Down through the years we’ve helped a lot of companies grow sales. As you would guess, many of those companies came to us specifically for sales development help. However, upon further inspection, in some cases what was needed more urgently than sales help was better communication. Better communication with customers, for sure. But also, better communication with their own people. One thing that keeps companies from truly recognizing their growth potential is lack of, or poor, communication. It can be communicating the direction and vision of the company, communicating the role of each individual or simply a misunderstanding of expectations, resulting in conflict. They may not be running on all cylinders because of any or all of these issues. They may be inefficient because there are issues managing and developing people. They may have communication conflicts internally that is keeping them from moving forward. And it’s not necessarily from the top down. We have discovered that some companies have the products, the service and the people talent to make it to the next level, but because of people conflicts the potential is never realized. By learning how to deal with this conflict; by getting out of their own way, this potential can be harnessed. There are some simple things you can do in order to harness this potential.
Have clearly defined job descriptions. If you ever wished that someone working for you did more, maybe the role is not defined well. Cleary define what their responsibilities are today and expectations to how their role may change in the future. Give them your expectations with deadlines. If you give them multiple projects or tasks, give them an idea of the items that should be tackled first, second and third, according to the urgency. Even explain why one is a priority over another.
Have a culture that promotes helping others and encourage teamwork. Match their skillsets to the tasks they handle for the organization and recognize differences in personalities and who best excels at items you delegate. Being clear on expectations and roles is a must if you want to have a winning organization with little conflict.
Cleary state unacceptable behavior. In our own air force, after every mission or test flight, there is a debrief. In that meeting, there is no rank. Rank could cause comments or observations to be withheld by some participants, which could affect lives. Additionally, anything said in the debrief cannot be discussed outside of the meeting. Therefore, if someone disagrees with an assessment or opinion it is immediately brought up in the meeting. Once the meeting has ended, disagreements or discussion behind the scenes is not permitted. This allows for open communication in, and only in, the debriefs. Organizations could greatly benefit from rules like this where communication is open and honest. Gossip, passive aggressiveness and manipulation could be significantly reduced, morale could increase, and a strong culture could be created. Always remember that culture eats strategy for breakfast.
Is it personal or professional? Many times, when we see communication conflict within an organization, it is due to a personal conflict. Whether it is a personality difference, something that rubs you the wrong way about an individual or simply a different philosophy, many take things to a personal level. This, of course, is never good for business. Good companies allow freedom to their people. Good companies rely on the good decisions of the people they hired and trust them to make the right call. When we take things personally, disagree with other’s style, get offended by how people carry themselves, it too creates a problem. Keep things non-emotional and professional and you will have fewer conflicts within your organization.
If in the middle of a conflict involving two people, listen to both sides and get them each to commit to taking ownership for the solution. Additionally, hold them accountable to what they each agreed to do to resolve the issue. So often, poor leaders will take sides, further exacerbating the issue and further driving a wedge not only between the two people, but between themselves and one of the other individuals.
Finally, pick your battles. Some of the best parenting advice I have ever received actually came from a client. Many years ago, when we were discussing raising teenagers he gave me advice that he himself received years prior. It was simply this: don’t overreact. He further explained that many situations will work themselves out without your involvement. My translation for business: pick your battles. Getting involved on every issue, nitpicking over every conflict and making a big deal out of small things that come up can oftentimes get rectified by being patient. The difficult part with this one is to also not allow things to fester for too long. Important issues are not to be ignored. What we are saying, however, is that letting small things lie can allow them to sometimes be worked out on their own.
I hope that some of these strategies helps you resolve conflict within your own organizations. If nothing else, maybe it brings to attention the fact that conflict does happen, even in great organizations. And, that’s ok. Like most problems, it’s not that you have them, it’s how you handle them that separates the great companies from the good ones.