How to resolve conflicts at work

Disputes at work are unpleasant, but inevitable: only 8% of employees have never encountered conflicts in their team. Perhaps they are freelancers. A quarter of respondents conflict monthly, and 16% conflict daily. All this worsens the work of the organization, reduces its efficiency, and can lead to loss of profit or staff turnover.

The Praca.by portal conducted a survey with whom conflict situations arise more often at work. As a result, it was revealed that most conflicts occur with colleagues - 43.8%, in second place is the answer “with management” - 34.7%. The least amount of discord occurs with subordinates – 21.5%.

How should a manager behave to help employees get out of conflict?

Concept, causes of conflicts

Conflict is a way of resolving disputes that arise during constant interaction, discussion of personal and business issues. Sometimes the behavior of participants in a quarrel goes beyond the established norms of decency: raising their voices, mutual insults, an outburst of negative emotions. The most dangerous phase of development is a lack of arguments, which is often followed by a fist fight.

Contradictions can be of different nature. They mainly arise due to the following reasons:

uneven distribution of resources: financial, human, material (office supplies, office equipment, vehicles, responsibilities, vacation schedule);
distorted, incorrect information that has a detrimental effect on the result of the labor process;
difference in values, views regarding the employee’s place in the team, leadership style;
lack of employee cohesion, strong leader, motivation;
new employees who do not want to follow established rules;
unprofessional human resource management;
inadequacy of employees for their positions;
lack of organizational measures necessary for corporate unity;
disagreements on personal grounds: criticism, imposition of opinion;
There is too much dispersion in wages.

According to statistics, in more than 50% of cases, quarrels arise over wages, and in 15% - due to mistakes. The manager devotes about 15-20% of his time during the year to resolving quarrels. There are many reasons, but only a few solutions. To effectively combat the phenomenon in question, it is necessary to be able to see the first “bells” that lead to discord.

Personal conflicts

Personal (psychological, characteristic) conflicts are distinguished by the fact that their true causes lie in the psychology of workers. They do not stop after the substantive conflict is resolved, but often only smolder and then flare up again. Such conflicts can be divided into:

Conflict between two workers .
Usually the cause of the conflict is the psychological incompatibility of two specific employees. It can have a variety of reasons, rooted in differences in character, social origin, worldview, personal life circumstances, and even gender and age, not to mention ethnicity. Finding out these reasons should not be the task of management, since this is an attack on personal integrity. Management must only make sure that the conflict is not of a substantive nature and resolve it by isolating workers from each other. Such conflicts are not very dangerous, since the team is usually opposed to them: it interferes with work. If the team takes the side of one of the participants, this may eventually lead to the next type of conflict.
Conflict between the team and the employee (bullying) . Bullying is one of the extreme and most severe types of psychological conflict in the workplace. It ruins the life and performance of the target of bullying, morally humiliates its participants, forces them to be distracted from the work process and develops in them the habit of bullying, as a result of which anyone, even management itself, can become its next target. The bullying must stop immediately, and management will have to talk to those involved in the conflict to find the best solution to the problem.
Conflict of an employee against the team and/or management (“terrorism”) . A rather rare type of conflict that carries great risks for its instigator. Dismissing a labor “terrorist” is not so difficult; it is much more important to understand why he appeared in the first place, whether there is the influence of a competitor, a crisis of leadership, awareness or management, or whether more complex problems are brewing. To do this, you will have to conduct thoughtful negotiations with the conflicting employee.
Intrigue is interactions in a team based on unvoiced desires, weaknesses and dependencies, leading to obtaining the desired result, in other words, it is not direct manipulation of the individual. Intrigue is not a conflict, but it provokes conflict. A good and valuable, but naive employee, deprived of means of protection against intrigue, can fall victim to intrigue. The initiator of such a situation is often a professional manipulator who does not agree to harsh direct confrontations, so applying disciplinary measures to the schemer is usually sufficient.

Conflict is not always easier to prevent than to resolve, but it is always more useful. The fewer conflicts in the organization, the less interference there is in the work process, and vice versa, “war only gives rise to war.”

Structure and stages of development of conflicts

First, let's look at the structural components:

participants – from 2 to infinity. The initiator of the quarrel is the active party, the opponents are the passive party;
conditions, the subject of the quarrel, which is the key object of the contradictions that have arisen;
direct action;
dispute resolution.

