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An Introduction into Maintaining a Healthy
Workplace EnvironmentKyle Blanchfield JD
Peter Ladd PhD
An Introduction into Maintaining a Healthy Workplace Environment
Conflict in the Workplace
9:00 AM - 9:45 Destructive Workplace Emotions 9:45 AM - 10:15 Compassion Fatigue (Burnout) 10:15 AM -10:30 Break 10:30 AM -11:15 Lateral Violence 11:15AM - 12:00 Conflict Styles That Cause Lateral Violence 12:00 - 1:00 PM Lunch Conflict Resolution in the Workplace 1:00PM -2:00 PM Changing the Emotional Climate of the Workplace 2:00 - 3:00 PMMediation Skills 3:00 -3:30 PM Reconciliation Skills 3:30 - 3:45 PMBreak 3:45 - 4:15 PM Overcoming Workplace Trauma
DESTRUCTIVE WORKPLACE EMOTIONS (LADD, 2005)
Here are three of the most destructive workplace emotions
Anger
Resentment
Revenge
Reason Leaves
StressBuilds
Explosion Distance Reason
Returns
Frustrated
Feeling Stuck
Buried Feelings
Lash Out Indirectl
yFeel Like a Victim
Feel Violated
Get Even
Develop a Plan
Get Even Retaliate
DESTRUCTIVE WORKPLACE EMOTIONS (LADD, 2005)
Here are three more of the most destructive workplace emotions
Anxiety
Egotism
Jealousy
Uncertain Feelings
Focus Narrows
Constant Worry
Symptoms Develop
In Crisis
Need to be Right
TalkingDown
Cut Off From
Others
Defend Position
at all Costs
Isolated and
Alone
Fear of Losing
Something
Warning Signals Claims Force
Losing Somethin
g
Compassion Fatigue (Burnout) (Ladd &Churchill, 2012)
Exposure to Second Hand
StressOveruse of Compassion
Emotional Exhaustion
Confusion Over Beliefs
Resentment
Burnout
Lateral Violence (Ladd & Churchill, 2012)
Sometimes Compassion Fatigue Leads to Lateral Violence
Negative Group of People
Feeling Frustrated Peer Pressure Indirect
Lashing Out
Web of Violence
Feeling Victimized
Difference Between Venting and Gossiping
Venting
Focusing on Your Own Conflict
Getting What is Inside of You – Out
Intention is to Relieve Stress
Helps to Heal the Climate of the Workplace
(Blanchfield & Ladd, 2013)
Gossiping
Focusing on the Conflict of Others
Focusing on the Behavior of Others
Intention is to Attack Others
Helps to Destroy the Climate of the Workplace
Three Types of ConflictConflicts requiring
judgments
Conflicts with Differing Points of View
Conflicts with a Toxic Environment
(Ladd & Blanchfield, 2016)
How Do We Communicate?Aggressive
Passive
Passive Aggressive
Assertive
(Blanchfield & Ladd, 2013)
Conflict Styles that Cause Lateral Violence (Ladd, 2007)
Forming an Alliance Conflict Style:
Conflict Style:
Forming an alliance with another person against another worker buffers direct confrontation at the expense of directly solving problems.
These form of triangles can lead the odd person out to form their own triangles against you, leading to a web of triangles.
Resentment can develop in these alliances where you gossip about the other person instead of solving problems directly
Forming alliance can give an outside party power of the relationship.
Conflict Styles Cont’d (Ladd, 2007)
Find Someone to Blame Conflict Style
People stop talking about their problems by focusing on outside problems
By focusing on outside problems, they avoid facing their problems
They feel better about themselves by attacking outside problems
By avoiding their problems while attacking outside problems, their problems are hidden and can to get worse.
Conflict Styles Cont’d (Ladd, 2007)
Back and Forth Conflict Style
The harder you try to solve the problem, the worse the problem gets
The back and forth may reduce an effort to solve problems No matter what the problem, the same back and forth style
is used to solve other problems This style, many times, will cause a standoff where people
leave more angry
Conflict Styles Cont’d (Ladd, 2007)
Avoiding conflict causes problems to accumulate, where it becomes difficult to solve an accumulation of problems.
