|
|
difficult people
|
Gripes of WrathBy Nicole Harris, The Star-Ledger
Personal disputes erode office morale and wash away corporate bedrocks About five years ago, a small accounting firm in New York was ripped apart by office conflict. An older executive who became too comfortable in his position, and too "wise" to learn new tricks, caused a tone of resentment that swept across the office. And two partners, with different management styles, kept butting heads because they couldn't learn to compromise. Staff meetings would erupt into arguments and communication became sporadic and unfruitful. "It got to a point where I could talk until I was blue in the face and it didn't help," said the firm's managing partner, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It was like an irreconcilable marriage." It's a sad but familiar story. Ripples of conflict in the workplace can quickly turn into waves of un-productivity and poor morale. And at some firms, it can eat away at profits and sales. "On the job, when conflict comes up, we usually sweep it aside," said Meredith Gardner of THE STRATEGIC EDGE, a consulting company that specializes in interpersonal communications. She gets brought in to companies when the heat gets turned up and profits begin to fall down. She was hired to calm the conflict at the accounting firm. "We don't take the time to clear up situations in the workplace like we do in our personal lives because we're just too fast paced." That's exactly what Gardner spends her time helping executives to change; clients like Dun & Bradstreet, Chemical Bank and Prudential Insurance Co. have relied on her expertise in the past. But her work can get pretty hectic. "One client was so emotionally unbalanced that he threatened suicide," she said. In a case like that, she goes directly to management to make them aware of the problem, she said. Her techniques differ with each company. At one firm, she showed a group of executives a clip from the movie "Dead Poets Society". In the clip, actor Robin Williams, portraying a teacher, jumped on a school room desk to teach his students the importance of being able to view something from a different perspective. "Sometimes executives need to look at things from a new vantage point, like Robin Williams did from that desk," Gardner said. At another company, she gave executives a lesson about geese. "This company had problems concentrating on a common vision, so I showed them how a group of geese work together during their flight." "Executives are beginning to realize that they can't do it all. People see me as an outside party who can be unbiased, so I can come in and help out." At the accounting firm, Gardner worked with the account executives for 10 weeks in separate counseling sessions at her New York office. For the older, over-confident executive, she made it clear that he was not above reproach. "He was at risk and he needed to know that," she said. "Companies are not going to keep deadbeats anymore; they're going to get rid of them." The executive also needed to be more open to new approaches within the firm, she said. "I advised him to communicate with other executives. Sometimes people at that level need all the limelight and he had to learn that building alliances with his peers could be helpful." It wasn't easy. The executive was resentful and didn't want to complete the program. Gardner said it took the first few weeks to gain his trust. She also used the first week to get feedback from the human resources department and the executive's subordinates, she said. "Then I helped him understand what other people thought about him. Instead of riding on his laurels, it gave him a chance to look at how others saw him", said Gardner. "In the end, the executive began to see his shortcomings and he became a role model for his co-workers", she said. "During the tax season for that year, he was voted easiest partner to deal with." For the two partners who couldn't get along, Gardner counseled them out separately and together. One partner liked to do things on the spur of the moment and the other was a long-range planner. One was a big-picture person and the other concentrated more on details, she said. "I helped them appreciate each other's needs, each other's responsibilities and how they complemented each other," she said. "By pointing out each other's strengths and helping them to understand each other's limitations, they were able to repair their working relationship." Now office meetings run more smoothly and employees say it's easier to work at the firm, Gardner said. "The counseling brought down the facade or the mental block so we're able to work together. Now there's more productivity and open-mindness about our problems," the firm's managing partner said. But these days, personality differences aren't the only culprits driving office conflict. Gardner said office technology also affects how employees interact in the workplace. "In the computer age, more people are hiding behind their computers and it's tearing down real communication lines," she said. "Executives can't let computers talk for them; they need to be real with their employees." Gardner offered additional steps to deal with conflict in the workplace:
|
back | contact | home THE STRATEGIC EDGE |
top