Getting Your Employees to Get Along Well
21 May 2024
One of the hardest jobs a manager faces is ensuring employees just "get along." Here are some tips.
Your employees' paths will cross throughout the day, whether it's CSRs coordinating with techs, techs working with apprentices, everyone coordinating with the HR and/or payroll department, or employees who happen to pass each other in the hallway. And your employees' ability to get along with each other is critical to the flow of your business. Ultimately, how you manage interpersonal relationships within your company can make or break it.
Here are a few tips for how to help your employees work well together. Don't worry, no trust falls or Kumbaya sessions are required!
Communication from Management.
The way you communicate impacts how your employees get along with each other. There can be friction when employees have different views on who's responsible for what or who's in charge, especially if each manager is giving different instructions. Having clear communication from the top down will prevent employees from making assumptions that can derail a project and lead to unnecessary conflict.
Soft Skills.
In our experience, most issues in the workplace aren't due to technical incompetence but problems with "soft skills" like collaboration, customer service, self-control, empathy, integrity, resourcefulness, or time management. You need to ensure your employees know what it means to "represent the brand" to customers and to each other. Don't just tell them once - reinforce it regularly, and have them repeat it back to you and ask questions so it becomes second nature in how they interact.
Accountability.
When an employee behaves badly, it's management's responsibility to point it out (in a professional manner, of course). This gives two benefits: First, the employee is made aware of the expectations and will either change the behavior, or be prepared to eventually receive a written warning or further consequence if the action continues. Second, it shows your other employees that you won't tolerate inappropriate behavior, building goodwill with your "good" employees and acting as a warning for those who might adopt the bad behavior if they think it's acceptable.
Lead by Example.
Demonstrate the behavior that you expect of your employees. Be polite. Treat people with professionalism. Provide clear communication. Smile! Seeing you behave poorly (even if you're not aware of what you're doing) undermines any instructions you might be giving your employees. There's value in digging into leadership training, self-awareness, or other ways to develop yourself, enhance your personal brand, and become a better leader.
Note that these tips don't just help for those running a company. They work for any level of management (even self-management), and can be useful for parenting, too! Never underestimate the value of good leadership and modeling to help improve the way everyone around you relates to each other.
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