85% of Employees Deal with Workplace Conflict; Empower Adventures Has Solutions
OLDSMAR, Fla., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Non-productive conflict generally takes up an average of 2.1 hours of employee time every week.1 That is more than 100 unproductive work hours per year, which is costing organizations billions.1 Research has also uncovered the fact that 85% of all employees have to deal with some type of interpersonal conflict in the workplace.1
"Many coworkers tend to spend more time with each other than they do at home with their spouses," says Joe DeRing, Founder and President of Empower Adventures. "As with any relationship, coworkers don't necessarily need to agree on everything, but they do need to learn how to work together cohesively as a team to be most effective."
Common causes of employee conflict in the workplace include poor communication, personality differences, different values, and unhealthy competition.2 Conflict does not tend to dissipate on its own and needs to be handled in a timely manner.2 If not dealt with appropriately, even the most simple conflicts can develop into complex problems.2
However, conflict should not be confused with collaboration. Traditionally, collaboration is when two or more people work together on a project. When collaborating, a certain amount of contentious discussion, disagreement, and even some tension is expected for greater innovation and outcome.3 The thought that all conflict is bad needs to be discarded and needs to be replaced with the mantra that productive conflict creates value.3 If everyone agrees all of the time, then collaboration is useless.3 On the other hand, if they work together as a high-performing team, the opportunities are endless.
It is imperative for effective teams to have clearly defined common goals that are simple, relevant and measurable.4 These metrics can determine team effectiveness and be a guide for improvement.4 Effective teams work collaboratively and are unified to achieve the common goal, but have a keen awareness of their interdependency.4 "Teammates don't always have to agree to sort through problems," notes DeRing. "It's in challenging each other that everyone on the team can collaborate in order to come up with the best solution."
An ideal way to improve employee relationships and their understanding of each other is to have them engage in team building activities. Empower Adventures Tampa Bay offers exciting and even life-changing adventures that are fun, and inspire participants to get outside of their personal comfort zone and stretch their limits. "It is in this 'stretch' zone that greatness is born and innovative ideas come to mind," states DeRing. "It is in this zone that we find the best versions of ourselves and where we are capable of raising the standard, pushing further than we ever have before and excelling beyond our wildest dreams."
About Joe DeRing
Joe is a true American hero. Having served multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Joe returned from service seeking to use his leadership skills in a way that would allow him to contribute to society. Partnering with advisors Dev Pathik and Jason Clement, Joe developed Empower Leadership Sports in Middletown, Connecticut. Later, the team created Empower Adventures in Tampa Bay. The center and Joe's incredible personal journey from battlefield to inspirational adventure operator has now been featured on CNN, FOX, and numerous other media outlets across the U.S.
About Empower Adventures
Empower Adventures operates canopy tours, zip lines, ropes courses, and leadership development and adventure activities at the central location in Tampa Bay, Florida, Connecticut and Virginia (in the Washington D.C. area). At Leadership Sports in Connecticut alone, Empower Adventures has served over 75,000 guests since 2009. The company's goal is to help guests overcome fears in order to gain confidence and empower themselves: In the past three years, 10,000 guests have visited the Virginia Empower Adventures location and only four did not continue to the Tree Top Zip Tour.
Empower Adventures utilizes best-in-class techniques to train guides and offers the highest standard of safety protocols within the outdoor adventure industry. Empower Adventures provides a guide for each adventure group, regardless of size. The adventure center guides at Empower Adventures aim to provide customers with a powerful, memorable and inspirational experience which engenders a positive attitude and encourages teamwork. Outdoor adventure guides are specially trained to cultivate the creativity and problem-solving skills that are necessary to overcome challenges and develop leadership skills. Special team building sessions are also available to facilitate bonding in any group.
1Patterson, Michael. Managing the Costs of Conflict … A Novel Idea. Human Capital Review.
humancapitalreview.org/content/default.asp?Article_ID=1100
2Johnson, Rose. "What Causes Employee Conflict in the Workplace?" Chron.com, Hearst Newspapers, LLC.
smallbusiness.chron.com/causes-employee-conflict-workplace-21264.html.
3Davey, Liane, et al. "If Your Team Agrees on Everything, Working Together Is Pointless."Harvard Business Review, 31 January 2017.
hbr.org/2017/01/if-your-team-agrees-on-everything-working-together-is-pointless
4Musselwhite, Chris. "Building and Leading High Performance Teams." Inc.com, Inc., January 1, 2007.
inc.com/resources/leadership/articles/20070101/musselwhite.html
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