Conflict is often unavoidable when it comes to large groups. With various individuals put together in one place, what makes you different from one another will only stand out even further. Sometimes, these differences open up a new path toward progress. On the other hand, they also cause more than enough trouble to rile up everyone involved. Doing so sets them apart, which might ruin any chance for their bonds to strengthen.
Working as an employee means cooperation is a must. After all, there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team.’ Everyone has to put their heads together for a business to kick off. Otherwise, any friction they have might build a business toward a failure—or worse, a talent crunch. To prevent these situations from happening, some programs must be initiated. Having the MAPA training is an excellent example of this.
What Is MAPA Training?
Management of Actual or Potential Aggression (MAPA) training teaches participants how to handle conflict as a pacifist. Naturally, this is applicable for different settings as long as it involves multiple individuals because, as mentioned earlier, it’s easier to build up friction with various people in the scene. And the worse this friction gets, the more likely it’ll set off a chain of events that might compromise everyone’s relationship.
Since the workforce plays a significant role in the business’s performance, having any conflict whatsoever can impact the workflow easily. Hence, it only emphasizes the significance of integrating the MAPA training for everyone to find out how to deal with conflict efficiently. Aside from these, here are four more reasons why MAPA training is essential:
Pinpoints Unusual Behavior
Temper tantrums may seem sudden if you don’t know their context. After all, there’s always a reason behind every action—and getting angry at a co-worker isn’t as out-of-place as you might think. But as long as you know where to look, you’ll be able to discover what triggered an employee’s aggression in the first place.
Naturally, there’s a long list of reasons behind an employee’s temperament. Bullying is a common issue, regardless of whether it’s in an adult environment or not. Either other employees or the employers themselves instigate bullying in the workplace. Having that kind of toxicity in a place where one’s livelihood depends can only worsen the affected employee’s stress levels. And once stress takes root, it opens up a plethora of even more negativity until the employee reaches a tipping point.
The MAPA training program encourages its participants to be more attentive and empathetic. After all, putting yourself in one’s shoes is the groundwork for understanding. If what they’re doing to your co-worker frustrates you, imagine what they’re feeling as someone in the problem’s direct line of fire. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, it’ll be easier to notice whether or not a fight breaks out in the workplace.
Now you have the foresight to notice the rest of the workforce’s tics, MAPA training strives to educate you on how to lower the risk of a conflict taking place. After all, there are many ways to resolve an issue, and most don’t involve quarreling or flat-out fist fighting. Here, the non-verbal and verbal skills you’ve learned from training will work hand-in-hand with your attentiveness.
While you must pay attention to how they look, what they’re saying must be given the same treatment. Use open-ended questions to encourage the person to elaborate more on why they’re upset. Reflect and paraphrase what they’ve said to help them feel understood. Do everything you can to validate their feelings instead of contradicting them. Otherwise, you won’t be making any progress toward decelerating the conflict.
Hones Decision-Making Skills
It’s normal to freeze up once a crisis occurs right in front of you. After all, a workplace environment is meant solely for people to work peacefully, not for the employees to undergo an extremely stressful situation wherein the parties involved might end up getting violent. However, MAPA training helps people initiate better when faced with this situation.
It takes a long time to learn how to have a clear head, regardless of the situation. But no one can make sound decisions with panic clouding their minds. Undergoing MAPA training will improve your temperament, so you won’t be easily swayed by what’s happening. By having a calm disposition, you’ll be able to mediate between the two parties much more efficiently.
Improves Workplace Relations
Having conflict in any kind of environment is far from pretty. Hurtful words will be exchanged, and physical assault might be right around the corner—either of these situations will only end up destroying whatever relationship both parties have. And this can ruin everyone’s workflow.
But MAPA training teaches everyone to handle any conflict amicably. Admittedly, conflict is often unavoidable, considering multiple people are involved. Although, how one handles conflict will determine whether or not everyone’s relationship will derail. Dealing with the conflict gracefully will lessen any negativity from poisoning the environment.
Having different opinions is what makes people so unique from one another. Although it opens a fresh perspective, that’s not always the case in an environment with many people involved. After all, succumbing to conflict is easy. But this only bears irreversible damage to everyone else. Once this happens in the workplace, it might end up affecting their work performance. However, practicing MAPA is a great opportunity to be more productive when dealing with a crisis.