The stages of development look like this:

gradual accumulation of negativity or instantaneous occurrence of a cause;
interaction expressed in different forms: verbal altercation, personal insults, others;
settlement. The permission can be full or partial.

There are spontaneous and cumulative disagreements that develop into a quarrel. In the first case, they quickly arise due to dissatisfaction and non-fulfillment of requirements, but are also quickly resolved. In the second case, negative emotions accumulate over a long period of time under the influence of envy, personal hostility, and resentment. In psychology, these phenomena are called realistic and unrealistic, respectively.

Species and types

Psychologists and sociologists identify different types of conflicts that allow them to most fully monitor the situation and find solutions.

Based on their sources, conflicts are divided into the following types:

structural , arise between departments, the main reason, contradictions in tasks and requirements,
innovative , staff reaction to innovations in the organization,
positional , identifying those who are more significant and important,
on the basis of clarifying justice , when the degree of investment of the employee’s labor is determined,
distribution of resources (resources), when the fulfillment of one’s own responsibilities depends on their receipt,
dynamic , arise in new teams when the guidelines and rules of the group are not yet clear, there is no hierarchy, clear tasks and understanding in which direction to move.

Conflicts in organizations are divided according to the degree of involvement of participants:

interpersonal, in this type two individuals come into conflict and sort out their relationship with each other. The conflict can be vertical and horizontal, that is, between employees, between an employee and a manager.
intergroup, groups of workers come into conflict, formal, informal, between departments, within a department, when it is divided into warring factions,
between the group and the individual , contradictions arise when there is a confrontation between one person and the group. This could be an employee and a team, a leader with a group.

Conflicts can also be horizontal , between equal employees, vertical , between employees and superiors, and mixed.

Labor conflicts arise over labor relations and disputes.

This includes the accuracy and timeliness of salary calculation, disciplinary liability, dismissal, and settlement of relations.

Labor conflicts can be individual or group.

An organizational conflict is caused by a clash of opposing interests, a discrepancy between company rules and employee behavior, and the presentation of conflicting demands, etc.

Types of conflicts

Experts in the field of psychology and recruiting identify different ways to classify disagreements. We will talk about types that are more typical for work groups.

Varieties by character

Domestic

Associated with the psycho-emotional state of a specific employee who is dissatisfied with his current position. Psychologists say that the cause of internal imbalance can be:

receiving conflicting assignments;
workload or lack of responsibilities;
undervalued;
loss of purpose;
delays at work that do not provide additional pay or incentives;
complex tasks with a limited time limit.

People with low self-esteem and lack of ambition are prone to internal imbalance.

Interpersonal

The most common type is caused by:

disputes over official appointments;
dissatisfaction with the principle of resource distribution - from office supplies to cash bonuses;
mismatch of goals, understanding of the business process, personal qualities.

In a dispute, two or more people clash, having completely different views on the organization of the labor process and efficiency. The goal is to get a better position, higher salary, other bonuses, and privileges.

Between the individual and the group

The working group has its own measured routine, habits, and traditions. She functions smoothly without being distracted by quarrels. If a new person enters it and does not want to accept the established “rules of the game,” then a dispute arises.

The second type is contradictions between staff and managers . They may arise due to a change in the management team of the online store, a new management style, or a transition to anti-crisis mode.

Intergroup

Similar to the previous type, but arise between representatives of two different groups that have disagreements. Intergroup clashes are typical for functional departments of an online store that collaborate closely . The reason for the development of a dispute may be mistakes made, delays in completing tasks, or other reasons.

Varieties by action

Considering the types of conflicts by action, it is necessary to distinguish the following groups:

constructive, entailing the resolution of the situation, the establishment of mutual understanding. The decision made is immediately put into practice, it suits all participants;
destructive, entailing complete misunderstanding and lack of fruitful dialogue.

Destructive quarrels most often end in non-acceptance of the opponent’s position and mutual antipathy. They destroy the team and reduce productivity .

Causes of conflicts between employees

Imperfect work organization

Work processes must be transparent and understandable to employees. If business processes are clearly defined, there is no room for confusion - the organization works smoothly. 44% of respondents in the HeadHunter study admitted that improperly structured work and communication systems become causes of conflicts.

Unclear terms of reference

Each employee must understand what tasks he is responsible for and what is beyond his competence. If the manager cannot distribute responsibilities between employees, determine the area of responsibility, or formulates the task vaguely, this gives rise to conflicts.

