Management goals commonly include maintaining harmonious work environments that make employees happy and motivated. But how do you achieve this when people don’t get along? “Sort it out on your own” is no longer an option when employees are in conflict. As teams grow and experience turnover, a variety of personalities and experiences become part of the landscape. In other words, conflict between people is inevitable. How do you, the manager, approach disputes between employees?

The answer lies in realizing that how people perceive conflict with others is influenced by many factors, including personality and, associatively, what they have experienced throughout their lifetime.

When you look at your business, is there someone who struggles with others? Perhaps you’ve noticed that what they expect from others is different from what they deliver. Until you think about who you are managing, and then what they have coped with throughout their lives, you’ll be unprepared. This is because how people interpret interactions and conflict depends on what they have experienced in the past—before they met their co-worker.

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