Earlier this week Larry McLellan and I spoke to a group of clients concerning employment law. Larry gave a fascinating talk on conflict in the workplace. I took two main things away from Larry’s talk. First, not all conflict is negative. There can be constructive conflict in the workplace. Second, people who have good conflict management skills spend less time dealing with unproductive conflict. Employees who are trained in conflict management can manage conflict so that it creates positive results instead of tension and stress. And this is important because unproductive conflict in the workplace often leads to litigation.
Well, a cure for workplace conflict may just be a new book written by Timothy Johnson called GUST – The "Tale" Wind of Office Politics. Like Larry suggests, Timothy shows us that office politics are not necessarily negative. The key, however, is identifying the strategies to deal with the various office politicians including the Snake, Ostrich and Bear. What are those strategies? Well, I strongly suggest you buy the book. It is a business fable and a quick read. I know it can help you develop skills to spend less time dealing with unproductive conflict in the workplace and to create positive results. It is available on Amazon.com.