Employee Relations

Employees are expected, first of all, to perform their functions, but it is impossible to prevent them from communicating on personal topics or forming opinions about each other. It happens that people do not agree on certain events, hobbies, or lifestyle. This leads to tension.

You cannot demand from subordinates that they communicate exclusively warmly and in a friendly manner, but the manager’s task is to make sure that these differences do not interfere with work. There needs to be an emphasis on team building in a variety of ways. For example, the Buffett National Wellness Survey found that in companies that implemented corporate sports, employees took fewer sick days, revenues were on average 11% higher, and shareholder returns increased by 28%.

Peculiarities of employee behavior

Insults, personalization, scandals - all this is unacceptable in a work environment. Even if a person is right in assessing the situation, presenting it too emotionally can provoke an even greater conflict.

Limited resources

Conflicts arise at the point of convergence of interests. The lack of material and financial resources leads to clashes and struggles for them.

Lack of information

By hiding important information from employees, management can encourage rumors to arise. In crisis conditions, when the situation in the team is tense, a careless word can lead to a series of gossip and speculation, provoking conflicts.

According to statistics, 86% of managers and employees cite ineffective communication and lack of cooperation as the cause of work failure.

Excessive pressure

It is impossible to work in a state of constant emergency. Stress affects the emotional state of employees and can lead to scandals and showdowns.

These are the main causes of work conflicts, but there are many more reasons for them. It is more effective to prevent conflicts between employees than to constantly put out emerging fires. The main directions of the manager’s work in this matter:

optimization of the organization’s work – building logical vertical and horizontal connections, sharing responsibilities;
creating comfortable working conditions;
eliminating the psychological causes of conflicts - improving relationships in the team, reducing stress, neutralizing irritating factors;
a fair and transparent system of rewards and punishments.

Ways to effectively manage conflicts

Conflict management belongs to the branches of psychology. The manager’s actions are aimed at eliminating contradictions by eliminating their root cause. The main goal is to turn destructive disagreement into constructive one. To effectively manage these processes it is necessary:

determine the type of dispute that is brewing;
identify the root causes;
study the situation in detail, the characters of future opponents;
choose the best way out of the current situation.

Additional reading on the topic

7 effective strategies for dealing with conflict
Conflict resolution methods: how and when to use them
Conflict management in a team – a balancing act or a vital necessity?
10 tips for resolving conflicts in a team
IBR Conflict Resolution Approach

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Methods for resolving conflicts in an online store team

Structural

There are 4 structural methods:

clarification. It is necessary to accurately formulate the requirements put forward both to the employee and to the quality of the work performed. A capacious formulation will prevent internal contradictions, a decrease in quality indicators, and dissatisfaction with other team members;
clear coordination. There is a distribution of responsibilities and a strict hierarchy. The manager has the final say in work-related matters;
proper organization. Employees are united by one comprehensive goal; to achieve it it is necessary to devote all their strength and talents. As a result, the team works harmoniously, united by a good mission;
reward system . Monetary and other types of rewards are a popular tool of influence. Employees strive to make the contribution necessary to achieve the goal, knowing that a bonus awaits them at the finish line. It shows effectiveness only with systematic use.

Interpersonal

The solution to interpersonal contradictions is reflected in the famous scheme of K. Thomas, who identified 5 behavioral lines:

avoiding disagreements. A person does not consciously participate in a skirmish, he walks away from it, not seeing a way to resolve it, not considering that at this moment the situation can be corrected through dialogue;
a struggle that involves imposing one’s point of view on an opponent. An ineffective method when it comes to constructive solutions. The struggle leads to an aggravation of the situation, it smoothly flows into the destructive stage. The method is effective only if disagreements pose a threat to the existence of the business;
compliance. A person consciously gives in to his opponent, not wanting to transfer the relationship into a destructive phase. This position is taken by employees who are afraid of quarreling with colleagues or losing the trust of management. It is better for managers to refuse compliance, otherwise they may lose respect;
compromise. Opponents accept each other's points of view, they are ready to make mutual concessions, trying to smooth out the situation. In the future, the dispute may flare up again due to failure of one of the parties to accept the amendments made.

The last behavioral line is cooperation. It is similar to a compromise, but more effective, because opponents conduct a dialogue adhering to the following principles:

everyone's right to a personal opinion;
in-depth analysis of the reasons that led to disagreements;
joint search for a solution that satisfies the requirements of each party.

In this case, the opponents again become colleagues, considering the contradictions as a joint problem.

Cases of conflicts in a team.

