- Call Each Employee and Find Out Their Side of the Story - Very often the problem is not as big as it seems. When you call each employee, you might stumble upon a different perspective, a misunderstanding, or a misquote that triggered the whole thing. In such a case, a face-to-face discussion in your presence after you learned the facts can clear the air and get things on track again.
- Ensure That It Is Not Harassment - Sometimes the conflict is owed to sexual or other types of harassment. If you feel that the conflict is due to any type of harassment, contact your company's lawyer immediately. Also issue a written warning to the employee that is perceived to be harassing any other on the basis of gender, ethnicity, personal preferences, etc. Your employees should feel safe in the knowledge that you on behalf of the company would not tolerate such behavior.
- Involve the Team - Get your team to work together in resolving the conflict. In most cases two warring employees would not like the attention of the whole team on them, especially when the team starts keeping the score on who is the first offender. Hence, they will take extra trouble to be nice to the other co-worker/co-workers. This is a very effective method when the team is small and close-knit.
- Change the Employee's Team - If possible, move one or both employees who you feel are creating conflict to another team. If not possible, get another person on the team who would dilute the interaction between the conflicting employees. Continue to counsel the employees until the conflict is resolved.
- Teach the Employees to Look at Things Objectively - This takes time, but it is important that everyone under your leadership should know that conflict harms the company. Hence, every employee should strive to do their best to keep conflict to a minimum. When conflict does arise, keep it objective. Instead of blaming one another, focus on what can be done to remove the friction. In time, this would become the culture of your workplace and conflict will be kept at the minimum level possible.
