I’m not always right, but is it my fault that others are always wrong? Workplace conflict is inevitable. Employees and managers come from different backgrounds, professional experiences, and personal experiences. Often times, these things can be great for a company, offering various perspectives and lending itself to creativity and inclusion. Other times, it’s a recipe for adversity. So what do you do when your employees are not seeing eye-to-eye on an assignment or their differences in opinions are causing tension in the workplace?
One of the most important things a manager can do is help an employee see other perspectives. Try to help the employee understand the cause of the differing viewpoints and how action or inaction might affect each individual. As a manager, even if you agree with one side, it’s still important to get everyone on board with putting themselves in each other’s shoes. The goal isn’t necessarily to change an employee’s opinion or stance on a subject, but rather have them make a more informed decision and create an atmosphere of empathy which can help greatly with employee relations. Guide employees to listen to understand, not to counterpoint. Teach them to communicate without a negative tone and hostile body language. Offer your own experience to show them how to do all of this correctly. If needed, give them time to process and reflect. Reassure them their own viewpoint is also being considered by everyone involved. Make sure everyone still understands the end goal as that sometimes gets thrown to the side as people focus on proving themselves right.
Now here’s the tough part. Those employees who are unable to see beyond their own viewpoints may not be the best individuals for the company. If they are constantly combative with other employees or you and regularly hold projects back or do not meet deadlines, it probably has already created a hostile or unproductive environment for your team. A team that is not cohesive can’t make progress. A decision has to be made. Does the employee have the capacity to get better? If not, you may have to consider parting ways. If you’ve done all you can to communicate with the employee and given him or her all the tools to get better, then that decision is in their hands.
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