There are many different types of people you have to work with in an organization. There are some with aggressive behavior in conflicts, known generally as difficult people, others that avoid the conflict altogether by procrastinating, and further others who are physically intimidated if confronted. This article will focus on managing difficult people, and how their aggressive behavior in conflicts can be used in favor of the organization.
In dealing with difficult people, leaving the conflict unattended or unnoticed could be fatal. Not only it can create disruption in the smooth processing of the organization, but also the conflict will raise its head time and again. The secret to success is how managers deal with these difficult people, and negotiate in a way that is fair and beneficial for the organization as a whole. Conflict will only be fruitful if managed properly. Hence, it is hard to change somebody’s aggressive behavior in conflicts, however appropriate conflict management technique can be used to manage this behavior to organization’s advantage.
One of the key traits a manager needs to have when managing conflicts is good negotiation skills. A manager has to make sure that he does not succumb to pressure or be intimidated by the aggressiveness and settle to unfair terms. Though it is very true that one cannot make everyone happy, however a manager should be able to negotiate up till the point where he thinks that the terms are fair, practical, in favor of organization, and acceptable to most members.
When dealing with aggressive behaviors in conflicts, managers need to be very tactful. Direct confrontation with such a lot never produces fruitful results for anyone. A manager has to be assertive with them from the start, so that he does not yield to pressure and has an upper hand for negotiation. Taking feedback from all the group members having problems is very effective and inapprehensive way of knowing the cause of problem. Instead of asking “why did you do that?”, a feedback will ask “what was the motivation of your action?”.
This approach not only avoids conflicts being taken personal, but also gets a factual response which can be dealt through negotiation. In worse case scenarios, negative consequences can be devised which will have far detrimental effects than the result they are trying to achieve through aggressive behavior.
Once the problem is defined, negotiations can be made. Make sure to give such people a respectable way out, so that their ego is not hurt, and they continue to feel that they had their own way. Collaborate with them in implementing the decision, so that they feel that they were actually able to contribute something to the organization. This in turn will also make them realize that their aggressive behavior in conflicts actually has effect on all the others around, and may make them conscious for next time.