Your team might be great: talented, well-educated, dedicated to the company and its goals.

But, along with productivity and morale, there’s one thing that can really derail a team: conflicting personalities. If Sally and Bob don’t get along, it can send team goals downhill.

So, what should you do when Sally and Bob don’t get along?

How to Manage Conflicting Personalities

There are several conflict resolution strategies you can use.

First, talk to each person to find out what is going on. This is an area where human resources can be called in as well. Be careful not to take sides.

You need to determine what the problem is. What is causing it? It is work related? If it is, it may be about how work is done, whether people feel respected or whether one person believes they are always doing more than another. It could even be because Sally got the promotion Bob wanted.

Or, is it personal? Do Sally and Bob simply not like each other? Does one gossip about the other? Do they have different values to the point where it impacts their teamwork?

Second, once you’ve determined what the issue is, make a plan to resolve it. For work-related issues, do the tasks need to be more evenly distributed? Do Sally and Bob need to be separated more, and is it possible?

Purely personal conflicts can be more complex to deal with. However, stress to each party that teamwork and reasonable collegial harmony are part of your workplace expectations. Co-workers don’t have to like each other, but they should be able to work together.

Third, draw up a performance improvement plan if necessary. Make clear the improvement plan must be followed, or negative consequences may result.

Seek Employees With Good Soft Skills

The other solution, of course, is a proactive one. You can work with a professional recruiting firm not only for a fit of needed skills, but for soft skills that enable hires to be compatible with other employees and good team players.

Looking for employees who have exhibited good teamwork, the ability to manage a wide variety of personalities and even calm temperament can help you have excellent team members in place the next time you need to recruit.

Gainor Staffing can help with all your recruitment needs. Get in touch with us today.