Ever thought how much energy is wasted when two people in a team fail to get on with each together? Not only that, but their productivity also goes down and the negativity that surrounds them seems to rub-off on everyone else.
Sometimes finding solutions to problems such as these requires the skilled intervention of expert counsellors but often there is much that can be done before we get to this stage.
Ask yourself these questions:
How clear are your GOALS? (…to every single person in your business)
When there is a lack of leadership for change in a business, people naturally find it difficult to prioritise their actions. Decision-making amounts to ‘best-guessing’. A lack of clear objectives leads people to direct themselves. This invariably leads to a conflict of purposes and who’s right in all this? Everyone I guess. But everyone could also be wrong!
How clear are the ROLES that people have?
When an organisation is clear about its purposes it usually finds it easier to determine what needs to be done in pursuit of its objectives. It is then easier to define who will do what to achieve these objectives.
Imagine what it would be like if were not clear who does what… some roles duplicated; lots of gaps in the work that should be being done… a touch of chaos!
Examine your PROCEDURES and SYSTEMS. Do they ‘enable’ or ‘control’?
When people are clear about their roles and their goals it is much easier to set up processes which help people to do their jobs. Some systems in organisations seem to be an end in themselves. They waste time and detract from effectiveness in lots of ways. They force people to play by the rules or to rebel against them (if they’re perceived as petty or worthless).
Systems should pass the test of asking employees if they feel better off with them or without them. Make sure your systems enable your people to do what they need to do. So…
If you are not happy about the way you have answered these questions, then ten-to-one you will have unhappy people around you and your teams will suffer from some sort of dysfunction. There may well be a ‘chemistry’ problem between two people (which can be addressed separately) but a lot of what might cause conflict can be eradicated if you can sort out your organisational problems under the headings above.
Go on – you know it makes sense!