You’ve probably seen it before, when two good staff members who just don’t get on. Here’s how to step in without taking sides or making it worse.
Personality clashes aren’t unusual. They are not always noticeable, but they do chip away at team morale, affect staff performance, and make your job harder.
Here are a few ways to handle personality clashes calmly and professionally:
- Don’t rush to fix the problem: Give it some time and space first, sometimes rushing to resolve personality clashes can make it worse.
- Look for patterns, not just problems: If the same tension keeps showing up in your organisation, there’s usually a deeper issue
- Speak to each person separately: Ask individuals what’s going on from their point of view, don’t start by laying blame.
- Stay neutral: It’s not about who’s right or wrong, it’s about how people work together going forward.
- Agree boundaries, not personalities: You can’t force people to like one another, but you can agree on how they behave at work.
Handled well, these situations can actually strengthen your staff team’s maturity and resilience. Left alone, they only become more of an issue.
