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Workplace violence gets the headlines, but is a less dramatickind of conflict eating away your profits? "When employees arebickering, pouting, arguing, it's costing youproductivity," says Albert Couch, a professional mediator inAkron, Ohio.
You know what these conflicts look like: John has stoppedtalking to Sue, Tim won't be on a team with Bob, and Mary yellsat just about everybody. Employees' voices get raised to loudvolumes, and, often, feelings are hurt and a sullen mood hangseverywhere. Why are they fighting? Maybe Oscar never makes freshcoffee when he drains the pot, Maria has let her desk turn into amessy jumble, and Boris blows his nose and throws the tissues onthe floor instead of in a basket.
Shouldn't people know better than to fight over littlethings? Maybe so, but the workplace reality is otherwise."Much conflict is rooted in small stuff, but the emotionsbehind the conflict are what matter," says Couch. "Thoseemotions can assume great significance."
Even so, the knee-jerk reaction of most bosses is to try toignore these squabbles. "Most bosses just aren'tcomfortable dealing with any kind of conflict among theirstaff," says Louisa Rogers, owner of The Trusting Edge, amanagement consulting company in Palo Alto, California. While mostbosses try to wish their people conflicts away, guess what?"When these problems are ignored, they fester and grow,"says Rogers.
The stakes are higher today, too. As workers are asked to domore, tempers flare faster and fights are harder to extinguish.Worse, such conflicts represent an escalating danger to theprofitability of leanly staffed businesses. "You cannot ignoreyour workers' feelings and expect to be successful. That'sabdication of an important management role," warns RobertVecchio, a professor of management at the University of Notre Damein Notre Dame, Indiana.
"Productivity is the yardstick to use in deciding whetherto intervene or not," adds Couch. "If the fight ishurting productivity, you have to get involved."
Bury The Hatchet
How can a boss resolve a petty dispute between employees? Stepone, say the experts, is creating an atmosphere that squelchestiffs before they become problems. "Set explicit norms foroffice behavior and widely promulgate them in memos, bulletins andmeetings," advises Jerry Osborne, an associate professor ofclinical psychology at the University of Houston.
This means coming up with guidelines that, for instance, banobscenities, insults and abusive behavior. The more specific, thebetter. "Lay out measurable expectations for how people are tobehave. Then advise the staff that they will be held accountablefor living up to these norms," says Pat Wagner, co-owner ofPattern Research, a Denver-based workplace training company.
Step two: Sweeten the deal by establishing group-based rewards,advises Vecchio. The point? To tangibly remind workers they are allin the same boat. "A group-based bonus gets people looking ateach other not as enemies but as brothers and sisters," saysVecchio. Even a small bonus rooted in group behavior may be enoughto bring more harmony to your business.
Finally, you need to model appropriate behavior. "Employeestake a lot of clues from the boss. If the boss is good-humored,direct in dealing with others, and follows the rules set down foreverybody, that's 90 percent of the solution for endingworkplace conflicts," says Wagner. "If the boss isn'ta role model, it's much tougher." Just as a parent cannotcurse out a kid for using obscenities, a boss who verbally abusesemployees can't demand harmonious conduct from them. Until yourbehavior is up to par, don't expect good behavior fromemployees.
Final Warning
What if workers continue to bicker, despite clear rules and yourgood example? Don't turn a blind eye--that tells people yourworkplace conduct standards are just for show. Instead, quicklycall workers on any infractions. "Make clear that theirconduct is not acceptable and get their commitment to cease suchbehavior in the future," says Osborne.
But do this privately, not publicly--not only to respect theparties' privacy but, just as crucially, to prevent a publicairing of strife from dividing the other workers. "Keeping itprivate helps prevent everybody else from taking sides," saysOsborne.
Put the burden on the employees to sort out their problems."I've seen managers who spend virtually all their timeresolving personnel issues," warns Rogers. "Everyconflict is brought directly to `mom' or `dad'--that'sthe role this boss plays in the workplace. Workers never learn toresolve their own difficulties."
Of course, this doesn't mean you can't give tips. Forinstance: "A big step toward ending conflict is to ask theparties to [consider] the other point of view," says mediatorCouch. "The aim is to get them to put aside emotion andconcentrate on facts."
They're still at each other's throats? Have them enlista neutral third party to mediate. "People frequently just wantto vent. This gives them a place to do it and also lets them seethe other point of view," says Couch.
Should you be the third-party mediator? There are risks. As theboss, you are "an authority figure, and that may make itharder for workers to open up in front of you," saysCouch.
Second, as Rogers warns, "You cannot afford to spend mostof your time settling employee differences."
If your business is so small that this buck has to stop at yourdesk, consider a tactic Couch uses: He asks participants to listtheir resentments--then burns the list. "The resentmentsliterally go up in smoke," says Couch. "It's gottengood results."
If that doesn't end the civil war, your last move is toughlove: Lay the hard facts on the line about the costs the businessis suffering and why the fighting has to swiftly end. Then"make the workers mutually responsible for a positive outcome.Say `Your jobs are on the line here. Work this out,' "says Couch. Be very clear that prolonging this tiff will result interminations, then set a deadline for an absolute cessation ofstrife.
The upshot of it all is likely to be a stronger, more cohesivework team. Indeed, while many bosses fear a fight will weakenemployee morale, successfully concluded fights tend to buildcohesiveness.
"Often conflicts are real opportunities for a team to cometogether," says Couch. "Once people have worked throughunpleasantness, they work much better together."
Robert McGarvey writes on business psychology and managementtopics for several national publications. To reach him online withyour questions or ideas, e-mail rjmcgarvey@aol.com.
Contact Sources
Albert Couch, c/o The Conflict Management & MediationCenter, (330) 867-3247, bertcouch@aol.com;
Pattern Research, (303) 778-0880, pat@pattern.rmnug.org;
The Trusting Edge, (415) 493-1668, LouisaRog@aol.com.
