I am guessing that 9 out 10 of you reading this blog will have images of different personalities interacting with each other – with egos being the center of most conflicts. Indeed, everybody is human and sometimes people do bring their emotions into their workplace, into their team environment and/or into a meeting.
However, on an organizational level, I believe that resources – and mostly limited resources – are at the heart of most conflicts. Oftentimes, departments don’t have all of the resources they would like to have to solve all of the issues being faced. Resources can be people, money, and time, as well as tangible materials. Resources span an entire organization.
Authentic and healthy conversations about resources include people stepping outside of their own needs (and department’s) and looking at the overall requirements of the organization or company. Bringing people together to remind them of the mission and overall vision is what ultimately alleviates resource conflicts.
We’ve been experiencing this at PRECorp as we’ve had to cut costs and reduce expenses, like everyone else. But we are now at that stage where trimming more areas really hurts. And if you don’t have buy-in by your staff of the “bigger purpose”, it starts to get really tough when they are competing for resources.
As the leader of an organization, it is your duty to effectively communicate the larger issues that are being faced and how leveraging certain resources is necessary. There will definitely be trade-offs and sacrifices. However, reframing the necessary changes and resource allocations, while also being transparent with your entire organization, is crucial. Resources are then not taken for granted and considered more of a “gift” than a given.
This process helps everyone to feel empowered by the direction in which the company is going and the changes being made. If you can master leading teams in resource allocation, you will indeed become a Leader Worth Following.