As a leader, much of your time is consumed managing people, which inevitably means managing personality clashes between team members. If left to fester these issues can be extremely disruptive to working life and profitability and small spats can easily turn into huge issues, including work-related stress and major disputes. As a leader what is the best way to manage this and ensure harmony at work for all colleagues?
Get to the root cause – this is important for leaders to manage early on in the dispute. Listening to colleagues will ensure they feel valued and will help you as a leader to see where the problem lies and how you can help to solve it.
Go with the ‘flow’ – flow is a state of mind that allows us to accept new meaning or unexpected change. Leaders can help to create positive flow within teams by creating a positive working environment where empathy, dialogue, and insight are encouraged. Leaders must, of course, be role models for this type of behavior to encourage colleagues to follow suit. You must acknowledge different viewpoints and ideas and give people space and time to air grievances and clashes of opinion.
Formal action – this should be the exception in conflict management, not the default. Too often, leaders are quick to jump straight to formal action to resolve issues within the workplace.
The next time you have an issue to resolve in your team, stop and think, could you create some ‘flow’ first before jumping to formal proceedings?
Managing people and many other aspects of leadership and management are covered in our wide range of qualifications. Find out more by contacting info@footstep-training.com
