How conflicts arise and present themselves

Unresolved or underlying conflicts can be reflected in the work community in many different ways. Note that sometimes the disruption of the work community’s operations can be concealed in the form of a completely different problem than what is actually in question.

The following are examples of things that signal problems in the work community:

• The work does not go smoothly, which means that the purpose, goal, quality or result of the work is not achieved.
• People either do not want or are not able to assess their own operations sufficiently.
• The need for changes in the way of doing things is not identified, or changes are not implemented in time.
• Colleagues start avoiding or accusing one or more people.
• The person performing the work task keeps changing.
• There are one or more people in the work community who are repeatedly talked about behind their backs.
• So-called camps start to form in the work community.
• Co-operation and information flow diminish.
• The personnel surveys highlight things such as a lack of co-operation, experiences of loneliness or exclusion at work or problems related to well-being or coping at work.
• Customer or stakeholder feedback indicates ineffective co-operation, inadequate information flow or poor quality of work.
• Contact with occupational health care, occupational safety and health coordinators or shop stewards increases.
• Sickness absences or employee turnover increase significantly.

With regard to conflict management, it is good to understand the various forms of conflict and the factors influencing their occurrence, as the methods of resolving conflicts vary according to the type of situation.

Good ways of preventing or dealing with disputes or conflicts include dialogue, constructive and compassionate interaction, solution-oriented approaches, coaching, work guidance, coaching leadership and work community reconciliation. Practical situations determine which model or approach is appropriate for each situation. Labour law also provides tools for preventing and handling conflicts.

Task: Consider your workplace. Can you identify any of the factors contributing to the creation of conflicts at work listed below?

• Long-term or severe imbalance between operations and resources
• Unclear management system
• Uneven behaviour of supervisors, such as varying management practices or being “buddies” with one or more employees
• Inadequate change management, such as not preparing for changes, not planning or insufficiently coordinating the implementation of changes or not assessing the impacts of changes
• A remuneration culture that does not support working together
• Inadequate ways of dealing with work-related problems, such as indifference and belittling
• Employees do not feel that they are genuinely heard
• The decision-making is not sufficiently open and transparent
• Inadequate or seemingly unfair organisation of work

The workplace’s operating culture plays a major role in whether conflicts arise. The culture shows in, for example, how people are treated in different situations, how people behave, how and what people talk or don’t talk about, what people pay attention to, what is considered important or less important and how problems are generally solved. Therefore, it is advisable to regularly monitor and assess whether there is, for example, non-intervention in deficiencies, experiences of unfair treatment or not being heard sufficiently at the workplace.

Conflicts can result from a prolonged or severe imbalance between the operations and the resources allocated to them or from a misdirected remuneration culture that leads to, for example, undesirable internal competition, withholding of information or insufficient sharing of competence. This can also result in workplace ostracism, which manifests itself as consciously neglecting or overlooking others.

The basic task of management is to create the best possible conditions for smooth, high-quality and productive work. Sometimes the management, planning, organisation and supervision of operations and operational processes as well as decision-making take up the majority of the management’s and supervisors’ attention and time, which means that paying attention to individuals and groups, listening to them and giving them opportunities to participate in matters concerning their own work are overlooked. This can happen especially when things are hectic or in connection with unexpected changes.

In fair management, it is important that decisions are made by listening to those actually affected by the decisions. Nina Rinne (2021, 113) poses two dimensions of fairness: structural and social. The structural dimension includes

• confidence in that decisions are based on accurate information
• confidence in that failures can be dealt with constructively and that errors can be corrected
• participation in decisions concerning oneself
• trust in that the framework for decision-making is the same for everyone.

The social dimension of fairness includes appreciative and respectful interaction and an understanding that ignorance can lead to mistakes for anyone. Showing understanding and goodwill towards everyone is also part of this dimension.

Task: Consider your work community. Can you identify any of the factors contributing to the creation of conflicts at work listed below?

• Lack of openness and trust
• Inadequate psychological safety
• Inflexibility
• A different understanding of the work objectives
• A different understanding of the operating methods
• Deficiencies in mutual interaction and co-operation
• Deficiencies in work-related communications and information flow
• Deficiencies in meeting practices, such as not listening to everyone or not genuinely discussing matters
• Insufficient opportunities to influence one’s own work
• Inadequate orientation training or knowledge sharing
• Concerns about the future

Working together is more than just work performance. It also involves things such as sharing competence, helping others, meeting other people and developing the work together. All of these require structuring, time and conscious effort in the workplace. Productive and smooth operations require common goals that help with understanding what the goals are and what is expected of each individual in order to achieve the common goals. In addition to the goals, it is necessary to agree on common operating practices related to communications, feedback, helping others, influencing and decision-making, among other things. This creates clarity and consistency and helps to avoid unnecessary confusion. As the work progresses, we should regularly stop together to assess what works and what doesn’t and implement the necessary changes. That way, we can continuously learn and develop.

When we are in a hurry, we sometimes miss crucial information related to the work. Hurry can also easily create restlessness in the work community. It is also worth noting that conflicts often start with lacking interaction. Perhaps you failed to express your own thoughts clearly enough or you incorrectly heard what the other person said. There are assumptions, misunderstandings and hurt feelings that start to build up.

People tend to form in-groups and out-groups at the workplace. An in-group refers to a group that a person feels connected to and identifies with. An out-group, in turn, is a group of people the person themselves does not belong to. Conflicts may arise between the groups in the work community.

