It’s not easy to manage a team when you spend most of your time in the operator chair. If things continue to spiral out of control, you may start to feel less like a business owner and more like a babysitter.
However, the success of your practice depends on the efforts of your entire team, thus effective management of your employees is crucial. Disagreement amongst employees is a common yet unavoidable stumbling block.
If this is something you’ve encountered, how should you proceed?
First and foremost, you should immediately handle any and all personnel issues.
If the office manager isn’t qualified to deal with such situations, I normally recommend that the doctor (owner) speak with them. Don’t let it sit there and grow worse. And if you don’t deal with it promptly and properly, it will just get worse.
Employee disagreements can arise for a variety of reasons, but in my experience, having numerous individuals perform the same tasks or attempt to perform each other’s tasks is the most typical source of tension (this can include providing unsolicited advice to another on how to do their job). This problem can be readily fixed by having up-to-date, unambiguous procedure manuals and policies that define each employee’s responsibilities. There will be no room for debate or uncertainty thanks to the clarity of the instructions provided.
It’s a different story if there’s a personality clash. Not everyone you meet will have the same kind of personality as you. Various people have different personalities. One would hope, however, that people could keep up a sufficient level of professionalism to be able to settle such differences amicably between themselves. When resolving a quarrel between staff members, I often bring up the idea of professionalism as a kind of mediation. This is a work event, not a get-together with old friends or relatives. No matter what their “personalities” may be, you should treat your coworkers with kindness and respect at all times. Though this usually eliminates the problem, there are a few exceptions:
Those involved in the disagreements are discussing the matter with their coworkers.
As a result, rivalries have emerged amongst the various office subcultures. Your company’s handbooks or policies should have a section dedicated to this sort of conduct. Conflicts are inevitable given that no two people are exactly same, but if an employee has an issue with another employee, they can try to fix it by talking to the offending employee directly or they can seek professional help (or office manager depending on the size and organization of your office). You should have a policy in place outlining how to handle situations like this. The goal is to maintain a sociable and dignified setting for work. Additionally, it keeps conflicts from making people uneasy at work.
There is always that one employee whose “toxic” attitude causes friction between them and the rest of the team.
Staff Disagreement? Where Do You Go From Here? It’s likely that at some point in your professional life, you’ve been exposed to a workplace setting like this. As a company executive and team leader, you need to evaluate this situation. It’s possible they’re slowing down the whole team, regardless of how well they know the office or the patients. If this is the case, it might be more efficient to find someone else to fill this position who is both productive and positive.
The staff as a whole must come to terms with the fact that no one is faultless and that we pool our resources and efforts in the belief that we can accomplish more by working together than we could working alone. Members of a team have an obligation to look out for one another, ensuring that they continue to contribute positively to the team dynamic and feel welcome inside the group. If you and your team can achieve this, you should have little trouble with anything large.
