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Workplace Conflict: Orienting Law Firms Towards Understanding and Resolution - WAMR 2006 Vol. 17, No. 5

Author(s): 
Wm. Bartlett Gabler
Page Count: 
14 pages
Media Description: 
PDF from World Arbitration and Mediation Report (WAMR) 2006 Vol. 17, No. 5
Published: 
May, 2006
Jurisdictions: 
International
Practice Areas: 
Arbitrators and Arbitral Tribunals,
Employment,
Categories of Disputes
Author Detail: 

Wm. Bartlett Gabler, MBA, Candidate, The Johnson School of Graduate Management at Cornell University, 2007; J.D., The Penn State Dickinson School of Law, 2005; B.S. Commerce from The University of Virginia, 1999.

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Workplace Conflict: Orienting Law Firms Towards Understanding and Resolution
By Wm. Bartlett Gabler∗
 
 
Introduction
 
Lawyers have historically been the individuals sought out to
resolve various workplace conflicts, whether it be discrimination,
harassment, or wrongful termination. Nevertheless, lawyers rarely spend
time resolving their own problems. The reason is that lawyers are used to
conflict—their livelihood, to a large extent, depends on it. Many conflicts
in a law firm are left unaddressed, leaving them to develop into disputes
that can cause inefficiencies and challenge the financial viability of the
firm. Despite the challenges, a law firm should encourage firm members
to work towards understanding workplace conflict and exploring options
for mutually agreeable resolution. They may find a less adversarial work
environment more conducive to the practice of law. Many companies
have undertaken a redesign of their corporate culture and have
implemented conflict resolution programs; many of those companies have
been rewarded with higher productivity and a happier workforce. Law
firms need to make similar changes.
 
 
Defining Conflict in the Workplace
 
Conflict is inevitable in a work environment—it is a normal byproduct
of human interaction. Conflict is frequently considered a negative
or destructive occurrence. That, however, is not always the case: “if
individuals are willing and able to work together, to view conflicts as
problems which need to be resolved, to agree on means for achieving
resolution, and to explore solutions that will be responsive to the needs of
both parties, conflicts can in fact be constructive and can bring about
necessary change.” Although there are many ways to define conflicts,
Daniel Dana, Ph.D., the founder and manager of the Mediation Training
Institute International, developed a methodology for defining conflicts in
the workplace. Specifically, the action or behavior must cause a business
problem. Additionally, one or both of the parties’ productivity or job
performance must be negatively “affected by their lack of cooperation” or
impaired by their inability to work with the other person(s). These
components are what distinguish a normal conflict from a workplace
conflict, requiring some business impact that precludes parties from
performing their job function by not being able to work together.