Whether you believe in chain of command, open door at every level or somewhere in between, what creates a culture of avoidance is when people disagree on the rules of resolving conflict. In short, everyone in the organization must agree on how to manage conflict and what steps to take when it arises.
Here’s an important question to ask: Does everyone in your organization understand the rules of effectively managing conflict? If not, you’ll have a lot of undermining and unintentionally create a culture of avoidance.
Here’s what you can do immediately:
1. Create a transparent system for conflict resolution so that employees know the path to resolution.
2. Equip employees with skills to go to the person with whom they have a problem.
3. If they can’t resolve the problem, the next skill is to talk with their manager before elevating the conversation up the chain of command.
4. Offer a yearly assessment where employees can anonymously give feedback about their managers can help managers get insights into how they are perceived.
Next week I’ll give you an example of some traps to be aware of when it comes to honoring chain of command.
If you want to do a quick assessment to see if you have a culture of avoidance click here and get an instant report.
Marlene Chism