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How to Help Your Employee Handle Issues With Co-Workers

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Published: 17Jul2009
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Unless you have been working alone all your life, you realize quickly that not all people get along with each other. In managing employees, you have or will get the opportunity to run interference between two employees who are in conflict with each other. There are endless reasons why people challenge each other, and you are required to develop conflict resolution skills in order to diminish internal squabbling. We can't make everyone look and act the same but we can help employees learn to deal with differences in the workplace.

If the issue is performance related such as not providing a co-worker with the right information, then you need to handle this differently. The type of issues addressed here is not performance related, but rather difference styles in performing their work and interacting with each other.

==>Examples of workplace issues

**Employees interrupting others while they are concentrating on a project. People have different work styles...some need to interact more; others need to focus all of their attention on what they are doing. This is a common issue within the workplace.

**Competitive issues where employees will try to undermine the other's performance.

**Physical space - Keeping space clean...each person has different comfort levels around mess. In a cubicle, there are "neatniks" and "messies," and those styles irritate each other.

**Food in the cubicle....some people are sensitive to different smells

**Borrowing other's supplies, without asking.

**Playing music - employees have different types of music.

**...and many more irritations that employees struggle with that reduce productivity in the workplace.

==>What are your employee's responsibilities?

Employees have the right to work in an environment that enhances their productivity. At the same time, employees need to recognize that they will not get along with everyone and can learn how to solve their problems. They can't just come with the complaint and expect you to solve the issue for them.

There are numerous solutions to the same problem. For example, what if someone plays music in the cubicle and it interferes with an employee's ability to concentrate on their work.

**Handle the situation as soon as it surfaces as an issue for them. The longer they wait, the more frustrated they will become, and their emotions will block their ability to resolve the issue.

**They can present the issue to the other person in the "I" format. I have difficulty concentrating when the music is on. Maybe music helps you think but it breaks my concentration. How can we resolve this issue since we are both in the same cubicle?

**Ask if they can use "headphones" to listen to their music.

**If they are reluctant to speak to the other person, if possible, they can take their work to an open cubicle or the cafeteria.

**They can ask to swap cubicles with others whose style of working is more complimentary to them.

**Speak with the manager.

==>What can you do!

Employees may have to work with others they don't like...how can you help them understand their role in the dynamics and help them build their problem-solving skills.

You can't control every situation but you can be proactive in helping co-workers get along. Create some "getting along" policies. Open workspaces is common now and employees on more on top of each other. Most conflict occurs because of misunderstandings and assumptions about the other person's intentions. Providing employees with guidelines or etiquette in working together helps minimize many smaller workplace issues. Create a small committee to come up with some common issues and how to deal with them in the workplace.

When managing employees, it is helpful to understand how each of your team members deals with conflict. Here again each person has different comfort zones and the more you know about the individual employee, the more you can support them in resolving workplace issues. It's important to handle issues between co-workers quickly because the longer you wait the more embedded the issue will become and the more difficult to help employees change their opinions.

==>Final Note

Workplace respect is the responsibility of both you and your employees. Your role is to provide guidelines and standards for the work environment. Even with the best intentions, individuals don't get along and your role is to help them find solutions to their workplace issues. Strong management skills include the ability to handle conflict within your teams.

Pat Brill is the author of the blog "Managing Employees" http://www.ManagingEmployees.net . You can reach her at pat@managingemployees.net.

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