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Happy November.
To support you in being F.I.R.S.T. (Future-Ready. Innovative. Relevant. Strategic. Trusted.), here's 1 tip, 1 question and 1 quote.
1. The F.I.R.S.T. Tip
Conflicts are an omnipresent and inevitable reality; in our professional and personal lives. After all, is it possible for a group of creative, intuitive and intelligent people to agree on everything, all the time? In fact, that is not even desirable, since it is this very diversity of views and ideas that make a team stronger.
That is why every team needs to have a process to manage conflicts; ideally before differences in opinions become full-blown conflicts.
Conflict management or resolution becomes easier when we start by identifying which of the 4 levels is the conflict about.
The first (and easiest to resolve) level of conflict is DATA. It is important to ensure that all parties are looking at the same set of information or data.
The second level of conflict (and also not too complex to resolve) occurs with regard to PURPOSE. It is important to clarify what all parties should be working towards.
The third level is a conflict with PROCESSES. The parties involved may agree on the data and the purpose but choose to head there using different processes. Ideally, here the leader needs to step in and make the people in conflict realise which processes is ideal for THAT particular assignment; or that perhaps a combination of both ideas could yield the best approach.
The fourth and toughest to deal with, is a VALUES conflict. This usually goes much deeper, since one can never be sure whether it is really a case of different values, or just that the people in the situation don’t like each other and decide to use different values as the reason. Resolving this could be fairly challenging, and if one is not able to help the parties in conflict see the commonalities between them, and of the common purpose, then the leader may be forced to request them to park their differences aside and focus on getting the team to where it needs to go.
The point is that when trying to manage or resolve a conflict, first get clarity on the nature of the conflict and also focus on the relationship.
Tip: Manage conflict by clarifying if it’s about data, purpose, processes or values; and focus on the relationship.
2. The F.I.R.S.T. Question
Do you find yourself feeling stressed out and snowed under the unrelenting treadmill of work?
Do you wish you felt less busy while getting more done?
Do you wish you had more time for your priorities and important goals?
Setting aside time for reflection gives us the opportunity to pause amidst the chaos, invigorate our thinking and take charge of our lives.
Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest men, is a strong advocate of the power of taking time off for reflection – He devotes a week every year to read and reflect.
We can reap the same benefits by setting aside just 10 to 15 minutes, daily, weekly and monthly.
Every month, make a date with yourself to reflect and journal. Take notes if you wish to. Ponder on critical, yet basic questions like:
- How satisfied am I with my career, relationships, health and personal growth?
- Am I getting closer to living the life I want?
- What is one small action I can start taking every day?
Every week, set aside time to plan your week to reflect on:
- What are my wins?
- What are the tasks I should schedule that serve my long-term goals?
- What have I learnt this week?
Every day, set aside 10 minutes to review your day with powerful questions like:
- What’s the most important thing I wanted to accomplish today?
- Did I do my best to take a small, committed action towards that?
- What am I grateful for today?
- What is something that I wanted to stop doing or have outgrown?
You will be amazed at how much these tiny reflection pauses will energise you and ensure you are working to live the life you want.
3.The F.I.R.S.T. Quote
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