If you are a student enrolled in a healthcare class or even if you have been practicing in the medical field for some time, you know the benefits and challenges of a healthcare career. You might also consider yourself to be a people person. Despite your best efforts, misunderstandings and conflicts in the workplace are unavoidable.
Since you will be working with these individuals most of the day, if you’re unhappy at work, this can affect your health, both mentally and physically and even emotionally. Here are three things you can do to help you resolve potential conflicts in the healthcare environment and maintain your physical, mental and emotional well being.
1. Be a Good Listener
When conflicts arise, take a moment to stop and breathe. You may not agree with what is being said, but do your best to listen with an open mind and not pass judgment on your coworker for what is being said. Try your best not to interrupt and resist the urge to disagree right away either verbally or non-verbally while your coworker is giving their opinion or expressing their point of view about a conflict in the workplace.
2. Try to Get to Know Them and Appreciate Their Good Qualities
It is very difficult to stay angry with someone who is showing sincere interest in you as a person. Forget about the job and your frustration for a moment. Try to imagine your coworker outside of the work environment and put yourself in his or her shoes. And then try to learn a little bit about them. You could start by asking open-ended questions such as, “How was your weekend?”. You could avoid appearing overly nosy by sharing a little about yourself too. Sharing pictures of your family or pets might also encourage them to open up about themselves. You might be surprised to learn that a coworker who you didn’t get along with has something in common with you in terms of their family background, their interest or their lifestyle in general.
3. The Compliment Sandwich
When you offer criticism, your coworker may shut down or may feel hurt by what you have to say, which won’t help you resolve the problem or avoid the conflict. When offering constructive criticism, if the beneficiary feels hurt at the outset, they may shut down, ending the opportunity for resolution of the problem. Starting off the conversation with sincere words of praise and appreciation for your coworker will make them receptive for the words to follow. Carefully think out what you will say and avoid absolutes when offering criticism such as, “you always” or “you never”. You can finish the dialogue by giving your coworker ideas on what can be done to resolve the problem and assure them of your desire to assist in this process and not forgetting kind words of commendation. If you get to a point where you can’t resolve a conflict with your coworker and you are trying to maintain your professionalism with patients and coworkers alike, in spite of what you may be dealing with in the work environment, consider enrolling in the course entitled,“How to Learn Professionalism in Healthcare”(with REAL-WORLD Examples!) offered by Avidity Medical Design Academy. This course gives you some excellent ideas on how to create and foster a professional atmosphere at work.
Listen to three sample lectures from this course. Click here to take the full course for only $19.99!
If you’re interested in learning more about other healthcare topics such as basic medical terminology or how to make money in healthcare from home, please check out our website for courses that we currently offer. To find out more about courses that Avidity Medical Design offers and for other tips related to working in the healthcare field, please check out our blog.