Simmering conflicts within a team

Submitted by varmit01 on Monday May 27th, 2019 11:16 pm
in

Forums

Hi All,

I work with a small team of 4, and they seem to have issues working with each other for numerous reasons.

They don't seem to be able to discuss these issues amongst themselves and work towards a resolution, but rather complain about each other to each other.

When issues are raised to myself by individual team members, they are urged to discuss with the party in question, but this doesn't seem to be occuring and the tensions continue to fester.

My question is, do you think that it would be wise to raise the team tensions with the team as whole to put what is clearly an issue out in the open for them to discuss amongst themselves, essentially forcing the discussion to fore rather than have them continue to dance around the issue? Or is it a bad idea?

Thanks in advance,

Vesna

Submitted by Chris Zeller on Saturday June 1st, 2019 1:34 pm

Hello Vesna,

What can you tell us about the relationships that you have with each of your directs?

Submitted by i12know on Monday June 10th, 2019 3:29 pm

Is there a cast for it somewhere?

I have similar issue where some times the O3 is taken up for one direct to complain about another. Despite I told them to resolve the issue directly, they won't do it but keep taking the matters to me. Are we managers supposed to also functionally parenting our directs over sibblling's rivaly? Is there a cast for it somewhere?

Thanks

i12know

Submitted by pucciot on Friday June 14th, 2019 1:56 pm

Yep- there is a 'cast (or a few) for that

Here is the link

https://www.manager-tools.com/get-answers?search=team%20conflict&f%5B0%5D=bundle%3Apodcast_item

Good Luck

TJPuccio

Submitted by shellandflame on Tuesday June 18th, 2019 7:46 am

Resolving tension

I wouldn't let this one fester. The longer the resentment builds, the more problems it's going to cause. If you've already provided guidance for the team to work among themselves to resolve and it doesn't help, you need to take charge.

I had a similar issue in a previous role. When meeting one on one with both sides didn't get it done, the three of us met. I let them know their interpersonal conflict was impacting the team and continued tension wasn't accceptable. They don't have to like each other, but they do have to get along well enough to keep the team functioning. If they weren't able to either resolve the issue themselves or reach an accord on professional behavior, it was going to impact one or both of their careers. I left the room and told them they had the rest of the hour to come up with a solution.

Both parties were able to work together after that. The conflict didn't get resolved (it was less of a professional issue and more of a personality clash) but they found a way to work together that didn't impact the team.

I'd make sure HR is aware of what you are doing as well. They may either want to be in the room or be kept in the loop if the problem escalates.