Don’t let personality clashes reduce your team’s success

Personality conflicts in the workplace are more common than you might think. As a people manager, it’s important that you have the skills to handle these conflicts effectively. Although conflicting personalities can present challenges, there are strategies and steps you can take to minimize the issues these conflicts cause.

Here are some tips for handling conflicting personalities.

1. Start by understanding the personalities of the colleagues on your team. This is the starting point for any successful team leader — understanding your colleagues, how they interact with others, what their work and communication styles are, and what their goals are. To better understand each of your team members:
• Have one-on-one meetings. By regularly connecting with your staff through individual meetings you can understand their personality, get to know their strengths and weaknesses, and determine which roles they may best fill as part of your team.
• Act as a mentor for everyone on the team. Try to be as helpful and encouraging to your employees as you can so that each person feels like they’re making a valuable contribution to the company’s mission.
• Reflect on your own skillset and personality. While it’s important to understand the personalities of your team and colleagues, it’s also important to understand your own personality and leadership style so you can make adjustments as necessary to provide the type of mentorship each member of your team needs.
2. Act quickly and try to mediate where you can. Despite your best efforts, if there are conflicting personalities on your team, there will at some point be a conflict at work. When these problems arise, it’s important to act quickly.
• Don’t let the situation escalate. Work to resolve the conflict between the individuals on your team as quickly as possible and keep the conflict from escalating to a bigger problem with broader workplace implications.
• Mediate between colleagues. Mediation is important to stop any conflicts from escalating. Facilitate a calm conversation between the people involved that allows each person to feel heard. Prompt them to discuss what caused their conflict and how they might be able to come to a mutually agreeable resolution. You may want to get HR involved to provide additional guidance and conflict management support. And of course, ensure that the issue is dealt with confidentially between the parties involved.
3. Focus on the conflict, not the people. This is a very important step in handling conflicting personalities on your team. You do not want to accuse anybody or make them feel like the “bad guy.” And be careful not to take sides. Instead, point out the sources of conflict in an objective way, focusing on the behaviors or actions involved without placing blame on anyone personally. Common reasons for conflict in the workplace, especially among individuals with different personalities, include:
   • Misunderstanding or mismatched communication styles
   • Differing opinions and viewpoints
   • Biases or stereotypes
   • Differences in learning styles
   • Perceptions of unfairness
   From there, shift the conversation into solution mode to get everyone involved thinking collaboratively about options for a positive path forward. Recognize the unique value that each individual brings to the team, and ask for problem-solving ideas that embrace these differences while demonstrating respect for each person’s needs at the same time.

Your team could ultimately be even stronger after experiencing and resolving conflict if you follow these strategies for managing conflicting personalities among employees.