers, peers, direct reports in the process.
The best way to achieve this is by implementing a 360-degree feedback software that fully integrates with your main communication and collaboration platforms. If those platforms are Microsoft Teams or Outlook for you:
Conflict resolution training for teams gives everyone shared language and techniques for handling disagreements. When everyone knows the same approaches, conflicts get resolved more quickly and professionally.
Include emotional intelligence development in your training programs. People who understand their own triggers and communication styles cause fewer accidental conflicts.
Practice scenarios relevant to your specific workplace. Generic conflict training helps, but role-playing situations your team actually faces builds practical skills.
Conducting regular one-on-one meetings gives you early warning systems for potential conflicts. People often share concerns in private that they wouldn't raise in group settings.
Use these meetings to identify workload imbalances, communication breakdowns, or personality conflicts before they explode. Early intervention prevents the most serious workplace disputes. Ask specific questions about team dynamics, not just project status. Questions like "How are things going with the design team?" often reveal brewing tensions.
A great way to make sure the those meetings are productive is to take advantage of one-on-one meeting software, like Teamflect that will fit right inside your Microsoft Teams meetings and provide you with features such as shared and private meeting notes, goal setting and task creation inside meetings, and so much more!
Encouraging a culture of transparency and respect dramatically reduces conflict frequency and intensity. When employees feel safe expressing concerns directly, problems don't fester into major disputes.
Celebrate examples of constructive conflict resolution. When someone handles a disagreement well, highlight their approach publicly to reinforce desired behaviors. Address toxic behaviors quickly and consistently. One person who consistently creates drama can undermine an entire team's conflict resolution efforts.
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