4 Triggers Cause the Majority of Team Conflicts

First-time managers often quantify and track everything their team members do to measure performance. It is confusing as team members don't know which tasks to prioritise and which ones are not measured. Managers may leave standards open to interpretation, which can negatively impact relationships on their team.

• With the company's larger mission in mind, what skills, goals, and outcomes are most important for your team?
• Use a tool like Trello or Asana to help your team members track their tasks.
• Set clear, non-ambiguous standards around how each person's performance is measured.

Misalignment of timing or deadlines may cause conflict between team members. For example, when peers collaborate on a project and one person misinterprets how long it will take their partner to complete a task.

• A helpful strategy is to encourage your team members to track their hours so that they know how long each task will take rather than making assumptions.
• Review your team's trackers weekly and identify opportunities for improvement.

Assuming that someone else is responsible for completing a task may lead to missed deadlines and finger-pointing.

• Create a guide that lays out the expectations you have of your team members, their roles, and assigned tasks. 
• Your guide could include how tasks are assigned, how you communicate with each other, and how customer feedback gets logged and where.
• Keep it simple. Ask your team what they expect of themselves and you and use that feedback as a starting point.