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5 Tips For Navigating Conflicts During A Crisis By Patrick Lê, Associate Professor Of Management At NEOMA Business School

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Business leaders must know how to navigate conflicts during times of crisis. As a firm steers its way through rough conditions, employees often experience additional stress which can create tensions in the workplace. Effective leaders diffuse these tensions; ineffective leadership either allows or may inadvertently contribute to them boiling over into conflict. For example, a study co-authored by Professor Birgit Schyns at NEOMA Business School finds that vulnerable narcissistic leaders are especially likely to make employees irritated during crisis situations.  Leaders should demonstrate preparedness, flexibility, clear communication, and empathy for their followers. These principles apply not just internally, but also to the way leaders should interact with external stakeholders and other parts of their supply chains. Here are five tips for navigating conflicts during crises: Leaders should embrace a paradoxical strategy by planning in advance while also maintaining flexibility in their ad hoc responses. Preparation provides a structured foundation, but flexibility allows for agile adjustments in the face of uncertainty. The effective management of crises involves a blend of anticipatory planning and adaptable responsiveness on the ground, enabling organizations to navigate between planned stability and the need for dynamic adjustments. For example, having evacuation plans for a fire is essential, but it's equally important to acknowledge that reality will diverge from evacuation exercises. The same principle applies to conflicts and negotiations, where predicting adversarial responses is crucial, yet recognizing that plans may be tested and must adapt to reality. Leaders should be able to detect and respond to “weak signals”. Crises are often preceded by subtle signs (e.g., early coronavirus infections in China, increased subprime mortgage defaults before the 2008 crisis, and Russian troop movements before the invasion of Ukraine), known as “weak signals.” These signals are challenging to detect amid vast amounts of information. Staying attentive to these early indicators before the situation worsens requires constant vigilance and the ability to escalate alerts from the grassroots to the organizational leadership. Organizations should be capable of handling uncertainty and ambiguity. Crises inherently bring about new and uncertain situations, leading to shifts, contradictions, or surprises. For instance, the early days of the pandemic saw multiple lockdowns and re-openings, along with uncertain information about health risks. Decision-makers must be able to make decisions accepting that available information will be incomplete. This applies to potential reactions from an adversary, as seen in the surprising resistance of Ukrainians to the Russian invasion. Leaders must be effective communicators. In conflict or crisis situations, leaders must prioritize transparent and proactive communication. This involves promptly informing all stakeholders of developments, measures taken, and future plans. Clarity reassures and builds trust, a crucial element for successfully navigating a crisis. Acknowledging a degree of uncertainty is essential, but it should be explained as managed rather than suffered. In terms of dialogue with conflicting parties, always favor even limited communication to understand each party's motivations and concerns. Leaders should establish learning capabilities. Learning capabilities contribute to identifying and correcting mistakes made during previous conflicts or crises, minimizing the risk of repeating the same errors. For example, excessive optimism during the coronavirus pandemic led to emergency lockdowns repeatedly, indicating limited learning in the early months. In conflicts involving different actors, the absence of learning that challenges the foundations of the conflict leads to its reproduction, as seen in certain conflicts in the Middle East, etc. Learning from past conflicts and crises helps anticipate future challenges, better preparing for and adopting more effective strategies to face similar situations in the future.

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