WHEN EVALUATING THE COSTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF CONFLICT, initial concerns often relate to the monetary damages that can be incurred - the financial costs for both litigation and damages if a conflict winds up going to court are often staggering. While that is an obviously weighty factor (especially in workplace and organizational conflict, but also in any interpersonal conflict matters), the toll is usually much broader than the hit upon bank accounts. However, unresolved conflict represents the largest reducible cost in many businesses (Dana, Daniel, Measuring the Financial Cost of Organizational Conflict, MTI Publications, and Slaikev, K. and Hasson, R., Controlling the Cost of Conflict. Jossey-Bass), yet it unfortunately remains largely unaddressed before it becomes a massive issue because both employees and supervisors have had little or ineffective education in conflict resolution and simply are unaware of the symptoms of conflict - and the empowering and growth-oriented resolution methods and strategies available.

Let's consider workplace and organizational conflict and communications challenges for a moment. Various studies and surveys have shown that up to 30% of a manager's time is spent dealing with conflict - and the price paid on multiple levels. But because of a general discomfort in dealing with issues involving strong and sometimes volatile emotions, usually nothing happens until a conflict reaches a level of explosiveness that simply must be taken seriously. Otherwise, parties will often stay silent and choose to ignore conflict (consciously or unconsciously) fearing if they get involved, they will assume some degree of responsibility for how the resolution (or lack thereof) may go down. If the conflict is with a fellow employee, the disputant may fear the reaction from an insensitive or oppressive supervisor and/or fear that if they bring attention to conflict issues they'll be labeled as hard to get along with or simply not "team players." For women with sexist supervisors, or people of color with racist ones, bringing a conflict to their supervisor's attention may be deemed more trouble than it is worth because they feel powerless and marginalized by that person in the first place, and fear losing their job or a chance of future opportunities if their supervisor's abusive attitude is put in the spotlight. For many, quitting their job may feel like the only viable answer. Meanwhile, the costs in terms of their health and the impact they have upon those around them who receive the often hostile misdirection of their frustration results in major tolls upon the personal lives of all concerned.

ACCORDING TO A JUNE 2006 article titled "What is Conflict Costing Your Company? The Value of a Comprehensive Employment Dispute Resolution System" by Charles Doran and Tad Mayer: "Companies have reported spending between $10,000 and $50,000 just to prepare for a discrimination case. The average award for an EEOC complaint that went to litigation was $263,945. (The largest judgment ever involving the EEOC was $81.5 million against Publix Super Markets.) A recent judgment against Mitsubishi Motors resulted in a $34 million penalty and there is currently a pending suit against Toyota for $193 million. Defending an average employment claim has been shown to cost approximately $130,000, which does not include any judgments against the company. The average time for a civil suit to go to trial is 2½ years. "After implementing a comprehensive employment dispute resolution program, Motorola reported a 75% reduction in litigation costs over six years. Utilizing arbitration, the costs of disputes against a sample of Fortune 500 companies were less than one-half the average costs of suits defended before their dispute resolution programs were adopted. Establishing a dispute resolution program before it is too late has been the advice offered by major companies including Anheuser-Busch, Johnson & Johnson, Shell Oil, and the United States Postal Service. "A comprehensive employment dispute resolution program offers a proactive and structured system to address and resolve conflict quickly and amicably. It provides employees with opportunities to resolve conflict more quickly and less expensively than through litigation. Disputes that went through a typical dispute resolution program were resolved in an average of just 67 days."

UNRESOLVED CONFLICT IN THE WORKPLACE can result in the following consequences, as well as both direct and hidden costs:

Low morale and motivation
Victimhood and humiliation
Absenteeism
Disability claims
Employee turnover and expense in finding a suitable replacement
Reduced productivity and loss of revenue
Quality problems
Delayed decisions
Missed deadlines
Sabotage, damage and theft
Increased supervision overhead costs
Increased anxiety and stress, which creates more conflicts
Reduced collaborative teamwork
Passive/aggressive behaviors
Verbal and psychological abuse
Perceived lack of management leadership skills
Decreased client and customer satisfaction
Split alliances
Mistrust, disrespect and long-term animosity
Destructive impact on others who receive the brunt of their anger, frustration and sense of powerlessness

BUT OF COURSE, CONFLICT ARISES WHEREVER HUMAN BEINGS EXIST (not just in the workplace), and it can be productive or destructive, depending upon how it is dealt with.

When it comes to divorce conflict, A U.S. Business Review article published in 2001 estimated that the average American divorce costs between $15,000-$30,000 in legal fees, depending on the degree of conflict. However, the article noted that divorcing parties who engaged the services of alternative conflict resolution professionals had the greater likelihood of creating amenable agreements and mediating dysfunctional communication and behavioral patterns more so than litigation. This approach produced a notably reduced financial burden for families attempting to move on, with the article reporting average divorce mediation costs (in 2001) to be $750-$2500 per divorce, compared to the $30,000 above. Mediation may also help reduce co-parenting conflicts due to a greater potential negotiating of mutually agreeable strategies and goals.

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The above illustrations are just a few reasons why approaching conflict with a Mindfulness-Based and Transformative Mediation strategy can help to alleviate the myriad costs and consequences of conflict and communication challenges. A commitment to viewing conflict as an opportunity for growth, and choosing to consciously work through conflict both effectively and mindfully may help your business, organization, friendships, relationships, and family avoid the damaging personal aftermath of all types of human discord, as well as saving the potentially exorbitant and crippling legal costs associated with dispute.

REALITY CHECK: the cost of training employees and supervisors about mindful, empowering and transformative conflict resolution is much less than the myriad costs of debilitating conflicts. The reality is that such training brings a return on investment — because although many costs of conflict are hidden, they’re much higher than most people realize.

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