| The dysfunctional workplace is a killer.
Untreated it will kill off your customer base, your profits, and your joy for living as
surely as anything.
As managers, leaders and top executives within your
organization you've got to kill the conflicts in your workplace first before dysfunction
takes hold.
The Top Ten Workplace Conflicts That Disrupt Organizations
- and the Cure for Each
No. 1: No teamwork
The best managers lead a team – not just a group of
individual employees. If you have employees at odds and you show no desire to fix it then
you are leading your organization to a disaster.
So, make sure that the most direct supervisor meets with
those involved in a workplace conflict to learn what it will take to resolve it and to
secure a firm commitment to do so. Don't forget to spell out immediate consequences in the
event of failure.
No. 2: Saying one thing and meaning another.
If you have an employee with a pattern of saying, "But
what I meant was...", call them on it. Requiring the offender to have all
communications checked for clarity for a period of time usually nips this in the bud fast.
No. 3: Giving lip service to new ideas then undercutting
them in private.
You'll want to enlist everyone's help in keeping this
workplace conflict out. Make it clear that dissenting opinions are welcomed during
decision making, but that once a decision is made, undercutting will not be tolerated.
No. 4: Defensiveness at reasonable suggestions.
As a manager, it is your responsibility to let your team
know that you consider a willingness to improve to be one of the hallmarks of a person
with a bright future in your company. Defensiveness should be viewed as what it is - an
unwillingness to improve one's self.
No. 5: Attraction to chaos.
Pot stirring is a violation of principles and a threat to
productivity. Counterbalance the pleasure they get from drama with a greater measure of
negative consequences.
No. 6: Not following through on commitments.
Let your team know that they are expected to acknowledge
errors and make a commitment to clean up every last bit of the resulting mess.
No. 7: Deflecting blame.
Deflecting blame equals deflecting responsibility. Make it
clear that the only acceptable behavior is acceptance of responsibility and (as above)
quick work to clean up the mess.
No. 8: People pretending like they "never got the
memo."
If there was no breakdown in the actual system, make it
clear that the employee is responsible for consistently accessing internal communications
like memos and emails so that he is never again "out of the loop."
No. 9: Refusing to deal with conflict directly.
Conflict resolution is an essential part of a manager's
job. Performance reviews can and should count disruptive interpersonal conflicts against
managers on whose watch they occur.
No. 10: Gossiping and back-stabbing.
Once you establish a zero-tolerance policy for talking
behind another person's back, give your people permission to address conflict head-on, out
loud, courageously and honestly. And make it clear that giving or receiving gossip is not
acceptable.
You may have noticed a refrain coming back again and again
in this advice: Make it clear. Once you've made the determination to purge your workplace
of dysfunctional behavior, your greatest ally and most powerful tool will be clarity.
Follow the advice in this article and in my new book "Thank God It's Monday" and
you will terminate all workplace conflicts and improve your organization's productivity. |
