INTHEBLACK June 2026 - Magazine - Page 56
WORK SMART
“It costs employers money, harms workers’
mental health and wellbeing, and impacts
productivity and work performance negatively,”
Brough says.
SYSTEMIC LAYERS
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56 INTHEBLACK June 2026
Clashes with colleagues can arise from
conflicting approaches to work or differing
communication styles.
“Some workers might be very authoritarian
in their approach, and they might not be very
amenable to other suggestions or alternatives
on how to perform a certain task,” Brough says.
“Other workers may be more open to discussion
and reaching a group consensus.”
Personality traits and behaviours can be
misread and misinterpreted, particularly when
considering differences in cultural background
or neurotypical and neurodiverse approaches
to work. Organisational factors can also
contribute to conflict between employees.
“Sometimes it is the system more broadly
that is the challenge and not the personality
at all,” Tansley says, “so, the way processes
and roles are set up”.
Friction can also arise during crises or periods
of high stress and change.
“Particularly in organisations that have grown
quickly where systems have not kept up with
growth, frustration can be caused by poor work
design, poor workflow or a lack of clarity around
who is doing what,” she says. “In these cases,
it is about realising the issue is not about you
and me as individuals, it is about the system
that we find ourselves operating in.”
ACT EARLY
Tansley says assuming “good intent” — operating
with the understanding that most people are
decent human beings who do not wilfully try
to make life difficult for their colleagues — can
take the heat out of a personality clash. It also
makes it easier to view a conflict objectively.
“Do not take it personally,” Tansley says.
“If we assume good intent, we can then look
at what is causing the issue.”
Approaching a difference of opinion with
an open mind can also defuse a potential
conflict. Tansley recommends adopting
a curious mindset.
“Rather than assuming that somebody
is behaving in a particular way because of X, Y
or Z, interrogate the situation by asking rigorous
questions to find out their point of view — not
just your interpretation of it.”
It is also important to approach these
discussions with sensitivity.
“Create safety in the conversation so that
the other person does not feel attacked
and they can understand that you are trying
to get to the bottom of the issue,” she says.
When conflict arises, Tansley recommends
acting early to address it, as “it is almost always
more difficult to deal with an issue later when
it has become more complicated. If you feel like
you cannot because your personality style is
conflict-avoidant, get some help from a
manager or HR. Most organisations have
employee assistance programs that can also
give you really helpful advice on how to
structure a conversation.”
SELF-AWARENESS IS KEY
Self-awareness is a critical element of emotional
intelligence and requires an individual to cast
a critical eye over their own behaviour.
It is easy to find the other person at fault
in a conflict. “We like to think that it is always
the other person,” Tansley says, but that is not
invariably the case. The first step in any
disagreement should be to consider our
own role in the situation. “Ask, ‘how am
I contributing to it?’ Sometimes, we might
unintentionally be making a situation more
difficult than it needs to be.”
Taking a constructive view of difference can
help professionals to appreciate the positives
the other person contributes to the team.
“Rather than thinking that a colleague
is annoying or frustrating, consider what
attributes they bring to a project that you
do not. If a team is made up of lots of mini
versions of one person, we are just getting
more of the same,” Tansley says. “We know
that diversity of thought makes for better
project outcomes, better team outcomes
and better outcomes generally, so the
challenge for each of us is how we lean into
that difference and view it as a positive rather
than a negative.” ■
