What's your reaction & decision(as manager ) if two of your team work fight in work area?

The direct method: focus on the team leaderStrengthen the team rulesFind a mutual solution to the satisfaction of all partiesNegotiation offers the flexibility to respond to such confrontation and lack of deploymentAnalysisListensolving problems

What the Experts SayWhether or not you get involved will depend on how enmeshed you are in the situation. If either person approaches you to complain or to enlist your help, you have to respond in some way. And while you may not be their manager, you have a responsibility to make sure work gets done. “If it’s getting in the way of teamwork, then talk to them,” says Anna Ranieri, a career counselor, executive coach, and coauthor of How Can I Help?.

But intervening is not always a straightforward prospect. “Peer-to-peer conflict is often fuzzy,” says Roderick Kramer, a social psychologist and the William R. Kimball Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. It’s not always clear who’s responsible and you may not know what to do. “People often find themselves in over their head. They think they can intervene, make suggestions, feel good about themselves, and move the conflict forward in a constructive way. But that’s not always possible,” says Kramer. Here’s how to respond next time you find yourself in the middle of a coworker battle.

Allow ventingIt can be hard to listen to people complain but sometimes that’s exactly what they need. “Allowing colleagues the space and time to talk it out is a real luxury in workplaces,” says Ranieri. “People often just want a safe place to vent and in doing so, may figure out on their own what they want to do.” Kramer agrees: “There are times that people are just frustrated and need to express that. Venting isn’t an effective long-term strategy.  “Encourage people not to get caught in the trap of venting, ruminating, and gossiping about the situation,” says Kramer, because that won’t move things forward. “But there’s nothing wrong with tolerating a few complaints in the short term.” If you’re worried that by hearing one person out, you’ll upset the other (on small teams, it’s often obvious who’s talking to whom) make an effort to get both sides of the story. “At a minimum, you should keep a cordial relationship with the other person, but a better strategy is to demonstrate that you’re fully open to all your colleagues,” says Ranieri.

EmpathizeWhile listening to your colleague, show that you understand how hard the situation is. You can say, “I’m sorry this is happening,” or “It’s tough when two people can’t see eye to eye.” But you don’t have to — and shouldn’t — take sides. “Don’t endorse one person’s point of view,” says Ranieri. Stay neutral instead and speak from your own experience. Offer observations like, “It seemed like Jane was stressed out and didn’t mean what she said,” or “I know that Joe is a direct person and can sometimes come off as harsh.” The key, Ranieri says, is to “show that you know where your colleague is coming from but not go as far to say, ‘You’re right and he’s wrong.'”  If you’re being pushed to choose a perspective, make it clear that you won’t: “You seem hurt but I can’t take sides because I have to work with both of you.”

Explain the impact of their fightingAfter you’ve demonstrated your concern, make clear how the fighting is affecting the team. Ranieri suggests something like, “You two not getting along is hard for everyone and it’s preventing us from doing good work.” Help both parties see how the skirmish is hurting others so they are motivated to do something productive about it.

Offer advice cautiouslyBefore you give your two cents, ask your coworkers if they want your help. “We tend to offer unsolicited advice because we think we know better,” says Ranieri. But people might not want your opinion, so start by saying something like: “Would it be helpful if I suggested some ways to work this out?” Remember too that your particular perspective may not be helpful. “Maybe you’ve been through a workplace fight and the way you resolved it worked for you but it may not work for this situation,” Ranieri explains.

Problem-solve togetherIf your colleagues do want your advice, focus on making observations about what they might do, rather than concrete suggestions. Kramer suggests you think with each of them, or just the person confiding in you, about all the possible options and lay out a decision tree. “You should be more in problem-solving mode than gossip mode and together you can decide on the right intervention,” he says.

 

Broker a détenteDon’t rush to sit them down together, however. “Getting people into a room and letting them duke it out is not responsible,” says Kramer. “There are likely be asymmetries in their power or their abilities and you risk causing further damage to the relationship.” Of course, if the conflict has reached a crescendo — perhaps people are yelling — then you may have no option but to pull them into a meeting and quickly get to the root of the problem.

Beware resistanceRanieri points out that there are some people that can’t and won’t be helped. She says that psychotherapists call these “Yes, but” clients. “Yes, I could approach Jane but I think she should approach me first.” “Yes, I want things to be better, but that will never work.” So despite your best attempts, you may not see progress. If one person insists she’s right or refuses help, it may be time to retreat. In those cases, you can push back the next time she approaches you: “We’ve talked about this multiple times and it doesn’t seem like you’re ready to resolve it, so I guess it is what it is right now.”