Case condition 1:

The business analyst on the team and the technical lead cannot find a common language and constantly clash, accusing each other of incompetence. Both have arguments to confirm their point of view; no personal hostility was noticed before this project. What could be done to reduce the likelihood of such a situation? What options for resolving the conflict are there now?

Solution:

One of the most possible reasons for this situation to arise is that both parties do not clearly understand the boundaries of their responsibilities and the areas of responsibility of their roles. To avoid such a situation occurring on a project, you need to discuss in detail the process of working on tasks with the entire team at the very beginning. As a result of the discussion, it should be clear to everyone who is responsible for which stage of the work.

What to do if the conflict is already gaining momentum? In a simple case, it will be enough for you to listen to both sides, find out on what facts each side's judgment about the incompetence of the other is based, and examine each fact in turn. Most arguments will be based on an incomplete understanding of the context and misinterpretation of the facts. In an active conflict, you will need to bring in a third party that both team members consider an authority to provide expert opinion on the issues at issue. This third party may not be from the project team, but from the outside, for example, if you missed the beginning of the conflict and it has already turned into personal hostility and the impossibility of constructive teamwork, you will have to control communication between them, reduce the dependence of the parties to the conflict on each other, or transfer someone then from the participants in the conflict to another project.

It is worth remembering that a “quick” resolution of the conflict by making a judgment about the rightness of one of the parties can extinguish the development of an open conflict, but drive it into a hidden form, in which even the success of the project may be at risk, since a lot of working time will be spent on intrigue and revenge. Once you have developed a solution to the current conflict, consider what structural changes are needed to prevent it from occurring again. Perhaps you need to more often draw the team's attention to the common goal and the personal benefit for each team member from achieving it, develop a group system of rewards and motivation, add processes or mechanisms for coordinating and integrating the actions of the parties to the conflict, etc.

Summarize. Use the conflict resolution algorithm above. This is what it will look like in this case:

Gather the analyst and technical lead together with you and listen to each person’s position on the essence of the conflict, including a description of how, in their opinion, it should have been.
Don't let us slide into emotions, general accusations and abstract statements.
Write down the stated facts, arguments and desired outcome of each side in their own words. Don't criticize, don't judge, don't take sides.
Find out the motives to develop solutions. If your expertise is not enough or you are not a sufficient authority for the parties to the conflict, then take a break and involve a third party as an authoritative magistrate.
Analyze each argument from mutual accusations separately, try to supplement the information, educate. Ask what actions can be taken to correct the objective problem, if one is among the arguments. Propose your own solution plan only as a last resort, otherwise all responsibility for execution will pass to you.
Involve the analyst and technical lead in developing an acceptable solution to the conflict, make sure that they agree to take responsibility for executing the solution.
If an analyst or technical lead refuses to conduct a constructive dialogue, warn about the consequences of such behavior and the actions that you, as a manager, will be forced to take to save the project team (transfer to another project, dismissal, a big minus on regular performance reviews when discussing salaries etc.)
Monitor the implementation of the decision.

From my practice:

Similar cases happened in my projects. In one of them, a conflict arose due to the fact that the lead of all analysts in the company strictly promoted a certain way of working on the projects of their analysts, without taking into account the characteristics of the teams and clients on these projects. The analyst on the project was caught between the desires of her lead and the team and considered her lead a more authoritative person in this matter, and the technical lead on the project as having little understanding of business analysis. I organized a meeting for 4 people: myself, a technical lead, an analyst and a lead analyst, and together we sorted out all the issues that caused contradictions in the approach to performing the tasks of a business analyst on a project. After the project analyst received an unambiguous agreed-upon process, the conflict was resolved.

Case condition 2:

One of the more experienced developers on your project team where you are the PM is constantly frustrated by the technical decisions made by the client-side technical contact. He considers them wrong and predicts problems in the future that will be caused by the consequences of these decisions. You begin to notice that this developer's productivity has decreased significantly. What could you do in such a situation to prevent a negative impact on the project?

Solution:

First of all, it’s worth finding out how the developer himself sees a possible solution. If he is truly experienced, it is likely that he can tell you some techniques that the team used on his past projects that you have not thought of. If a developer expresses indignation less and less often, while nothing has changed in the project, this means that the person believes that he is not being listened to and is desperate to change something and now he will not voice any potential problems on the project at all, not only those related to technical contacts on the side client, but also internal problems on the project.

