This month I'd like to talk about a subject that none of us as managers really WANT to talk about - our own role in conflict on our teams. Oh if I had a dime for every time a front line supervisor or lead says, "I know that's the policy but my manager_____________." Yes, that elephant. Being in the position of working with many supervisors and leads, typically in the absence of their managers, I am privy to these stories.  So, consider this a plea to the leaders out there to please, be very clear about your expectations, model the behavior you wish to see and be consistent in your implementation of policy. It seems, just based on the various stories I've been told, that much of the inconsistency in policy implementation by managers which leads to conflict might be situational, at least in the eyes of the manager. In other words, "I know we have a no cell phone policy on the floor, but it's the playoffs/finals/world cup." And so, of course, it's ok to be checking scores, but only that once, right? Here's the problem, those that don't care about the game but maybe DO care about the score of their kid's soccer game see it quite differently. If it's ok to watch the world cup on your phone at work, but not check on your child's high school baseball game, isn't that playing favorites, or at least inconsistent implementation of a policy? In this case, the manager might view the policy infraction as a situational exception, but those who aren't interested might view it as favoritism. What about occasional long lunches, overtime without approval, eating in locations where food is not allowed? All of these things are probably not problematic at the moment that they occur, but the long term effect of having a policy and being inconsistent in your implementation not clearly or explaining it to staff is a first step toward discontent and discord on your team resulting in conflict between you and the team members as well as between team members themselves.

It may not seem like a big deal, but I hear this quite often and it quite often results in destructive conflict. So, please, communicate your expectations, model the behavior you want to see and be consistent in your implementation.