The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook

INTRODUCTION

Conflict is neither good nor bad. Properly managed, it is absolutely vital.

—Kenneth Kaye

Conflict thrives in the world today. One only has to pay attention to current events to be convinced that we live in times when, if conflict doesn’t exist, someone will find a way to disagree or disrupt whatever is happening. We wonder, “Why can’t we all just get along?” Conflict in the workplace can be particularly stressful because your livelihood depends on workplace success.

As Lynne Eisaguirre says in The Power of a Good Fight, “The workplace continues to change at a rapid pace. Diversity, outsourcing, work group teams, and mergers between companies that used to be competitors increase workplace conflict. And yet, most of us lack a creative ...