April 2010
Understanding Tension & Conflict in the Workplace
Avoiding Potential Dangers Ahead
If you are like many of the business owners I work with, you are more than ready for the economic recession to be over. You might even be seeing some positive signs of change.
You’ve cut expenses, laid off employees, depleted your savings, maxed out your credit lines while making investments to improve your internal processes and to update your marketing materials and Internet presence. You’re exhausted … maybe even burned out. You may even be wondering when you can sell your business and retire.
I wish I could tell you that after all that, your work is done and you can begin to take advantage of new opportunities. However, I can’t do that, based on what I’m seeing in the people who work for others like you. I’ve been observing (and you’ve probably noticed it, too) tension, frustration, short tempers, conflicts, complaints about what other departments are/aren’t doing, “balls dropped,” and wasted time.
In good times, I’m generally brought in to facilitate team-building workshops, leadership retreats, and strategic planning. But now, many of my consulting clients have asked me to come in to help them with these employee-related problems, because of my background as a business psychologist. What I’ve discovered is that these problems are symptoms, the unintended consequences, of all the changes that have recently been made in their work environments.
I hope you find this month’s newsletter helpful in ensuring your future success!
Gail Schaper-Gordon, Ph.D.
Business Psychologist and
Vistage CEO Group Chair