Filtering out certain conflicts while dealing with other conflicts gives the relationship more harmony, until the filters break down and then chaos can occur.
This style fits well with guilty and resentful people. These emotions may dictate what people can talk about.
This conflict resolution style can lead to hidden agendas where people keep secrets.
Using an Avoidance Conflict Style
Conflict Styles Cont’d (Ladd, 2007)
Using the Past Conflict Style
The Past
The Past
(Ladd, 2007)
Using the past can complicate present problems. Using the past sends the message that conflicts are ongoing
and will never end. Using the past to solve problems freezes people in time
where they make judgements based on previous judgements. Using the past says you rather win than solve present
problems.
Non-Toxic ClimateIn a non-toxic climate, staff share strong
values, work together to pursue professional development opportunities, and are committed to improving their work. For the most part, their discussions focus on workplace problems and solutions. They help support openness and trust, and talk to each other about professional problems. Of course, as in any climate, will have its share of conflict and other problems that are hard to resolve, but it is the optimal framework for resolving them. A non-toxic climate feels a bit like a family: Although individuals may not always get along, they will support each other when push comes to shove. It would take a major crisis to put a dent in it. (Blanchfield & Ladd, 2013)
Toxic Climate A workplace with a toxic climate isn’t
necessarily an unhappy place. Staff will hide their opinions against others and appear happy except under the surface is this brewing anxiety and resentment. People in a toxic climate spend a great deal of energy on preventing change, or they are threatened by leadership that inhibits change. Usually, a leader will communicate through memos and directives and usually one way. By constant judgements, a leader can become an extremely powerful person in any given workplace. However, over time, a toxic climate can become much stronger than the leader or the people in the workplace. (Blanchfield & Ladd, 2013)
Workplace Climate SkillsEmpowerment
Empowerment in the climate of a workplace is not about people giving others power by creating different levels of power for “power brokers”. In some ways, this can lead to an imbalance of power through jealousy, resentment and people protecting their turf. Empowerment is creating an atmosphere where people feel that they can empower themselves. The question is, “How do I as a worker empower other workers and still get the job done?
(Blanchfield & Ladd, 2013)
Workplace Climate Skills ContinuedAssertiveness
Assertiveness is expressing yourself through clear communication of your point of view. It also includes respecting the rights of others while knowing what you have said has an impact on them. Being assertive is not only about what is said but how you say it. The question you may want to ask yourself is, “Am I assertive without being, passive, aggressive or passive-aggressive?” It is direct communication without personal conflict connected to it.
(Blanchfield & Ladd, 2013)
Workplace Climate Skills ContinuedCommon Ground Finding common ground reduces
the distance between people who are in conflict with each other. The more common ground in a workplace climate, the less distance between the people in the workplace. The big question is, “How do I reduce the distance between people in the workplace and establish common ground?” It may be a simple as checking in with each other on a daily basis. It may be more important to find out what you have in common than to constantly focus on your differences. (Blanchfield, Blanchfield & Ladd, 2007)
Workplace Climate Skills ContinuedGenerosity By sharing ideas, opinions, and
differing points of view, workers not only allow for conflicting opinions, but also for a climate of generosity to form within the group. Even when people agree to disagree, it is amazing how that is viewed as an act of generosity. People do not seem as self-centered when they are open to criticism. The lack of generosity has the opposite effect. When people are not open or accessible to others, their points of view begin to lose credibility. How open are you to being generous about other people’s points of view?
(Blanchfield & Ladd, 2013)
Workplace Climate Skills ContinuedHumor Humor can make a workplace
setting more relaxed, manageable, enjoyable and interesting. Humor has a remarkable way of reducing stress in workers and a workplace. It also can reduce power imbalances between people while creating teamwork. Effective workers recognize humor as a valuable ingredient in spreading a climate of good will across a workplace. How do you go about making the climate of the workplace more enjoyable? (Blanchfield & Ladd, 2013)
Workplace Climate Skills Cont’dCritical ThinkingChecked Beliefs vs. Unchecked BeliefsBroad Viewpoint vs. Narrow ViewpointAccurate Thinking vs. Uninformed ThinkingCalculated Decisions vs. Random DecisionsProactive Behavior vs. Reactive Behavior(Ladd, 2009)
Workplace Climate Skills Cont’dTrust
The Need to Reach Out
Being Dependable
Sharing Intentions
Creating Confidence
Being Genuine
Sense of Loyalty
(Blanchfield & Ladd, 2013)
Conflict Resolution Styles (Ladd & Blanchfield, 2016)
Deals with point of view confl
Deals with point of view problems.
