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Resolving E-mail Battles

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: E-mail battles are a common problem in most organizations. There is a cure for this problem. I outline it in this article.

Resolving E-mail Battles

We have all seen the kind of battles that can rage on for days or even weeks in endless strings of e-mails. If you are a manager or leader, how can you coach the warring individuals to take their squabble offline and stop entertaining the rest of the office while simultaneously wasting resources?

The first step is to have people recognize when an e-mail battle is going on. Any time more than three e-mails on the same topic go back and forth between two individuals, it is time to pick up the phone or walk down the hall to resolve the issue off line.

If you were in a leadership position and received copies of warring notes, how could you intervene without causing further hard feelings? How can you maintain or build trust when both parties are going at each other so aggressively? My guess is that any attempt to intervene in an e-mail would increase the rancor. In a case like this, you should get both parties to sit down and state their beliefs as rationally as possible. Depending on the severity of the rift, you would need to assess the depth of the needed intervention. If the problem is caught early, the parties may be able to come to a resolution rather simply. Let them know that it is OK if they agree to disagree. They can still respect one another and work well together, even if they have differing views on a specific topic.

If the problem is more imbedded or has spread to other individuals or groups, serious action will be necessary. This might take the form of some individual counseling followed by serious teambuilding work. It may be necessary to do a complete organization development intervention. The situation and individuals will be the determining factor in any corrective action.

The best advice is to have people in your group self govern themselves on this issue. If you teach people to not "take the bait," you can reduce the number of arguments substantially.

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Article Tags: annoying, argument, battle, email, fight, frustration, office issue, online



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