Conflicts are inevitable in the workplace, and it is important to understand the source of conflicts so that they do not continue to escalate. For example, a few months ago, I was working on a project that was dependent on the completion of work from another coworker. After weeks of following up, I was frustrated that the coworker still had not made any progress on his part of the project. Although I would use words like “angry” or “frustrated” to describe how I felt at the time, in truth I felt disrespected because my coworker was being very inconsiderate of our timeline, and it places additional pressure on me to complete the project on time.

To resolve this conflict, I asked him to grab coffee one day and I explained to him that, while I understand that he is busy, our success on this project was interdependent on each other, and it was important for us to work together. We sat down and walked through our project milestones so that we could prevent any future hurdles that could hinder us from completing the project.

By not letting my anger or frustration take over, we were able to communicate effectively and work through a solution for the conflict. In the end, we completed our project on time and working relationship is stronger today than it ever was.