People Management

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Managing Difficult Interactions

 

Difficult interactions are work behaviours or interactions you feel have the potential to lead to undesired outcomes.

 

Difficult interactions are, like beauty, often in the eye of the beholder. Behaviours often seem difficult when they’re different from ours or they get in the way of meeting our needs. To get the best possible outcomes then, it’s important to understand the root causes of these interactions.

 

While it is important to maintain good working relationships, not all relationships or interactions are of equal importance.

 

As you think about improving work relationships, keep in mind the importance of each relationship to you — over the long and short term.

 

Here’s a basic strategy for how to approach difficult situations in your business to achieve a successful conclusion:

 

Identify the root cause

 

Difficult interactions can arise for a number of reasons. It may be because two people perceive a behaviour, issue, or situation differently, they may be motivated by different interests, or have different work styles. Or it may be a case that one person’s behaviour promotes negative behaviour in someone else.

 

Select a strategy based on a root cause

 

Try to understand the difficult interaction from the other person’s perspective. Ask open-ended questions to uncover the other person’s motivations.

 

Implement the strategy

 

Learning to manage difficult interactions carries enormous benefits, but it requires hard work. Be sure to identify and manage potential barriers to your solutions early on.

 

The barriers to successful resolution range from failure to recognise the problem, to incorrect beliefs, to psychological fear of certain situations.

 

Monitor your strategy’s effectiveness

 

Listen carefully during the implementation and give the other person a chance to respond.