Every team leader should know how to appropriately address and resolve conflict.
Conflict is an unavoidable part of owning a business. But when it isn’t handled properly, conflict can disrupt productivity and divide team members. Here are five tips for effectively managing conflict on your real estate team.
1. Define Acceptable Behavior – The first step in managing conflict is to set up a framework within your office to prevent conflict from occurring. As a team leader, you should establish what constitutes acceptable behavior, encourage sound business practices, promote team building and effective communication, and define each job position clearly so that people know what’s expected of them. Every new hire should be given a clear statement of what will and won’t be tolerated.
2. Acknowledge the conflict – Despite your initial attempts to prevent conflict, you may still find yourself confronted with an issue within your team. When this happens, it’s important that you acknowledge the conflict immediately. There is a tendency to ignore conflict, or assuming someone else will resolve the issue, which can worsen the conflict and put a strain on your team. Once you’ve discuss the issue with your team, you can then work to manage and resolve the issue.
3. Listen to both sides – Once you’ve acknowledged the conflict, sit down with the team members immediately involved to discuss what led to the issue at hand. Give each member an equal opportunity to share their side of the story. This allows you to move forward in the resolution process with as much insights as possible.
4. Reach agreement and rebuild – After all positions have been heard, its’s time to find a solution and rebuild. Real estate teams are generally smaller, therefore conflict within the office is likely to affect even those not directly involved. Schedule a team meeting to discuss the impact the conflict is having on team and brainstorm about how you can avoid this conflict in the future. Decide what needs to be done, by when and by whom. Confirm with each team member that they are committed to fulfilling their part in the plan.
5. Celebrate resolution – Build team confidence by celebrating and acknowledging the contributions each team member made toward reaching a solution.