You should show the developer that you heard him and are serious about the potential risks he voices:

write a list of solutions that your developer considers wrong, then ask him to write an argument for each point.
discuss this list with the technical contact on the client side, ask him to explain why he made this or that decision, how he argues for it
When in doubt, bring in an expert within your company from outside your project who can provide a second opinion on the list of controversial decisions and arguments from your developer and client-side technical contacts.
Assess the identified risks with your team and add them to the risk register. If the client does not see your register, then indicate these risks in your regular report that you provide to the client. If the report is not coming soon, then at least write an email where you describe the risks, their impact and your plan for mitigating these risks. Copy it to your developer or send him a copy separately.
ask your developer to monitor the increase in risk probability or its occurrence in order to inform the client in time.

From my practice:

In one of the projects, there was an architect on the client side who strictly defined approaches to implementing functionality, often causing indignation and disagreement among the technical lead on the project. I discussed the situation with the technical lead, what problems he sees and how we will convey our position to the client and his architect. We introduced daily calls with the architect on the client side to discuss technical issues and connected the client there. There we presented our proposals, with arguments and reasons why we consider our solution to be the best, as well as what disadvantages and possible negative consequences we see in the solution proposed by the client’s architect. Naturally, we rarely managed to change the architect’s decision, but the technical lead knew that his opinion was heard and the client was aware of the consequences of this or that decision and that we would not ultimately be blamed if they occurred. All of these calls were recorded, and after each call I sent an email with a summary of the discussion so that in the future I could show the client that this or that issue that arose was discussed by us on these calls with the client and that he was responsible for the decisions of his architect.

Case condition 3:

Two developers from a team offer different solutions to the same problem. Both sound convincing. How to resolve their dispute and choose the best option?

Solution:

First, try discussing both proposals with the whole team; perhaps colleagues will be able to provide additional arguments in favor of one or another decision and convince one of the parties to agree. If discussion by the entire team is ineffective for some reason, for example, if the decision contains specifics or important context that the rest of the team does not understand, then team participation will not have the desired effect. In this case, try gathering these developers with you in a meeting room and allocating some limited time for discussion. There is a chance that they will be able to agree on their own.

The next option, if the first two do not work, would be to involve a third party to obtain an expert opinion. Such a person could be the lead of a functional department, for example, the lead of all Java developers if the decision concerns the Java language, or any recognized technical expert in your company, up to the technical director (CTO). The main thing is that both developers consider him an authority. His choice of solution to the problem will be accepted by both developers.

Often a manager is tempted to choose one of the options himself, guided by his own motives, even the best ones: “there is no time for democracy, I have to get the job done,” “I was once a developer, it’s obvious to me which solution is better,” “this the solution is more expensive, it is better to offer the client a cheaper solution, we already have a tight budget” and so on. This is the fastest way, but also the most ineffective and risky. There is a high probability that a developer whose proposal was rejected in such a disrespectful manner will harbor a grudge, which will come back to haunt the manager at the most inopportune moment and can result in significant losses.

From my practice:

This type of conflict occurs quite often in my projects, especially at the stage of team formation, when the roles are not yet completely clear. In the project, one of the most experienced developers was appointed team lead and he had the last word in such disputes. However, before making any decision, both options were discussed by the whole team. We tried to find out all the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal so that no one would have any doubts about the reasons for the final decision. Several times I had to involve the company's technical director as an authoritative mediator in such disputes.

Case condition 4:

The developer once again failed to meet the estimate. At the same time, the rest of the team had a good result. How to give feedback?

Solution:

This case is not about conflict directly, but rather about how to avoid its occurrence. Giving constructive and, very importantly, timely feedback is not as easy as it may seem - there are too many ways that can go wrong, especially if you do not have sufficient emotional intelligence and empathy. The condition says that the developer did not meet the deadline “once again,” but it goes without saying that you did not wait for the next time and after the first time you sat down with this developer together and discussed what was the reason for the underestimation, and also took these reasons into account when assessing this times, which the developer still didn’t meet. The reasons this time may be different from those before, do not make hasty conclusions and do not attack the developer with the phrase “Well, how much can I tell you!”

