two women talking while looking at laptop computer

If regular employees end up with conflicts and misunderstandings, the same can happen to the management team. You can’t expect everyone to be on the same page. It’s even more challenging since you’re with a team of strong-minded individuals. Handling internal conflicts won’t be easy. If it’s your responsibility to do so, these tips will help. 

Have private conversations

You can’t expect all problems to get resolved in a meeting room. Sure, it’s professional to invite everyone to discuss what happened and solve it. However, you can expect things to turn for the worse with emotions running high. You don’t want your team to fall apart because of an intense confrontation. You should instead pull these people to the side for a private conversation. You will benefit from it since you can hear the sincere explanations of the conflicting sides. The discussion will also be calm and stress-free. 

Don’t take sides

Your goal is to prevent the conflict from escalating. You’re not there to judge who is right or wrong. You also don’t want to determine whom to remove from the post. You’re talking with people of higher stature in the company. You can’t afford to lose them. They were in the position for a reason. Hence, it makes no sense to take sides as a conflict resolution strategy. You would instead find a way for both parties to reconcile. 

Focus on the areas of conflicts

Ask both sides to tell you what happened and why they can’t agree on an idea. There might be other issues they will throw along the way, but it’s not important. The important thing is to focus on the areas of conflict and solve them. It’s not about behavior or personalities unless it’s the only reason for the disagreement. You will move on faster if you can deal with the main issue. For instance, there could be conflicts regarding the funfair stall for hire for a special event. You can’t veer away from this issue. Allow your employees to focus only on the problem. If there are multiple issues, take things one step at a time. 

Develop a plan

After talking to different parties and understanding the issues, the next step is to develop a plan. You must know where to lead the management team and how to get rid of the problem. You can’t end by understanding various parties alone. You should know how to move things forward and end the conflict. You must also find ways for it not to happen again. 

Hopefully, you can resolve issues within the management team after these steps. You want these people to be productive. They also make big decisions like you. They even handle other employees. If they can’t resolve conflicts themselves, you can’t expect them to do the same with their respective teams. Learn from the experience and use it to deal with future issues. Similar problems could happen in the future, and you will know what to do.