Mediators clarify people’s points of view.
Success happens when disputing parties make an agreement
Deals with emotional climate problems.
Peacemaker help overcome emotional differences in a group.
Success happens when the emotional climate makes a positive change.
Mediation Skills in the Workplace (Ladd & Blanchfield, 2016)
Creating a MediationClimate
Finding Common Ground
Isolating Issues
Negotiating Options
Finding an Agreement
Conciliation SkillsFind out what is viewed as unreasonableUse the skill of pacing to lower stressHelp people attack problems not peopleGet distance before problem solvingGet closure so reason can return
Anger
Frustration stems from buried anger. Find out where the anger originated.Develop options to un-stick the frustrationChallenge person to get their frustration to the surfaceTalk directly to people to avoid gossip and innuendoEmpower people to avoid victimization
(Ladd & Blanchfield, 2016)
Resentment
Conciliation Skills ContinuedLook for boundaries that may have been crossedto cause a violationHelp workers get emotionally back in balanceDevelop plan to clear up the violation not cause more violationsShow that biding time “freezes” people in timeShow that retaliation caused escalation of the crisis
Revenge
Look for certainty within much uncertaintyTry to expand a person’s focus Change personal worry to concernPinpoint symptoms and practice stress reductionSeek counseling if worker is in crisis mode
(Ladd & Blanchfield, 2016)
Anxiety
Conciliation Skills Continued (Ladd & Blanchfield, 2016)
Never argue with an egotist. There need to be right is most important to them.Be highly descriptive and do not explain yourselfUse the “broken record technique” when egotists defend their position at all costsWelcome egotists into the group even though they may be obnoxious people
Egotism
Look for what a person may be afraid of losing: control, another person, time, etc.Find out what the person’s warning signals may be to avoid more serious jealousyWatch for counter claims when jealous people put in their claimsRemember the use of force, many times, seems justified to jealous peopleExplain how being afraid of losing something may cause, actually losing something
Jealousy
Surviving the Workplace (Ladd, 2009)
Hardiness: having the capacity to last, endure, persevere and possessing determination and grit Coping: facing and dealing with adversity, disappointments, difficulties, or disasters and rebounding “bouncing back”
Surviving the Workplace Cont’d (Ladd, 2009)
Flexibility being able to adapt and being capable of shifting gears (having plan ABCD) Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. (Victor Frankl, Holocaust survivor, psychiatrist)
Open Forum
Here is a chance to talk about maintaining a heathy workplace environment.
Ladd, P.D. (2005) Mediation, Conciliation and Emotions: A Practitioner’s Guide for Understanding Emotions
in Dispute Resolution. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Blanchfield, K.E. , Blanchfield, T.A. and Ladd, P.D. (2007) Conflict Resolution for Law Enforcement: Street Smart Negotiating. Flushing, NY: Loose Leaf Law Publications.
Ladd, P.D. (2007) Relationships and Patterns of Conflict Resolution: A Reference Book for Couples Counseling. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Ladd, P.D. (2009) Emotional Addictions: A Reference Book Addictions and Mental Health Counseling.
Lanham, MD: University Press of America
Ladd, P.D. & Churchill, A. M (2012) Person-Centered Diagnosis and Treatment in Mental Health: A Model for Empowering Clients. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Blanchfield, K.E. & Ladd, P. D. (2013) Leadership, Violence and School Climate: Case Studies in Creating Non-Violent Schools. Lanham, MD: R&L Education.
Ladd, P.D. & Blanchfield, K. E. (2016) Mediation, Conciliation and Emotions: The Role of Emotional Climate in Understanding Violence and Mental Illness, Revised Edition, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.