Are Your Employees Getting Along?

My name is Consuela Munoz, a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. Business leaders hire me to master their strengths-based leadership because most are facing the “Great Resignation” and won’t retain “A” players, maintain superior results and struggle to manage time, teams, and talents. So, I help build and engage their natural leadership style for ultimate success.

Two of your best employees are not getting along, and it’s starting to affect the way the entire team functions. You must do something now, before the environment becomes too uncomfortable, or productivity suffers. As a leader, there are three straightforward steps you can take to get the team working in the same direction.

Understand the Conflict

You may want to rush in and solve this issue, which may lead to treating the symptoms instead of the underlying problem. You need to remain neutral and listen to both sides to understand the heart of the problem. Tempers may get a little heated on both sides, and if one or the other thought you were taking a side, it could end any hope of a successful resolution. Getting past the hurt, you can look for common ground. Then have a meaningful discussion on how to resolve the issue and move forward.

Hire Outside Help

As the leader, you may quickly realize that you are too close to the situation, and you may need to bring in a third party. Hiring a professional to help facilitate working through the identified issues, and those underlying issues as well. Spending time with individuals and with all as a team will provide a better understanding of overall team function. Determining where each team member's strengths can best help the team will help decide the actions needed. Then you can create a plan of action that will help solve the problems in a more sustainable way.

Follow Up & Follow Through

You have an action plan, and it is your job as a leader to follow through on your assigned actions. You must also follow up on your employees and their actions as well. A plan is no good if implementation does not happen. Even worse, your employees could see you as part of the problem if the plan fails.

Ignoring conflict between employees is not an option. Listening to both sides will help you understand the problem and not rush to treat the symptoms. Remain neutral and bring in a third party if needed. Establishing and implementing a plan will help the team to move forward again in the same direction.

Consuela Munoz is a leadership and a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. She is a trainer, speaker, and organizer of the C School. Following a 15-year career at a privately held, a multinational company employing 13,000 with $10 billion in sales, Munoz founded Own Your Confidence in 2018.