Don’t escalateKramer and Ranieri agree that it’s rarely a good idea to involve the sparring coworkers’ boss (or bosses) unless the problem is truly intractable and impeding work. “That would escalate the situation and possibly make one or both people feel like a victim,” says Kramer. Also, once you’ve raised it to other people, you may now be seen as part of the problem in their eyes, though you might consider approaching your own superior for advice as a last resort.

worker: maybe fight or support my friend

supervisor: make report and transfer them to my manager

manager: should be know all facts then take decision as per co. rules

 

Fight, fight, fight! We have all heard that chant at the schoolyards when two kids are about to engage in some kind of a physical altercation. A crowd gathers as shouts and taunts are hurled at the two who are about to make a spectacle of themselves until the teachers come along to break up the mayhem. Unfortunately, some form of this behavior has been known to follow through to adulthood for some who want to fight at the workplace with co-workers. These "hotheads" will bring their tempers and bullying antics to work to pester and even provoke co-workers into meeting outside to settle some dispute that is causing a disagreement at work. These hostile behaviors become an embarrassment to the organization, employees who participate and to the co-workers who find themselves in the position to witness such childish activity. Fighting between employees at the job site brings on a host of issues that management must deal with immediately. When hostile activity goes unchecked, employees are forced to deal with uncomfortable disruptions that prevent them from getting their work done timely.

When two people become involved in a physical altercation that includes weapons, a call should be made to 911. | Source A Form of Workplace Violence

Fighting between two employees should be regarded as a form of workplace violence because someone will likely get injured from the altercation. An argument can escalate from a verbal confrontation to an actual exchange of punches at a fairly rapid speed. In some instances, an employee could turn to a weapon to harm the co-worker. When a weapon is involved, it is very likely that an innocent bystander could be hurt in addition to the party fighting with the co-worker. Managers should immediately contact their security staff and call "911" if a fight escalates to such a level.

After the Fight, Investigate

Once the dust has settled, managers must investigate the matter as soon as possible. Some things to remember while you are reviewing the matter are:

• Conduct interviews immediately - In order to get to the bottom of the matter, it will be important to conduct interviews of those who participated in the fight as well as any witnesses to the ordeal as soon as possible. It will be most important to get input from those who personally witnessed the situation. Those whose job may be on the line (the employees who did the fighting) will need an opportunity to defend him/herself for their actions.
• Review policies and procedures - Since there will be disciplinary actions up to and including discharge for those who participated in the fight, managers should review the policies and procedures manual for policy violations. Some policies are very explicit as to what repercussions would be felt by those participate in a fight. There may details in the policy about disciplinary actions to be handed out depending on whether the fight is physical or verbal.
• Pull personnel files and review for past violations of a similar nature - It is a good idea to review the personnel files of those involved in the fight to determine if this fight was the first offense for both participants. If yes, there may be some consideration given to their length of tenure, good work record, performance history, etc.
• Administrative Leave for those directly involved in the fight - In many situations, it is prudent to place the two employees involved in the fight on an Administrative Leave of Absence. By having the employees on an administrative leave, they will be removing them for the worksite to prevent any conflict with those who must participate in an investigation.
• Hold the employees accountable for their actions - Once all testimony of the participants and witnesses has been reviewed, management will want to work with Human Resources to determine whether the employees should be fired, suspended or disciplined accordingly. There should be some expediency for closure of this endeavor to allow employees to move forward from the unfortunate situation.
• Coordinate professional training for co-workers - In order to prevent another fight from occurring in the workplace, management will want co-workers to move forward in a productive way. Employers often take an opportunity after something negative has happened to educate employees on how to make better choices when it comes to getting along with co-workers and how to deal with difficult personalities.

Employees who fight at work must be ready to suffer the consequences of such inappropriate behavior. When both employees lose their jobs, management is left to pick up the pieces and move forward with the rest of the team who witnessed the unfortunate situation. When both parties to the fight are handled appropriately and held accountable for their actions, the rest of the team will be able to move forward from the fight.

Thanks

Totally agree with answer given by Mrs. Ghada

Agree with all==========================

My immediate response would be use of conflict resolution mechanism win/win mode by initiating debate , each one should perceive his/her worldview openly . That  collaboration works by integrating ideas set out by multiple people, the object is to find a creative solution acceptable to everyone. Collaboration, though useful, calls for a significant time commitment not appropriate to all conflicts. For example, a business owner  or a supervisor should work collaboratively with  his workers or subordinates  to establish good relations, but collaborative activities regarding  two workers at same level should take more open discussion to resolve conflict constructively and avoid mistrust and defensiveness routines. 

What's your reaction & decision(as manager ) if two of your team work fight in work area?

• in these cases

  1-2 worker (same level)

  2-supervisor + worker

  3-your manager and of  worker or supervisorVery straight forward:If after  hearing sessions and a clear objective investigation the above fight has been occurred, no matter who is in relation to whom,decision:  the initiator will get terminated reason: violation of basis working principles, breaking HR policies and not supporting the business and job values regarding team work, discipline, and striving for a positive work culture

1-Sit with both of them , understand their clashes and assigned their         work Individually to avoid more argument between them.

2- Being a Manager I will talk with both of them separately  and understand the reason of fight. Then i will sit with both together to make them understand and sort out the problem for which they were fighting. 

3. There is nothing like that ,My Manger will have a fight with supervisior  or worker . There is always a respect for Manager and Specially till the time i am there it will not not happen

thank you for invitation .................agree with all answers here

First truce

And understanding the nature of the problem

And take the appropriate decision

The right of a person who is at fault