Office squabbles can be insanely stressful. Before you lose your marbles make sure you consider these 5 tips to deal with office conflict.

1.    Don’t take it personally. This is tricky because often it is a personal attack.  However, an emotional response makes you look unprofessional and may make the situation worse.

2.    Discuss your challenges with your boss. If your manager does not help to resolve the situation, your conflict is likely to get worse. You shouldn't spend your career dedicated to a company that refuses to support its employees.

3.    Don’t gossip. It can be tempting to vent to everyone in the lunch room, but it reflects poorly on you and worsen your situation.

4.    Be proactive. Your work family is not one that you chose, so make it work. Perform your job to your best ability, learn where problems are likely to arise, and try to avoid falling into that same pattern next time.

5.    Have an exit strategy.  In some work environments management turns a blind eye to problems because they just don’t want to deal with them. It sounds like high school, and the reality is that management knows exactly what is going on but would rather not be involved.  If this is the case, you are better off working elsewhere.

Do you have a useful tip or a story to share about workplace conflict?

by Ingrid Menninga