Workplace confrontation

Dealing with confrontation in the workplace

Dealing with confrontation in the work place. No matter what you do, it is not going to be easy dealing with confrontation in the workplace. The reason is that confrontation tends to happen; however in the workplace it can be a situation that more than feelings are involved.

There is no real way that is right for each situation of confrontation that can happen in a workplace. There is however some tools you can arm yourself that will make you more capable for dealing with confrontation.

There will be a few different ways that you will need to react with different types of confrontations that can happen in the workplace. The main things to look at are as follows:

• Where is the confrontation happening?

• Who is the confrontation with?

• Is the confrontation verbal or physical?

• Is there a physical threat to your safety?

• What are the characteristics and motivations of the confronter?

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?

There are different kinds of confrontations. This is where the situation is very much what is happening in that circumstance.

You could be confronted about work that is less than satisfactory. This in itself as long as it is purely for feedback, is not an unhealthy type of confrontation. You could be confronted with an angry but calm co-worker that simply wants to discuss issues they have with you. In the basic sense, this should be a rather calm conversation. However there are those times that a co-worker, manager, or customer becomes out of control. This is where you will need to have your wits about you and maintain the control needed to keep you safe.

Simply being in a work and professional environment is not enough protection. The reason is, that there are people who are not concerned, or not thinking about their job when they confront another person. Therefore, it is necessary to use your own common sense to realize when a situation is going to be out of control.

So with this in mind, you need to know what you can do when the out of control is happening. Here are some quick thinking ideas you can use to protect yourself and others.

* Focus on escaping if the person is out of control. Maintain calm, and look for an exit that gets you out of the direct area of the confronter.

* Use any means of physical defense that you can, including blocking, tripping, and items around you to prevent contact between you and the attacker.

* Watch for an opportunity to create a diversion or make use of a natural diversion to get you out of the situation.

* Do what the attacker tells you until you can find a way to get out of the area of the attacker.

* Scream if it can be heard by anyone.

* Negotiate for your safety. You can promise the world and no one will blame you for not doing it.

* Use a weapon like a hammer, or chair to defend yourself against the attacker.

What ever happens, there are some things that you should never do. These things cannot only open doors to danger, but can trigger the anger of the confronter even worse.

1. Never follow an angry co-worker or employee outside. If they need to get away to think about what is happening, let them go.

2. Do not interrupt an angry co-worker or employee unless they are interfering with other employees, customers or are creating danger for themselves or others.

3. Do not push for an answer. This can escalate anger and emotions. Simply wait until the issues subside for communication of what has happened.

4. Do not lose your rational thinking. If you get angry, this will cause a higher level of emotions to increase the tension of the confrontation.

5. Never make more of a venting employee or co-worker than it really is. We all have bad times, bad days, or even bad headaches. This can be one of any reason a person can get confrontational. If you stay calm, you will see that in most cases the result will be much better.

This is some of the things you can do to deal with confrontation in the work place. Whichever the result ends up being. It is important to make sure and report and document these types of issues. This will be in order to have protection, and proper legal means if the situation were ever to get out of hand.