Today is the day that every United Nations member country enters into a day of global ceasefire and non-violence. Seems like the perfect opportunity to take the philosophy of World Peace Day and take it into the workplace.

Have you found that maybe there’s a bit of tension between yourself and a colleague? Here’re some tips that’ll help you resolve the problem and rebuild your relationships in a non-violent way.

Acknowledging the issue

The first step to solving any issue is admitting there’s a problem. This well-known phrase is the perfect starting out point when you’re trying to repair and rebuild a relationship with a colleague.

First things first, you need to address what your role was in causing the rift between you and your colleague, but don’t use this as an opportunity to point the finger and absolve yourself from all blame.

Ask yourself; “Have I overreacted?”, “Could I have handled the situation better?” or even “Is this actually my fault?”

Imagine a world without the fighting

There’re few things more toxic to a working environment, to everyone who works there, that sourness between members of the team. We’re sure you’ve all been in a situation where you’ve been caught in the middle of an argument that’s nothing to do with you. Not nice, is it?

The goal is to picture how much happier you’d be without the tension between yourself and that colleague.

What does your next encounter look like without that sour-cloud hanging over both of you? What does it take to get your relationship to that point? What will you have to compromise?

Chat it out

Get the ball rolling with a clear the air catch-up. What’s the best way to do this? Get in front of each other, in private and talk out your vision of that first encounter without your relationship ruining sour-cloud hanging over you.

It’s important to remember here that you’re reaching out to solve the issue – you’re not there to get personal or be too defensive. Talk calmly and clearly demonstrate what you think it will take to fix your relationship.

Commit

Doesn’t that feel better? You feel like your chums again and you can enjoy working together again.

Great.

Then, in two weeks you’re back in the same position again because neither of you really committed to your chat.

The only thing that’s going to keep you on the same page and working well together is if you both make the effort to cultivate your relationship.

Make the change

That’s it. You’ve had a coffee and a chat about your problems with each other apologised to each other – maybe even hugged it out.

Now the work begins.

This won’t be fixed overnight, so don’t expect it to be. You’ll need to rebuild the structure of your relationship if you’re not going to slip into old ways.

It’s okay to think that fixing the problem isn’t only your responsibility, but you need to think to yourself how you’ll react if your colleague doesn’t make the effort to fix your relationship like you have.

So there you have it, a simple 5 part plan to repair and rebuild a working relationship haunted by an emotional sour-cloud, now get to it!

Good luck.