Solve the problem, not the person! The worst thing you can do is publicly “destroy” the developer in front of the team with phrases like “again, Petrov, you’ve let us down,” “you’re tired of constantly screwing up,” “next time you don’t get the job done, I’ll fine you or fire you for the hell of it.” and so on. All this will lead to deep demotivation and demoralization of the developer and, most likely, for you and this project, this developer will be lost forever, working, at best, half-heartedly, or even completely sabotaging the process, taking revenge on you for humiliation. You cannot “educate” a person or get results by appealing to his conscience. You can scold him, throwing out your negativity on him, but since he is no longer able to change the past, this will demoralize him, put him in a defensive position and will not allow you to come up with a constructive solution to this problem for the future.

So, your problem “the developer does not meet the estimate”, it is expressed in the fact that the customer is dissatisfied, the budget has been exceeded, and future relations with the customer are at risk. We need to find out why the problem occurs. Ideally, you should use the five whys technique to get to the real reason.

Most often, the reason for an overestimation is the developer's lack of experience in assessments. To gain it, the developer needs to periodically analyze how much his estimates coincide with the actual time spent and for what reasons this happens. Very soon, repeating errors will be visible for which you can check the assessment next time, right down to the checklist. For example, a developer may forget to consider deployment time or his own testing before handing it over to a tester.

Separately, we can highlight cases when the initial implementation plan was not agreed upon with the technical lead and is adjusted during the work process after receiving feedback from the technical lead or architect. In this case, more attention should be paid to discussing the task at team iteration (sprint) planning or agreeing on an implementation plan before starting work on the task. Another category of errors is when the task description is ambiguous and allows for different interpretations, as well as when the requirements change during implementation. This is a signal to the business analyst or manager that all is not well with the requirements gathering process.

Once you have determined what is causing the overestimation, work with your developer to create a list of actions you can take to reduce the likelihood of the issue occurring in the future. Such actions could be: an assessment checklist for the most common errors, checking the correct understanding with a business analyst, agreeing on a plan for implementing a task with a technical lead before starting work. This will allow the developer to feel more confident and will support his motivation for further work. Build a conversation with the developer so that he is responsible for developing a solution. Ask: “What do you think is stopping you from assessing more accurately?”, “What can I do to help you?”, “What do you think should be done to make it easier for you to remember to check for these common mistakes when next assessment?

Separately, the manager can make a list of his own actions to prevent the recurrence of this problem, such as: adding a buffer to the developer's estimate before transferring the estimate to the client (estimate padding, considered bad practice, used only as a last resort), statistical analysis of previous estimates and costs of this developer for calculating the accuracy coefficient of his estimates in order to monitor the dynamics of its changes in the future, searching for a mentor to work with poor knowledge of technology or a programming language, and so on.

From my practice:

On my project, there was a problem with a developer who was very behind on the estimate. After talking with him, I realized that the problem was that the developer did not have enough experience in estimating, but the main reason was that he did not communicate in a timely manner that he was not meeting the deadlines. Together with the technical lead, we introduced a rule that each developer, before starting work on a task, must make sure that he agrees with the assessment given for this task earlier, thus we removed the argument “I was not the one who assessed this, the assessment is incorrect.” I also additionally conveyed to each team member that reporting that they do not risk missing the estimate is normal and the developer will not be punished in any way for this. Together with the team, we discussed what we could do to increase the accuracy of task assessment: sufficient decomposition, an unambiguous, understandable description of the task, discussion of the implementation plan at the assessment stage, review of progress at daily stand-ups, and so on.

How to avoid conflicts?

Disagreement and disputes destroy the team, mutual respect, and hierarchy from within. They may entail:

mass layoffs. There will be a need to search for and train new personnel;
erasing set goals and corporate principles;
reduction in overall staff productivity;
tense environment, which may negatively affect the quality of customer service and services;
decrease in the authority of the management team of the online store;
clarifying relationships during working hours.

A dispute between two people will sooner or later divide employees into two warring camps; the staff may take up arms against one or more colleagues. Everyone will forget about work, focusing on solving personal issues. We bring to your attention several methods, the use of which will help prevent the situation from heating up .

Group trainings

The training can be carried out independently, the second option is to involve a professional psychologist. The main goal of such classes is to develop the best business qualities:

corporate unity;
understanding the goal;
professional identification;
understanding;
the ability to smooth out tensions that arise during the business process without involving management;
increasing self-esteem, understanding one’s role in the team, which is necessary to prevent internal disharmony;
cultivating a sense of respect for colleagues and the management team of the online store.

It is recommended to attend business trainings at least once a month. Group anti-conflict classes – once every 3-4 months. As a result, employees will learn to communicate both with each other and with customers. There will be an increase in labor efficiency and a simpler perception of the most difficult work moments.

