October 2006

Survey: Personality conflicts take up 18 percent of manager’s time

Big companies may have more of them, but even small offices have conflicts among employees. According to a poll from Accountemps, personality conflicts among staff members take up about 18 percent of a manager’s time.

If your practice is conflict-free, count your lucky stars. But if you occasionally have to referee, you may take solace in understanding the problems others confront daily.

Here are the top personnel problems polled managers reported — along with recommended solutions from the temp agency:

• The laugher. This personality type finds everything funny — especially her own jokes. She’s not aware that her voice carries and can be heard many cubicles away.

Solution: Encourage employees to try to keep their voices down during conversations.

• The ghost employee. There’s nothing quite as frustrating as a staff member you can never find. Whether out on official business or not, some people seem perpetually away from the office and turn up only rarely for meetings and group events. These ghostlike characters may not realize they have this reputation.

Solution: Remind the entire staff of the importance of being accessible.

• The cook. It’s hard for people to concentrate on their work when they’re overcome by the smell of someone’s microwave popcorn or reheated dinner. And smells may be offensive to office visitors.

Solution: You don’t need to single out offenders, but mention in team meetings that it’s inconsiderate for staff to fill the office with pungent smells from cooked foods.

• The nay-sayer. This type relishes scaring coworkers — especially new ones—about the hardships of working at your business. “If you think we’ve had it tough so far, just wait ‘til the spring season,” he may be heard to say. Painting the boss as a fire-breathing ogre and spreading other tales of woe are this person’s specialty.

Solution: This is one person you will have to speak with individually about changing his attitude.

While some personality conflicts are serious in nature, even small disagreements can cause friction, according to Accountemps. Managers can reduce office disharmony by being aware of employees with habits that disrupt productivity and nipping problems in the bud.

Source: Accountemps, www.accountemps.com

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