All it takes for an in-terpersonal conflict to cast a pall over the office is a hostile look, a curt comment or a loaded gesture. Whether it shows up in the snapping of a pencil or sharp retorts, it is every manager’s job to see it out.

Team leaders and managers can take these simple steps to refocus employees on the task at hand.

> Be Observant. People show how they feel before they admit it. Gripes around the water cooler, expressions of frustration and changes in work and productivity can be signs a conflict is brewing.

Recognizing conflict takes effort, says Bjorn Leiren, a partner at Edmonton-based A.W. Fraser & Associates, a firm of industrial psychologists and management consultants. “The first sign of conflict for a manager is probably when one or another of the parties comes up and says, ‘I can’t take this anymore’,” says Leiren. “By that point, things are probably pretty bad.

“People at the bottom of the hierarchy will put a lot more effort into hiding something that they’re feeling because they don’t have the power to deal with it,” he adds. “So, the whole power thing gets mixed up with whatever the issue happens to be. But people let things leak out that indicate they are angry or upset.”

> Assess The Situation. When conflict does surface, yelling, physical attacks or any expressions of conflict that put workers in danger need to be ended immediately. But managers also need to be careful they don’t overreact.

“The trick is recognizing what’s going on, and recognizing its severity,” Leiren says. “Actions can come up for a host of reasons that may not be conflict; it might just be other frustrations.”

CAUSE OF CONFLICT

Advisor managers should consider how the conflict was discovered, what provoked it and what each party was trying to accomplish through it. It may have been a competition for resources, a reaction to an inappropriate behaviour or even a problem at home creeping out at work.

“In pro sports, usually it’s not the initiator of the conflict or inappropriate action on the playing field who gets hammered; it’s the one who reacts to the initial provocation,” Leiren points out. “Until you really know what happened, you need to be careful you don’t take precipitate action that makes a situation worse rather than better.”

Penny Paucha, a coach with advisor coaching firm Advisor Pathways Inc. in Stratford, Ont., says much workplace conflict is instinctual conflict that can be prevented by managers knowing how employees work. Paucha uses Kolbe, an index designed to measure instincts and decision-making, to diagnose how people will and won’t act based on their need for information, organization, risk or physical construction.

“There is a pattern in which advisors with a strong need for risk have big books and are out meeting lots of clients,” says Paucha. “The people back at the office who like lots of organization don’t have the same strong need for risk — they have the need to stabilize, to make sure everything runs smoothly.”

> Select A Mediator. Once the causes of the conflict are identified, the manager needs to decide who will work with the parties involved to reach a resolution.

“The manager needs to do some self-assessment, and ask, ‘Am I the one to deal with this kind of question?’” Leiren says. “Not everyone can get in between two other people and play mediator. It could be inappropriate because of the role that manager has, or it could be that the manager doesn’t have that skill set.”

There are natural mediators in every workplace who seem to have the skill of finding common ground between warring sides. Adding such a skill set to a project that is on the rocks is one way to maintain productivity while ensuring everyone feels respected.

Also, many organizations have human resources departments that are equipped to work with employees to resolve conflicts.

> Implement The Resolution. Managers need to make sure any conflict is completely resolved in order to protect goals and productivity.

“The way that a manager can help is to say, ‘OK, how do we utilize resources so that each of these talents is bringing a different perspective to help us ultimately deliver better service?’” Paucha says, “while noting that one person’s way isn’t a better way.”

@page_break@People wouldn’t enter into a conflict if they didn’t see some gain through their actions or behaviour — whether it is an advantage in an organization, a chance to prove themselves superior or a move to protect their reputation. In order to resolve disputes, these goals need to be recognized.

> Prevent Further Conflict. Brendan Calder, a professor at University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, deals with office arguments in his second-year MBA course, Getting It Done.

In the majority of cases, Calder says, the tension between co-workers can be caused by a lack of role clarity — this starts co-workers stepping on toes or pointing fingers.

“People will pass the buck because they’re not sure whose role it is,” Calder says. “If you get role clarity in the organization, a lot of the conflict goes away. It’s up to the manager to make sure there is role clarity with everyone in the organization, and that those roles are aligned with what the group as a whole is expected to do.”

To ensure team members constantly know what is expected of them, it’s necessary for team leaders to have effectiveness programs and resolution processes in place.

Peer evaluations, checkpoint meetings and 360-degree feedback (anonymous performance feedback, for instance, from people above, beside and below the advisor’s position) give the manager opportunities to work with employees on what they should start, stop and continue doing. It also allows employees to maintain clear ideas of individual and team outputs.

“The trick,” Calder says, “is to focus everyone’s activities around the output of the group as a whole, so they learn that their individual personalities are subordinate to the effectiveness of the group. You need to make sure everyone is effective and that everyone gets things done the right way.” IE