In a psychologically safe work community, everyone genuinely feels that they are an appreciated and valued part of the work community and can share their own views, ideas and concerns, regardless of their job or position. No one needs to worry that raising difficult issues will lead to negative consequences. Different perspectives are valued, room is given for discussion and questions, and everyone is encouraged to share information and experiences. Unfinished thoughts or ideas are not immediately rejected, but are examined and further developed together. Failures and mistakes are viewed from the perspective of learning.

Together, you should stop and think about the following from time to time:

• How do we talk to each other in our work community? How do we talk about our work, our goals and each other?
• In what kinds of situations do we co-operate? In what situations should we co-operate more? If necessary, take into account the perspectives of shift work, multi-location work, hybrid work and remote work.
• Do we also have time for free-form meetings and discussions?
• How and in what situations do we give and ask for feedback? Is the feedback most often appreciative, encouraging, constructive or corrective? In which situations should we give or ask for more feedback? And how do we receive and process feedback?
• How and in what situations do we support or help each other?
• How do we recognise successes?

These questions have been edited based on the Luottamuskulttuuri publication (Forssén & Kuusela 2021, 22).

Situations of change can facilitate the creation of conflicts. People are worried, even fearful, about their own future. This can affect their performance at work. Uncertainty about one’s own future can lead to unhealthy competition in which one seeks to strengthen one’s own position by any means necessary. This can make people envious, which can lead to things such as deteriorated flexibility, openness, trust and co-operation as well as experiences of unequal treatment.

Task: Consider your work community. Can you identify any of the factors contributing to the creation of conflicts at work listed below?

• Deficiencies in tools, equipment or workspaces
• Unclear or unreasonable goals at work
• Uneven or unfair division of work
• Deficiencies or ambiguities in operating methods and processes
• Deficiencies or ambiguities in the division of work, roles, duties, responsibilities or rights
• Incomplete, confusing or contradictory instructions
• Deficient recovery
• Harmful workloads

Deficiencies in tools, equipment and workspaces affect the occurrence of harmful workloads and, thus, also the propensity for conflicts in the work community. Slowing down of work and the work becoming more difficult can sometimes lead to frustration, which can manifest itself as unprofessional work behaviour. Deficiencies or ambiguities in operating methods and processes also contribute to the creation of conflicts. In most cases, conflicts are not due to malicious intent, but by deficiencies in the working conditions and work arrangements.

Ambiguities or conflicts in roles, responsibilities and work tasks are typical causes of conflict situations. When there is uncertainty about the division of work in the work community or when work is not carried out in accordance with the division of work, confusion easily arises. If left unresolved, confusion leads to disputes and accusations and, if prolonged, can escalate into conflicts. If work tasks are not distributed equally or if some employees feel that their workload is too small or too big, it can lead to dissatisfaction and conflicts. This can negatively affect the working atmosphere and create disruptive tension between employees or groups of employees.

Inadequate, confusing or contradicting instructions all contribute to making the work of employees more difficult. When instructions are unclear or contradict each other, the likelihood of errors and frustration increases.

Harmful workloads easily increase irritability, which can make people more sensitive or aggressive in how they react. For example, accusatory, defensive or aggressive behaviours are more likely to cause disputes or conflicts. Harmful workloads can also weaken presence of mind in interaction situations, which can translate to impatience and poor listening, for example.

Task: Consider your work community. Can you identify any of the factors contributing to the creation of conflicts at work listed below?

• Values or work-related interests differ considerably within the work community
• Expectations, wishes or goals related to the work differ considerably within the work community
• One’s own work is not perceived as meaningful
• Competence is inadequate in relation to the requirements of the work
• Competence cannot be used in the desired way at work
• Attitudes or motivations are reflected in undesirable work behaviour
• Envy or competition that causes disruption
• Blindness to one’s own actions can prevent a person from sufficiently reflecting on their own actions

Work behaviour is made up of the choices we make when we work together and meet each other. Everyone can influence how many conflicts arise that interfere with the performance of work. It is everyone’s duty to ensure the achievement of the goals of the shared and individual work, smooth co-operation and appropriate interaction with everyone. Sometimes, it is worth stopping to consider the following: What kind of working environment do I create for my co-workers? Nina Laine (2014): Do I contribute to the work community positively or negatively?

Conflicts are often caused by things such as

• not sticking to one’s work role
• overly personal goals at work
• deficient competence in relation to the requirements of the work
• inflexibility
• attitude towards the work or someone in the work community
• jealousy
• blindness to the effects of one’s own behaviour in the work community or unwillingness to see these effects.

Expectations affect our work performance. They can be related to values, interests or perceptions of how to act in a given situation. Expectations are not always discussed together enough, if at all. Sometimes, they put people on a collision course, for example, in relation to everyday decisions and other activities. When we have different expectations and goals, we may experience disappointments when they are not met. The experience that one’s own work is not perceived as meaningful or motivating enough can also be reflected negatively in the work community and cause conflicts.

Our background, including our experience, appreciation, knowledge and beliefs, influence our interpretation of things, situations and people. We often assume that we know what the other person is thinking based on our own interpretations.

We don’t always realise that our own opinions may be coloured. Coloured opinions guide our way of interpreting situations and making choices without us noticing. Strong negative interpretations lessen our desire to see things from different perspectives or solve the situation. People react to stressful situations with basic human behaviours, such as fighting, freezing up or fleeing, which can make constructive interaction difficult. On the other hand, positive thinking broadens our perspective.

Occasionally, personal matters, such as concerns or problems in areas of life outside work, can also be reflected in behaviour and interaction in work situations.

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