Workplace drama takes many forms and can vary in severity.
Monday morning gossip sessions at the coffee machine. Tensions rising between departments. No one wants to own that error. She isn’t doing enough. He is trying to do too much. Someone dropped the ball. Another took the ball and ran with it – the wrong way.
These are all situations that can lead to conflict over time, or rain down in a shower of chaos all at once. For either, a workplace riddled with drama can damage morale, which affects productivity and retention. Some experts note that conflict in the workplace cost U.S. businesses billions every year.
Drama is born from human emotion, not something leaders can control. The truth is, drama happens, even in the best of teams. But being armed with the right tools and approach can help ease conflict before it becomes out of control.
Be Serious, Be Strategic
Business leaders have many plates spinning at once, and time is often stretched thin. But ignoring drama can be a costly gamble. It is like letting a slow drip in a clogged sink go. The chances of it spilling over the top are much greater than the clog resolving itself on its own.
Finding an approach that fixes the issue rather than assigns blame is key. First, assess how the drama is affecting business.
Is conflict resulting in missed deadlines?
Are clients or customers being affected in any way?
Are human errors occurring due to misplaced focus?
Strategic conversations with employees can help uncover the root cause of drama. Oftentimes, interpersonal issues are the result of unclear expectations, broken communication, or old conflicts that have been building. Identifying the reasons behind the drama can help leaders develop solutions and manage conversations with affected employees much more effectively. The focus should remain on the outcome, not placing blame.
Time for a Reset
You’ve taken great lengths to arm your team with solid, well-qualified individuals. So why isn’t it working? In many cases, workplace drama is less about the person’s ability to perform well and more about a flawed workflow that may need to be tweaked.
Leaders can take what they have learned from conversations with employees and review roles, rules and responsibilities to find hidden gaps in current processes. Redefining responsibilities and expectations may be the answer to diffusing tensions and lead to better communication and collaboration. Invite input and feedback from team leaders when possible.
The goal is to keep everyone on the same page, so be sure that all employees are aware of changes to workflows and keep an open-door policy for others to discuss any concerns or ideas that may improve them.
Stay Ahead of It
Developing a strong strategy to ward off workplace drama will save leaders from constantly putting out fires. Don’t wait for the next conflict to occur to address drama among your teams. Differences in personalities, cultures, and values will always be potential sources of workplace tension, so building a system that reduces drama is likely to save headaches in the long term.
Encourage department and team leads to hold regular one-on-one conversations with their teams. Leaders should make a point to really listen, and if needed, read between the lines to identify if workflows are optimal. If the budget allows, invest in professional development programs that focus on conflict resolution and communication building to equip leaders with the tools they need to optimize those conversations.
Another way leaders can be proactive in warding off drama before it starts is to hold regular debriefing meetings after a big project or even quarterly. Discuss what is working, what isn’t working, and what changes can be made to do things differently for next time. Having employees be part of the solution can go a long way in helping teams work more harmoniously together.
The Bottom Line
A business leader’s job is to manage processes, but he or she must also take great responsibility in setting the tone for how people treat each other at work. Having a well-defined system in place can help.
There is more to successful managing than hanging a mission statement on the wall – it is also the reputation that is built from watching how people behave when things get uncomfortable.
