May 29, 2007
Welcome back from the holiday weekend. I hope everyone enjoyed some relaxation over the long weekend!
I’ve observed over and over that lawyers tend not to be very good at managing in-office problems. It’s easy to try to wait out conflict when there’s a lot going on otherwise, because the work that must be done can’t be delayed to deal with a “petty” disagreement. This tendency to delay may also stem from a peculiar desire to avoid conflict, and it generally only succeeds in allowing a small problem to grow into a large one.Â
Because conflict is almost inevitable when people work together in a high-stress environment, it’s worth building resources to turn to when conflict does flare. Being ready to handle conflict is, after all, the first step in actually seeking to resolve it rather than ignore it.
To that end, I’d like to share a terrific article I recently discovered on the Business Advice Daily blog, entitled “How to Resolve Conflict in the Workplace.” The post sets out seven conflict resolution steps recommended by mediator Jeff Krivis, including letting each side tell its story, performing a “reality check” to keep everyone’s attention on the big picture, and identifying what’s really at stake. While each of the techniques are commonly applied in mediation and other negotiation settings, lawyers often lose sight of them when dealing with disagreements in the office setting.Â
Just as mediation sometimes fail and cases proceed to trial, not all conflict can be resolved. However, confronting the issue early often increases the chance of resolution. And at a minimum, it decreases the internal pressure that builds up when there’s an unacknowledged conflict in the office. One tip, though: proceed with great caution if you aren’t a party to the conflict, whether your intervention is requested or volunteered.
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Welcome back!
This tendency of lawyers to avoid conflict is one of the things that allows toxic legal secretaries to have jobs for life. I have seen it at every firm at which I’ve worked. Attorneys will either complain to manangement, blindside the secretary at review time or, more often than not, ignore the problem. This just hurts everyone. It drives good staff members away, alienates other attorneys and, ultimately, causes client relations issues. Would your client rather call and speak to someone friendly and knowledgeable or someone curt and sour? Sometimes you just have to step up and say something instead of letting these conflicts fester.