83. Find Win-Win Solutions
How well did you resolve a conflict if one or more of the involved parties do not feel the outcome is acceptable? Not well at all! Unless all involved members feel satisfied with the solution, you are not going to be successful in resolving the conflict. Your main goal should be to resolve conflict by finding a win-win solution, one in which everyone feels valued.
Performance Prompts
Open your meeting by explaining that this is a solution-seeking meeting. Leave complaining at the door!
Make sure all involved people are present at your meeting.
Your role is to facilitate the discussion and guide your coworkers to reach consensus. Describe the problem, and ask for ideas to resolve it.
Allow everyone time to talk. Listen to each suggestion, and note all ideas.
Stay focused on the issue at hand. No name calling, using always or never, or ganging up on someone.
Consider all ideas. An idea that sounds silly may be the right solution.
Analyze the consequences of each suggestion.
Work toward consensus and a solution that everyone can buy into. Complete agreement may not be possible, but try to find a solution that is acceptable to all.
If tempers flare, take a cooling-off break.
The best solution for right now may be to rest the problem. Adjourn the meeting, give everyone time to think, and then meet again.
If you cannot reach consensus as a group, you may have to make the final decision as the group leader. Take your time before deciding, and explain why you are making this decision.
When This Happens ...
You set the meeting time and state the reason for it. Before the meeting, talk to everyone, individually, to explain the ground rules.
Try This
By explaining the ground rules before the meeting, you accomplished one important goal, that is, you set the tone for the meeting. You open the meeting by saying, “I value each of you, and I appreciate how closely we all work together. When I noticed a problem, I felt we needed to resolve this right away. Each of you has explained why you’re upset that Dave is acting team leader. I’ve talked to Dave to get his input. The main problem is that when Dave takes over as team leader, the rest of you have to cover his workload and that puts a burden on you. Let’s come up with some ideas to solve this. Who wants to go first?” You facilitate the discussion and guide your coworkers toward an acceptable solution. They support Dave as acting team leader. They decide that they can handle his work one day a week, but if Dave is team leader more than that, he will have to take responsibility for doing part of his workload. They will work as a team to distribute and take responsibility for his work. Everyone accepts this win-win solution, and you feel that working together on this has strengthened the team.
People feel empowered when they are a part of the solution.