How to Deal With Feuding Employees

One of the most important elements of management is conflict mitigation because conflict is as common as anything else and when it unravels, it can influence the workplace’s entire functionality. HRMatrix is here to enforce a peaceful, healthy environment to ensure that daily efforts are not wasted through neglectful efforts.  

When a conflict is severe or severely petty, it is imperative to address the issue before it amplifies into something that detracts from company time. That is why it is very important for management to remain attentive. The goal is to logically and emotionally participate when a conflict arises so that it can be dealt with quickly and effectively.

Remember that the objective is not to beat your record on how quickly you can defeat a feuding conflict. By those measures, you can instantaneously ignore the issue and let it fester. It is unnatural to expect employees to perform successfully when there is a burden tethered to them through a conflictual experience. Let HRMatrix provide you some tips on how to properly mitigate office feuding. 

 

  1. Understand the nature of the conflict.

This is what we mean by participating. Get involved in the issue by understanding where both ends of the conflict begin. Take charge and direct the conversation into a productive form of communication to accurately comprehend the picture.

 

  1. Encourage employees to work it out themselves.

As much as it’s important for you to participate in the conflict, it is equally as important to have employees learn how to manage their issues among themselves. A good leader teaches others to be better leaders. Mobilizing your employees with this responsibility creates responsible employees.

 

  1. Nip it in the bud quickly. 

This isn’t what you think. It’s not a matter of neglecting the situation, leaving both employees emotionally repressed. The goal here is not to have the conflict fester, especially relatively smaller conflicts. The mature thing to do is not let these matters drag on, because the more they do, the more it damages the protective atmosphere of the workplace.

 

  1. Listen to both sides.

Even if you favor an employee's point of conflict more than the other, the important part is to remain an unbiased third party to ensure that your decision on how to pursue this conflict is credible. You want to be able to hear both parties out and satisfy their need to be heard. Being heard is an essential part of an argument. Even if the other party is wrong, you have to play the listener role before managing the conflict itself.

 

  1. Determine the real issue, together.

Then, when you are past the listening portion of the conflict, it is time for you to assess the issue in big-picture terms. Where does the logic reside and what decision is best to create a peaceful, harmonic environment. 

 

  1. Consult your employee handbook.

If the situation is larger than your current judgment, refer to the handbook as it addresses several conflicts that might be relevant to the issue you are faced with right now. The handbook can act as a referee when you are unable to, making it easier for you to make a decision for bigger situations. 

 

  1. Find a solution.

Never leave an issue open-ended. You want the problem to be dealt with the conflict completed because the goal is to avoid excessive, unprofessional festering. The more this issue brews, the stronger the emotional volatility can be. 

 

  1. Write it up.

Record the situation. Just in case, if the issue reoccurs, you can refer back to the documented conflict and reinstate the same methods of logic. Sometimes, you cannot provide different solutions for the same topic of conflict, so you have to reapply your previous strategy.