Reducing Conflict - Neutral Evaluations

Once again I’ve been asked to offer an opinion about the way a problematic situation has been handled.  My evaluation:  Badly.  What could have been a simple issue, leading to mediation and resolution has been escalated into an unnecessary big deal.  This has caused grief not only to the participants, but to their teams as well.

An unbiased evaluator would have seen this as a mild misunderstanding and would have brought the parties together in mediation.  They would have resolved the disagreement themselves. 

This leads me to recommending that all managers and HR folk who hear complaints in the workplace read two of my books:  Conflict in the Workplace: Causes and Cures and Conducting Workplace Investigations:  Designated Investigator.  They are both available on Amazon and elsewhere as well as directly from my publisher:  Robertson Publishing.

They will really help you in handling complaints – particularly complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination, abuse and bullying – but all kinds of workplace complaints as well.