Whether or not you are new to supervising, a heated verbal exchange outside your office between two people in your unit or the slow development of a rift between two workers is a challenging problem you have to deal with. Follow a few guidelines to resolve conflict between co-workers.
Instructions
1. Ask both employees to step into your office. Close your door so other workers cannot hear.
2. Ask the parties involved what the argument is about before things escalate. More than likely, it is not work related. Explain to the people involved that this is a professional office and conflict will not be tolerated. Ask them if they would like time to resolve the issue in your office without you present. Reiterate that physical contact may be a cause for firing and you know they would not come to blows. Give them a time limit of 15 minutes or less.
3. Let them cool off. Just by getting involved you have given them a few moments to cool. Asking them if they want to resolve the conflict without your presence tells them you know they will behave like adults. Usually, they will be able to come to a conclusion. They may not leave your office friends, but they will have come to terms on how they should behave while at work.
4. Remain with them in the process of resolving the conflict if the conflict is a work related issue. Usually work related issues do not involve policy or procedures but may involve gossip in the office, or competition between co-workers. You should provide the company policy regarding the issue and also regarding worker conflict. This should put an end to the conflict. You may need to call a quick unit meeting to clarify with the workers the issue that caused the conflict.
