Articles Gallery

Collection of Articles & Posts to read or download

Articles to Browse

Find particular articles or explore topics of interest…
PDF Articles available to download by subscribing to our mailing list

Subscribe to Download
10 Top Tips to Tackle Tough Talks
VIEW
10 Top Tips to Tackle Tough Talks
conversationsdifficult discussions
7 Difficult Discussion Tips for School Leaders
VIEW
7 Difficult Discussion Tips for School Leaders
conversationsdifficult discussionsleadership
7 Practices of EI Leaders: lifting your leadership to the next level
VIEW
7 Practices of EI Leaders: lifting your leadership to the next level
authenticitycompassionconnectivitycuriosityEI Leader practicesemotional caretakeremotional intelligenceleadershipmeaning-makermood managementrelationships
The 3R’s of Resilience-Building
VIEW
The 3R’s of Resilience-Building
leadershipresilienceteambuilding
The Importance of being Authentic
VIEW
The Importance of being Authentic
authenticityleadershippersonal mastery

Tags

Scroll to Top

Thanks for your interest in our Article...

Subscribe for more

Two business people with tablet in the office.
Download to read later...

Subscribe to Download

Update your details or Join our mailing list to download more articles like this to read later… We’ll send news & updates to your inbox and you can access all free resources on our site…

We hope you’ll find our mailings of interest… but you’re always free to unsubscribe later if you no longer want to hear from us.

No Thanks

High Tension Encounters

High Tension Encounters (HTEs) happen regularly in any workplace – offices, schools, hospitals, councils, work-sites, factories… 

The negative impact of poorly-handled HTEs on colleagues, customers, patients and work-teams is well-attested. Whether it’s toxic personalities, inveterate arguers, belligerent bosses or conflict-ridden contrarians, HTE’s distract from productive work focus, detract from good results, debilitate teams, distress and unsettle us, and create caustic cultures in the long term…

arguing-cartoon-DT45045225
  • The frequency of HTEs has been measured in several settings. For example, one study found 85% of us experienced chronic conflict in our work-lives, with 30% saying it was always or highly frequent. 
  • In schools, principals on average say they have five difficult encounters a day, while another study of operating theatres reported at least 1 and up to 4 HTEs among surgical teams per operation. 
  • Another study reported 64% said they were dealing with a toxic personality in their current work environment and 94% said they’d worked with someone toxic at some time. 
  • Other studies reveal that school principals are abused on a regular basis by parents and 91% of nurses reported verbal abuse from physicians or patients, with 10% saying they witnessed disruptive physician behaviour daily. 
  • The ongoing impact of these HTEs exact a significant emotional toll, with one study suggesting negative encounters affected people five times more strongly than positive ones.

The customary line is that conflict is beneficial – it clarifies, corrects, changes and leads to better solutions and decisions.

Yet another line of thought suggests something quite different: that it has prolonged negative consequences that undermine relationships, trust and collaboration as well as distracting from task-focus and wasting resources in prolonged conflict mediation processes that largely don’t work.… 

So, whether or not it is sporadically constructive, in many instances conflict it seems is damaging, harmful and linked to high stress and staff turnover. 

Building conversational capability to better deal with difficult HTEs may not reduce their frequency but it can help us to handle them better, have more constructive confrontations and mitigate some of the negative consequences that follow on the heels of unregulated conflict.

© Bill Cropper – The Change Forum 2023

Before you go...

Why not subscribe to have news, insights and updates delivered straight to your inbox…

no thanks, not at the moment

News &
VIEWS

Thanks for Subscribing!

Click below to download your Article PDF…

Your Article to Read Later