 |
Make Your Crews Fix Their Own Interpersonal Conflictsby Ron Roberts and Ranger Kidwell-Ross 
You've got a headache on your hands because two of your best employees can't get along. What should you do?Here's the scenario: You've got two guys in your company who are fighting. John doesn't want to work around Mark. Mark doesn't want to listen to John. Their behavior is running off people. Unfortunately, they are also your most skilled workers and you'll have trouble replacing them. What do you do? Well, if I'm in your shoes and I can't split them up, I'd do everything I could to get them to see the BIG picture. Which is: We are all in this together!
Sit these two clowns down and tell them:
"You see, we're all in this together. We all sink or swim together. When you're acting like stubborn little children, it holds all of us back. It takes time and energy away from everyone and hurts all of our pocketbooks. It forces me to spend time keeping the crew all functioning. "That keeps me from hitting the streets and drumming up new work. And, the more time I spend playing referee with you two, the fewer hours you may get. Surely, that's not worth the benefits you guys get from fighting with each other. "So we need the two of you to work your differences out. If you need to approach me separately and privately, great. But you two need to come together and find a way to work together in roles where the work gets done as we need it to. For yourself, for the other employees and for us in the office." After meeting with both of them together, meet with each privately. Explore the issues from both sides. Find out what is running through their minds, then counteract their behavior by focusing them on professionalism, workmanship and teamwork. Appeal to their pride. Help them get over their pettiness. Above all else, get them focused on group success. It's the one theme that almost all people respond to. 
The Road to Success.The thrill of success is very addicting. Try to tap your employees' desire for it. Most importantly, GET THEM TO FIX THE PROBLEM(S) THEMSELVES. When you step in to fix the problem, instead of helping them fix the problem, all you're doing is creating a pattern where you're going to have to step in every time something comes up. You're never going to escape the micromanagement. You'll never be completely free to do what you need to be doing to make your business a success. Your employees need to solve their own problems. They need to become self-managing and mutually accountable. The reality is most workers are drawn to that type of work environment because they're going to be more successful working that way. So, your real goal is to turn them into a self-managing crew. A crew that needs minimal oversight. A crew that gets work done quickly, properly and safely. That's your real goal with your field personnel. Once your crews can take care of themselves, you're off to the races. That's today's message. Focus on creating teamwork amongst your guys and don't let them put every problem back in your lap. Coach them. Working these interpersonal conflicts out is not something that comes naturally to many lower level workers. They tend to be individuals of few words and questionable people skills. Like it or not, you need to be prepared to cover the same ground time time after time. Until next time, best of luck with your business!
Ron Roberts, More information about Ron Roberts' and his company may be found on his website FilthyRichContractor.com. Ron may be reached via email sent to ron@filthyrichcontractor.com. If you have new information to provide on this topic, let us know and we can add it in as an addendum to this article. |
 © 2005 - 2012 World Sweeper and Ron Roberts
|
Ron Roberts, Contractor's Coach Contents
|