Tips for managing conflict in your veterinary team

Conflict in your veterinary team is natural and normal - it's how you handle it that makes all the difference!
In interpersonal relations, conflict is as natural as breathing. Conflict can happen for many reasons and present in many ways. When you’re working in a veterinary practice where there is constant stress and high pressure situations- conflict is bound to happen.
It is actually avoiding the management of conflict that creates the chaos and confusion in workplaces.
Most often, ignoring conflict ultimately leads to low morale and dysfunctional behaviour.
So, why is conflict so ugly?
Why do a lot of people prefer to avoid it? Conflict is not simply a misunderstanding or disagreement. It is more than that; otherwise you wouldn’t get so infuriated. Conflict is a disagreement sprinkled (or saturated depending on the person!) with emotion. And when you get infuriated or “worked-up”, so do your emotions. Your emotions then tend to control you, rather than you controlling your emotions. The blood rushes to our extremities (assists in our fight or flight response), as opposed to it rushing to our brain (where we really need it). When you’re in the middle of a conflict or even during the conflict resolution process, all your brain can do is tell you that you are right and the other person is wrong. That you’ve got to get all your information out, how you saw it, how you’re feeling, how they’ve affected you, and that it’s not resolved until the other person not only sees your point of view but essentially forfeit’s their side. Chances.....? Slim to none.
There are ways to effectively deal with conflict....
In order to effectively deal with conflict in the workplace there are a set of strategies you can use:
Breathe
Take a deep breath in through your nose, count to three, and slowly let it out through your mouth. Try it. This gives you a chance to 'change your tactic' by moving into active listening (ensuring you are actually listening, it can be difficult sometimes when someone has gotten too carried away with their emotions to truly want to listen to them).
Don’t defend
At this point, defending will only add fuel to the fire.
Deal first with their emotions
People shout because they likely feel they are not being heard. Identify their emotion.
Accept your own feelings
First you need to accept your own feelings of frustration, hurt and bitterness, and accept that they’re not going to get you where you want to go. Put your concentration outside yourself, so the conflict has more chance of being resolved.
Conflict - it's neither good nor bad...
Conflict is neither good nor bad. It simply 'is' and due to our imperfect nature, it happens within every organisation. Managed and addressed in the wrong way, however, conflict can lead to genuine and justifiable differences between people. This can result in an un-cooperative, hostile team environment, which in turn can jeopardise a good reputation and the company’s mission. Using the techniques above will help you move in the right direction to solving these situations as they arise.
Have any questions on how to manage conflict in your workplace? Just ask Sue in the Comments section below...
Need more information on conflict resolution? CCG has a range of training solutions to help! Contact us on 07 3621 6005 or ccgenquiries@provet.com.au
About Sue
Sue Crampton is acknowledged as a leading speaker, trainer and consultant across Australasia in the areas of practice and organisational development, strategic planning, communication excellence, staff development and management. Sue has a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Human Resources and Marketing, as well as her Diploma in Company Directorship (GAICD) and a Masters in Neuro Linguistic Programming. Sue invests time working as the Director of Education, Learning, Development and Consulting with Provet / Crampton Consulting Group and Animal Industries Resource Centre, while maintaining a weekend role as a veterinary nurse at a quality mixed practice in Brisbane.
Click here to visit the CCG Page in the Vetanswers Business Directory
Comments
Add Your Comments
All comments will be submitted to the administrator for approval.
Blog Categories
- 1. Mental health resources
25 Blog Entries - 3 Things I bet you didn't know
59 Blog Entries - Case Studies
1 Blog Entry - Client Service
95 Blog Entries - Festival of All Things Dental
35 Blog Entries - Food! It's all about food..
20 Blog Entries - Guest Blogger
88 Blog Entries - Inside veterinary Blogs
5 Blog Entries - Management
77 Blog Entries - Operations
64 Blog Entries - Our Community
125 Blog Entries - Reviews: This is what I think...
1 Blog Entry - So Many Other Things...
17 Blog Entries - Social Media
37 Blog Entries - Sows Ear to Silk Purse Challenge
4 Blog Entries - The Person Behind the Business..
7 Blog Entries - Vet question? Vetanswers..
5 Blog Entries - Web Sites
19 Blog Entries
Recent Blog Entries
- Improve the engagement of your veterinary team & improve profits!
12 December, 2019 (In Management)
- Great ideas for improving the health and well-being of your veterinary team
25 November, 2019 (In 1. Mental health resources)
- Warning! Be alert for the dreaded ‘End of Year Fatigue Syndrome’ in your veterinary team
21 November, 2019 - 1 Comments (In Our Community)
Hey Sue, great article on how to control myself during a conflict situation....but doesn't have any advice on how to move the other person to a listening mindset...if all I do is take a deep breath and let them have the floor, that's not "handling" conflict that's abdicating to a louder voice....next article please!