Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane
Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again.
-- Peter Gabriel,
"Games Without Frontiers"
Co-workers Kaye and Danny had never clicked. There was no concrete reason—they had not dated, nor had they vied for the same promotion. No actual event had occurred to bring about the friction. They simply just didn't get along.
Both editorial assistants at a national magazine, Kaye and Danny often had to work together on projects, even until the wee hours of the morning if deadlines were tight. The extra pressure led to constant sniping; the constant sniping led to discord throughout the department. But both were solid performers and had not violated any rules of the workplace. Their manager was at a loss for how to handle the situation, so he ignored it. Meanwhile, their discontent grew worse until Kaye left for another job. In her exit interview, she cited problems with Danny as the main reason for resigning.
Savvy employers know one of the keys to productivity is happiness. Employees who like their jobs and get along with their co-workers work better in teams and tend to produce better results.
That may seem obvious. But it's not always easy to foster (and maintain) a happy, cohesive workplace. It's called "playing nice in the sandbox," and it's a critical cause of concern for many managers.
"Conflict resolution is the grease that makes the engine run," says Brian Buckingham, a conflict resolution expert. "The best leaders have charisma—and the ability to make people do the right thing at the right time.
"And, there are hidden costs for those (managers) who don't know how to handle it properly. Disgruntled employees, chronic absenteeism and other personnel issues are all manifestations of unresolved conflicts. The employees are basically unhappy people."
But what can you, the manager, do when personal and professional conflicts arise?
If you work for a larger company, the "down-and-dirty" solution could be to shift one of the employees involved to another department or team. You could also get your firm's human resources department involved—after all, many HR departments have staff members trained to resolve disagreements.
At smaller companies, turning to the HR office or moving staffers to other assignments may not be options. This puts the responsibility for resolving the situation directly on you as the manager. Still, you don't have to tackle the problem unarmed. Consultants are available to come in and help mediate disputes. Buckingham's group works with hospitals, Fortune 500 companies, and small non-profit organizations—a wide variety of groups.
"We go in and help these companies learn things like 'how do you identify the source of the conflict?' " Buckingham says. "We help them figure out how to empower people to solve the problem. A lot of conflicts occur, and then escalate, because people don't know how to solve problems, and then a lot of personal stuff gets thrown in."
Finally, managers need to realize that some conflicts aren't resolvable—or the situation has reached a point where it may not be salvageable.
"Sometimes it can be too late," Buckingham said. "For example, when a level of insubordination has occurred, or policy has been ignored, those are things that can lead to termination. You've undermined the rules so badly that intervention wouldn't work."
In that case, it may be time to put pressure on the employees to handle the situation.
"If two people don't get along, then I would look at both of them, tell them individually that it's a place of business and they better shape up," said Shelly Sherman, president of a technology consulting firm. "They don't have to be friends. They just have to work together. If they can't do that, then it's time to go find another job. In a practical world, at the end of the day, I expect people to be adults."
To learn how to effectively make new employees feel welcome and a part of your company, see the following articles:
Share Your Thoughts
How do you handle co-worker conflicts at your company?
When is the right time to hire an outside consulting firm to help?
What is the best way to prevent conflicts before they get out of hand?
Share your responses to these questions in the comments below the article.
