Dear Reader

Have you ever been in a situation when you just can’t get along with a colleague? Or have you ever tried to manage two people who were incapable of working together...it’s not easy!

I’ve been around for long enough to see the effect conflict can have on a working environment and the people involved. As a manager, you must encourage a degree of healthy conflict, but you must control destructive conflict.

Here are three quick tips to do this...

3 quick tips to minimise destructive conflict

Tip #1: Train for improvement

Send individuals or groups for training, team-building, counselling, or leadership skills development.

Tip #2: Set a higher goal

Set an ambitious target which will encourage people to redirect their energies away from current issues, and be forced to put aside internal differences.

Tip #3: Change the game

Restructure the operations, move people and teams around, transfer individuals, appoint new leaders.

Offer to put employees through an aptitude test to identify leadership qualities and send the best candidates for training to become supervisors. That way, the pressure on the supervisor from the more ambitious crew members will be reduced.

I mentioned above that healthy conflict is a good thing…

Encourage employee conflict!

Yes, you read correctly. Healthy competition and rivalry between employees isn’t a bad thing...it can get the best out of them!

Until next time...

Sarah-Jane Bosch
Managing Editor
Labour Law for Managers and Practical Guide to Human Resources Management

P.S. I really hope you’ve booked your place at the most valuable Health and Safety conference that’s on this year. I have it on good authority that seats are selling like hot cakes, and places are limited! Book now, or send this link to the person responsible for health and safety in your company to make sure they don’t miss out.

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