Managing Conflict with Direct Reports

Conflict is inevitable when people work together, and it'sone of the most difficult challenges facing managers. Butit's a challenge that successful leaders learn to address. Managers who develop an understanding of difference withoutjudgment and are willing to see more than one perspective orsolution are in a good position to manage conflict with theirdirect reports. Conflict between managers and direct reportshighlights a power relationship and affects the workitself--the tasks for which managers and direct reports shareresponsibility. Managers who look to see both sides of conflict canresolve it, but it means assessing the differences betweenthemselves and their direct reports and finding out how thosedifferences affect the conflict. After assessing those differences, managers can devise a plan touse before, during, and after a conflict resolution session. Theywill be better prepared to understand emotions that can triggerconflict, to clarify performance expectations so their directreports know what's expected of them, and to provide ongoingfeedback for the support and development of their direct reports.