It always starts out small. Maybe your parts manager and your service manager don’t see eye to eye. Perhaps there is a disagreement over an allocation of funds and one manager makes a flippant comment to another. Because of business demands, the issue isn’t immediately addressed. Resentment builds and each manager retreats to his own department to fume, venting frustration to co-workers who become non-consenting participants.
The next time the managers meet, tempers flare, fueled by stored animosity, and more permanent damage is done; the conflict escalates from situational to emotional. Soon, both departments are walking on eggshells around irritable managers. The disagreement has become organic and is devouring productive energy like a storm feeding off warm air.
Owners, managers and employees all are at risk for workplace conflict. The unnecessary drama and emotional noise of unhealthy, unmanaged conflict stifles creativity and productivity and closes lines of communication. Worse still, poor internal conflict management can foster dismal employee-customer interactions that do real damage to your business.
Though often attempted, it’s impossible to create a strife-free workplace. But what people don’t always realize is that you don’t want a ripple-free environment; a healthy dose of conflict actually can be a good thing. If managed properly, conflict can point to organizational bottlenecks and help define areas ripe for improvement. By identifying sources of conflict, finding an acceptable format for mediation and developing new procedures to help employees work together better, a manager can move his or her firm from conflict-ridden to collaborative.
IT’S NOT ALL BAD
It’s generally human nature to avoid conflict and no one wants to deal with hostility in the workplace. But what many managers fail to see is that an overly tranquil work environment can develop into a staid business in which innovation is stifled for the sake of keeping peace.
According to experts in the field of organized behavior and management, when employees are equipped with the right tools to handle it, conflict becomes a highly desirable thing, symptomatic of a progressive work environment. It is energizing and invigorating.
Whether the goal is in to get the parts and service departments troubleshooting together, or to find creative service solutions for fleet customers, all aftermarket business owners want their employees to be better collaborators.
