How can you manage conflicts with your supervisory style?

1 Identify your supervisory style

Your supervisory style is the way you approach your role as a leader, communicator, and decision-maker. It reflects your values, beliefs, and preferences as a supervisor. There are different models and frameworks to describe supervisory styles, such as the Blake-Mouton grid, the Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership theory, or the Tannenbaum-Schmidt continuum. You can use these tools to assess your own style and understand its strengths and weaknesses. Knowing your style can help you adapt to different situations and people, and avoid potential conflicts.

2 Understand the sources of conflict

Before you can manage a conflict, it's essential to understand the source and the interests and needs of the parties involved. Misunderstandings or miscommunication can arise from a lack of clarity, feedback, or empathy in communication. Differing values or perspectives may occur when opinions, beliefs, or preferences clash. Scarce resources or competing interests may appear when there is a shortage of time, money, or other resources, or when there is a conflict of interest or power. To resolve these issues, you may need to allocate resources or make decisions that affect your team members or peers in different ways.

3 Choose an appropriate conflict resolution strategy

Depending on the source and nature of the conflict, you may need to choose a different strategy to resolve it. Avoiding the conflict may be appropriate when it is trivial, temporary, or risky to address, however this could lead to resentment or escalation. Accommodating the other party could be a good option if the relationship is more important than the issue, but this could result in a loss of respect. Competing and asserting your position can be effective when the issue is urgent or non-negotiable, but this could damage the relationship. Compromising and finding a middle ground is often useful for moderately important issues, but could lead to a loss of value. Lastly, collaborating and integrating ideas can be beneficial for highly important issues or when parties have a shared goal, but this requires more time and effort.

4 Communicate effectively and respectfully

Communication is the key to managing conflicts with your supervisory style, and effective and respectful communication is essential. Listening carefully, asking questions, and showing interest and empathy to the other party can help you understand their perspective, feelings, and needs, as well as build trust and rapport. Additionally, expressing your own perspective, feelings, and needs clearly, confidently, and respectfully can help you convey your message, position, and interest while avoiding ambiguity or aggression. Negotiating by exploring options, exchanging information, and seeking agreement or consensus with the other party can help you find a solution that satisfies both parties while preserving or enhancing the relationship.

5 Learn and improve from conflicts

Conflicts can be opportunities for learning and improvement, if you handle them with your supervisory style. To capitalize on these opportunities, you should reflect on the conflict situation, your actions, and the outcomes. This will help identify what went well, what went wrong, and what can be done better next time. Additionally, giving and receiving constructive feedback to and from the other party is essential for acknowledging strengths and weaknesses, appreciating contributions and concerns, and improving performance and relationships. Lastly, taking steps to implement the solution, monitor progress, and follow up on feedback is necessary for achieving desired results, preventing recurrence of the conflict, and demonstrating commitment and accountability.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?