Creating a favorable atmosphere

Everyone should feel comfortable – from the harvesting machine operator to the TOP manager. Provide staff with accessible benefits necessary to successfully complete assigned tasks:

individual workplaces with systems for storing documents and personal belongings. Consider installing table dividers to create a sense of privacy;
a sufficient amount of office equipment and stationery;
arrangement of an autonomous catering unit. If this is not possible, then it is worth concluding an agreement for the delivery of hot lunches to the office.

Pay attention to organizing events dedicated to public holidays and dates that are significant for the online store. Measures for improvement depend on the policy of the online store, material capabilities, and characteristics of the workforce. You must do everything possible to ensure that the staff focuses on performing their immediate duties, and not on solving everyday issues.

Careful selection of personnel

Professional selection of employees is the basis necessary for proper business development. You can search for frames yourself by doing this:

post a vacancy on the Internet;
study the resumes of specialists who are currently looking for work;
arrange an interview;
contact government employment centers.

If you do not have time to select employees yourself, then entrust this task to professionals by contacting a recruiting agency . Representatives will select worthy candidates, monitor the process of their adaptation, and replace employees if necessary.

Choosing the Right Leadership Style

The choice of management style depends on the situation in the services market, the amount of work, and deadlines. The most effective is the use of a mixed style. Combining will allow you:

build a clear hierarchy;
earn the respect of colleagues, gain a reputation as a strict, but honest, principled manager;
distribute resources wisely;
prevent destructive disputes that develop into long-term confrontation;
set a good example for staff.

When providing leadership, do not forget to listen to the employees of the online store and approve of their initiative . Don't be influenced to only make decisions that satisfy business process needs.

Horizontal conflicts

“Horizontal” conflicts are the least formalized; they arise between employees, often of the same department, or between departments and divisions or specialists of the same or different areas. To such conflicts, the employer is forced to take an “individual approach”, since except for cases of direct harm to employees (the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and material damage to the organization (Articles 21, 239, 241-243 and 247-248 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), they are not regulated no way.

Sometimes “horizontal” conflicts easily develop into “vertical” ones: the employer is responsible for the employees, and they look to management for help in resolving the conflict. And, conversely, a conflict between an employee and management may lead to a change in the attitude of his colleagues towards this employee and lead to a “horizontal” conflict.

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Employee motivation as a key factor in conflict prevention

Motivation is an effective method of influence that forces employees to fully concentrate on completing assigned tasks. Motivation can take different forms:

material (cash bonuses, valuable prizes in the form of equipment, travel around the country for, for example, manager of the year);
career, aimed at accelerating the path from junior consultant to leading manager;
professional, which involves attending trainings, webinars, foreign business trips to exchange experiences through the online store.

There are many types of motivation, but monetary incentives occupy a leading position . When implementing it, follow a number of tips:

introduce a flexible bonus system, do not forget about fines for malicious neglect of duties;
give bonuses for extra efforts, exceeding the plan, initiative, which have a beneficial effect on the profitability of the business.

Make a careful calculation. Motivational bonuses must be worthwhile, otherwise profitability will go negative.

Causes of conflicts

The work team is selected spontaneously. First of all, the professional skills of the employee are important. Personal qualities come second. This is why employees cannot always find a common language and maintain normal relationships.

The main reasons for disputes at work:

differences in culture, status, level of power;
illiterate and unclear tasks;
violations of management principles by managers;
poor attitude of superiors towards subordinates;
psychological incompatibility of employees;
lack of an objective system for assessing the success of work;
differences in professional goals;
different salary levels;
the importance of each employee to varying degrees;
distortion of information (rumours, gossip), etc.

In many ways, the microclimate in a work group depends on the leader. His task is to create a cohesive team built on trust and respect.

Otherwise, there will be tension and misunderstanding in any work situation.

Let's sum it up

The manager is obliged to prevent disagreements, otherwise there will be a gradual destabilization of work processes. The situation can be successfully resolved only if all its structural components are eliminated.

Constantly monitor the staff, use the services of a psychological consultant, avoid excessive harshness in communication, and do not take sides in the event of an open conflict situation. Using the above methods, you can resolve any dispute while maintaining your authority and peace of mind in the team!

Types of behavior in conflict situations

Some people keep social distance. They practically do not make contact, and accordingly, in conflict situations they can take a neutral position. Such employees do not understand why they should waste time and energy on others, so they direct it into work. Any conflicts are considered meaningless.

