Win at Work!
Book

Win at Work!

The Everybody Wins Approach to Conflict Resolution

Diane Katz
Wiley, 2010
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Recommendation

Whether your office has just a few conflicts or enough juicy drama to provide the script for a scandal-filled television show, organizational consultant Diane L. Katz knows what you need to do to transform negative interactions into positive exchanges. “The Working Circle,” her simple eight-step process, can help you handle workplace conflict. Katz’s book presents numerous real examples of resolved conflicts to show how to use her method. getAbstract recommends these clear case histories and her easy-to-read guidelines to those who want to transform a contentious workplace – or avoid having one in the first place.

Summary

Conflict: “Destructive” or “Constructive”?

All workplaces have conflicts. These disagreements can be destructive and can distract you and your co-workers from your goals, or they can be constructive and encourage creativity, improvement, innovation and problem solving. Destructive conflict stems from:

  • Poorly designed jobs that cause workers to compete or feel overwhelmed.
  • Laborious tasks, such as the need to fill out reams of forms.
  • Leaders who don’t handle conflict well or managers who can’t control their anger.
  • Staff training that offers lessons management never implements.
  • Reward systems that emphasize combativeness – for example, complainers end up with the best assignments and choicest offices.
  • Company policies that don’t encourage truthfulness. If employees can’t or won’t speak up about problems, conflict can grow.
  • Corporate cultures where workers blame others for their mistakes.
  • Problem-causing employees who are just plain trouble. They are the butt of jokes and the topic of office gossip, and no one knows how to handle them.

Conflict Creators

The types of individuals who incite...

About the Author

Diane L. Katz heads The Working Circle, a consulting company. She has a master’s degree from Columbia University and a doctorate in conflict resolution from Union Institute.

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