I'm sure we all have our differences from time to time with our co-workers. What's most important is to figure out the best way to settle our issues as quickly as possible so that we can collaborate effectively.
This article from HBR offers some insight into these very situations. Here is a quick excerpt:
I was running late. My wife Eleanor and I had agreed to meet at the restaurant at seven o'clock and it was already half past. I had a good excuse in the form of a client meeting that ran over and I wasted no time getting to the dinner as fast as possible.
When I arrived at the restaurant, I apologized and told her I didn't mean to be late.
She answered: "You never mean to be late." Uh oh, she was mad.
"Sorry," I retorted, "but it was unavoidable." I told her about the client meeting. Not only did my explanations not soothe her, they seemed to make things worse. That started to make me angry.
That dinner didn't turn out to be our best.
Several weeks later, when I was describing the situation to a friend of mine, Ken Hardy, a professor of family therapy, he smiled.
"You made a classic mistake," he told me.
"Me? I made the mistake?" I was only half joking.
"Yes. And you just made it again," he said. "You're stuck in your perspective: You didn't mean to be late. But that's not the point. The point is that you werelate. The point — and what's important in your communication — is how your lateness impacted Eleanor."
In other words, I was focused on my intention while Eleanor was focused on the consequences. We were having two different conversations. In the end, we both felt unacknowledged, misunderstood, and angry.
The author also offers some advice:
What should I have said to Eleanor?
"I see you're angry. You've been sitting here for 30 minutes and that's got to be frustrating. And it's not the first time. Also, I can see how it seems like I think being with a client gives me permission to be late. I'm sorry you had to sit here waiting for so long."
All of that is true. Your job is to acknowledge their reality — which is critical to maintaining the relationship. As Ken described it to me: "If someone's reality, as they see it, is negated, what motivation do they have to stay in the relationship?"
While it may seem difficult at first to take this approach, I am sure it will yield dividends. I am planning to see if I can incorporate it more often into my own experiences.
Here is the link to the full article: http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2013/04/what-to-do-when-youve-angered.html?cm_sp=blog_flyout-_-bregman-_-what_to_do_when_youve_angered
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