Another behavioral strategy is aggressors. Most often, it is they who provoke conflicts, fiercely defending their interests. They completely refuse to take into account the reasoning of others. By temperament type, aggressors are choleric. For them, conflicts, quarrels, scandals are energy recharge.

Characteristics of aggressors:

do not get pleasure from work;
the main goal is to receive a salary and increase personal income;
productivity is low, because they are often distracted by extraneous matters.

Another participant in conflicts at work are intriguers. They compare their salaries with those of others. If their income is lower, envy appears. The victim is ridiculed and reproached. Any manifestation of humiliation on their part brings great pleasure. Promotion, transfer to a better office, a separate office and other successes cause irritation and hatred among colleagues.

Professional conflict due to jealousy

The oppositionist is the boss's favorite. Few people notice him, but he watches everyone. He knows all the details of his personal life and work issues, which he reports to management. Such a person is not liked in the team and they are trying to “survive”. He does not build friendly relations with anyone. Does not enter into conflict situations, otherwise remains silent and neutral.

Consequences of conflicts

Most often, conflict has negative consequences. But there are situations when it has a positive effect on all parties to the dispute. First, it allows you to identify a diversity of views, learn the peculiarities of thinking and opinions of colleagues. It provides useful additional information regarding the cause of the conflict.

Consequences of conflicts that were promptly resolved and eliminated:

Employees feel involved in the team and in the discussion of important work topics. They feel important. In the process of solving a problem, hostility and injustice are eliminated.
Employees become more cooperative. They develop their own position and strategy of behavior. They understand how not to behave so as not to become the initiator of another quarrel.
Reduces the likelihood of groupthink. Employees learn to express their opinions tolerantly and competently. In the process of discussing a conflict situation, they learn to respect each other.
But if the conflict is not resolved immediately, the outcome will not be very happy. A person will form a certain opinion about the other participant in the dispute, as an enemy and adversary. He will perceive his decisions as correct and logical, and the actions of the other side as absurd and stupid. Subsequently, such an employee will become self-centered and will react negatively to other people's suggestions and ideas. It is especially dangerous if this person is a boss.

Ordinary member of the team - team

But not only his boss, but also an ordinary employee can conflict with the team. There are also several reasons for this.

Conflict personality

Some people provoke conflicts always and everywhere. They always don’t like something, they always have a lot of complaints about everyone around them. This is a character trait.

If such a conflicted person does not find a common language with colleagues over time, it is better to exclude him from the team. Yes, you may lose a good specialist, but in a favorable working atmosphere other employees will become much more effective.

Between a close-knit team with synergy and one strong but conflicting employee, it is better to choose the first.

Responsive aggression

Reactive aggression is the transfer of indignation from an object that causes negative emotions to colleagues. For example, one of the employees was deprived of his bonus and now he is taking revenge on everyone around him for this, although no one but himself is to blame for this.

To eliminate respondent aggression, you need to teach employees not to take out their personal grievances and resentments on their colleagues, and also give them the opportunity to release their emotions. In some offices, for example, there are special rooms where you can break dishes, etc. But, of course, you can get by with simpler means, like a punching bag. Let employees take their anger out on something inanimate.

Inability to work in a team

But some people simply don’t know how to work in a team, fail to cope with their tasks and let their colleagues down. Some may even deliberately violate group norms, which, of course, will cause resentment. There are three ways to solve these problems:

Improve the overall qualifications of the employee. To help him cope better with his tasks and interact more productively with the team, team building exercises may be useful.
Isolate an employee. Make sure that the team does not depend on him. Perhaps he can work well alone.
Fire an employee. If the previous two methods do not help, then, unfortunately, you will have to refuse the services of a non-team player.

We strongly recommend that you take the free Team Building course. Make all team members team players.

Inconsistency between internal attitudes and employee status

If an ordinary manager takes on the role of a leader and begins to pull the blanket, this also provokes conflicts. Confusion begins, the team is divided into two parts: some reckon with the official leader, and others with the informal one.

But even if no one listens to such an “ordinary leader,” such attitudes prevent him from performing his tasks well. Everyone must perform their function.

However, it also happens the other way around: the leader begins to fade away and shift responsibility to others, avoiding his direct responsibilities. This dooms the team to failure and an endless search for those to blame.

What to do? Clearly define the work status, rights and responsibilities of each employee, and ensure that no one goes beyond their role.