Cristina Lacerda, RN, Geriatric Specialist Nurse, Master in Health Management, Head Nurse of Oncology Department, Portuguese Institute Oncology in Lisbon, Treasure of EONS
Managing Conflict as a Leader
Review and update knowledge about conflict in Health –care organizations;
Identify how can prevent, mitigated and management aconflict;
Act according the best practices to resolve conflictshaving the knowledge, competencies and behaviours foreffective conflict management.
Objectives
What is conflict ?
In this presentation , conflict is defined as a dynamic processoccurring between interdependent individuals and/or groupsas they experience negative emotional reactions to perceiveddisagreements and interference with the attainment of theirgoals.
Baki&Hartwick,2004
Understanding, mitigating and managing conflict may result in positive outcomes such as new
ideas and initiatives
Leadership is required across all organizational and Health-care
sector levels to create environments that practice
management and mitigation of conflict.
A healthy work environment for nurses is complex and
multidimensional, comprised of numerous components and
relationships among the components
Healthy work environments for nurses are defined as practice
settings that maximize the health and well-being of the nurse, quality patient/client
outcomes, organizational performance and societal
outcomes.
Conflict at Work Setting is Inevitable
Conflict
Disagreement is thekey cognitive componentin conflict and occurswhen there is adivergence of values,needs, opinions, or goalsbetween individuals.However, disagreementby itself is notconflict.
The core process ofconflict is the behaviorwhere individuals opposeor interfere withanother’s interests orgoals.
(Barki & Hartwick 2004)
Not inherently negative, can be anopportunity for growth, learning, andchange (Almost, 2006)
Impact of Conflict in a Health-Care Teams
Job Stress
Unhealthy Workplace Practices and
Conditions
Losses for each Staff Member
Effectiveness, Moral, Employee Turnover
Sickness and Meaningful Professional Relationships
Compromised Patient Care
Cost of Time: Spent 2,8 hours/week
Cost of Money: 304 Billion Euros
Lost of productivity: 25% Absenteeism and illness
Workplace Conflit and How Business Can Harness it to Thrive, CPP, July 2008; William G Bliss-Bliss & Associates
Cost of Conflict
Factors that Interfere in Conflict
Factors that Interfere in Conflict
Health-care systems are under mounting pressure to control costs and increase productivity while responding to increasing
demands from growing and aging populations, advancing technology and more sophisticated consumerism.
Conflict is Not
But……Bullying and Harassment
These terms are used to describe behaviour thatclearly causes humiliation, offence or distress, and thatmay interfere with job performance and/or cause anunpleasant working environment.
Harassment is unwanted conduct affecting the dignity of aperson. It may be related to age, gender, race, disability,religion or belief, sexual orientation, being married or in a civilpartnership, being pregnant or having a child, nationality,political opinion, gender identity, or any personal characteristic,and may be persistent or an isolated incident. The key is thatthe actions or comments are viewed as demeaning andunacceptable by the recipient.
Unresolved Conflict in Teams
Team Members
Threaten
Undervalued Stressed
Underperforming
Healthy WorkplaceConflict can be corrected through
listening, informalproblem solving, dialogue and
collaborative negotiation(Cloke & Goldsmith, 2011)
Strategy to Solving Conflicts
Understand the situation
Use effective communication
Problem Solving
Response to conflict
There are five key responses to conflict:
Avoidance – withdraw from the situation; maintain neutrality; goal is todelay. (I lose - you lose)
Accommodation: satisfy others’ needs and concerns over your own;maintain harmony; goal is to yield. (I lose - you win)
Aggression/Domination/Competing: Being assertive and pursuing yourown concerns; win/lose power struggle; goal is to win. (I win - you lose)
Compromise: minimally acceptable to all; relationships undamaged; goal isfind middle ground. (win-win or lose-lose)
Collaboration: expand range of possible options; achieve win/winoutcomes; goal is to find a win/win situation. (I win - you win)
(Thomas, 1992, cited in RNAO, 2012)
Effective CommunicationCo
nstru
ctive • Specific Facts
• Disrespectful Opinions
Cons
truct
ive • Behaviour
• Personal Attacks
Cons
truct
ive • Supportive
• Negative Emotions
Destructive Language
Causes of Conflict at Workplace
A useful strategy:‘Say what you See’
Say what you see… ‘I notice that we keep returning to the same issue without
moving forward’ or ‘I’ve noticed a lot of raised voices in here’
Check for AgreementThis is vital – do they see things your way, if they do it
makes it a shared problem. If it’s shared you can proceed to the next step
Ask for suggestionsWhat do you think WE should do about it?
Wait the most important and usually hardest part of the strategy
but leaving time and space for a response is crucialEdmonstone (2013)
Managing Conflict
How to become self-aware during conflict: Listen, ask questions, make a commitment to resolving the
conflict Pay attention to the way you are when you are in conflict Choose to listen and learn (both to your internal voice and to
the voice of your colleagues). Alter the way you act, by exploring options, separating
problems from people, exploring the reasons for your own resistance
Remember it is small acts of kindness which can prevent conflict in the first place….
Conflict Management
NurseManager
Explain decisions,
process and context
Team development; trust, share
vision, accountability,attention to
results
In staff professional development
&trainingDeveloping
team connection
Planning meeting
Communication Retreats
Expectations
Nurses
Conflict Resolution
Analise the situationRecognizing fear as a factor of both sidesRespectCreative SolutionsRecognition of Injustice on both sidesWillingness to forgive and to be forgivenNo Belligerence
Conflict Resolution
Using the techniques of emotional intelligencesUnderstands values (Soul Profile)Never proving the other wrong/or make them lose faceIdeology & Religion should not be part of the discussion.
Change the way you think about disagreementswith others, and how you behave during conflict.Be willing to engage directly, constructively, and
collaboratively with your colleagues(Cloke & Goldsmith, 2011)
Any Questions?
Waiting for you
Thanks for Your Attention