The 15 most frequent problems and conflicts at work

People spend a large part of the day at work, and it is logical that, after so many hours, conflicts can be generated.

Conflicts are normal, but detecting and resolving them is key so that the work environment does not turn into hell, because when we are bad at work our performance, our motivation or our feeling of belonging to the organization are seen affected.

Conflicts at work: which are the most common?

But, What are the most common conflicts in the workplace? What are the most frequent causes of these labor problems? We will explain it to you below.

1. Lack of teamwork

Teamwork is one of the skills most valued by recruiters, because when an employee works as a team, their creativity and learning improves, your stress level is lowered and performance and productivity are increased. However, in cases where workers decide to go on their own and teamwork is not manifested in the company, conflicts may arise.

On the other hand, a very individualistic mentality can lead to mistrust of others, and in those cases situations it is easy to misinterpret certain behaviors and attribute them to the desire to stand out from peers of work.

• To know more, you can read our article: "The 5 benefits of teamwork"

2. Lack of comunication

Lack of communication is another cause that can cause serious conflicts at work, because when an employee or superior fails to communicate (or send the necessary messages) to other workers, problems can appear. Miscommunication can present itself as misinformation or misinformation. In the first case, the information does not arrive; in the second case, the information arrives wrong.

Ultimately, the frictions that can occur due to lack of communication can lead to situations of ambiguity that produces failures and, on those occasions, the inability to know who has made a mistake causes conflicts.

• Related article: "The 10 basic communication skills"

3. Toxic companions

Sometimes, labor disputes can appear without any intention, however, other times, toxic people create a bad environment where they go, especially at work. Toxic companions identify themselves because wherever they step they end up badly with everyone and create conflicts where there are none. They like to go where they are not called, they want to be the center of attention and are usually the typical people known as false and critical.

• Related article: "5 toxic attitudes of coworkers"

4. Toxic bosses

It may happen that it is not the co-workers who intoxicate the work environment, but the bosses, either because of their mismanagement or because of their personality, they make your life impossible. In these cases, you may be at a disadvantage when it comes to resolving the conflict.

In short, toxic bosses tend to be: arrogant and poor communicators, autocratic, inflexible, controlling, and discriminatory.

• Do you want to know more about toxic bosses? Then, click here.

5. Competitiveness

It is common for many companies to pay their employees based on achievements. And while some companies distribute commissions among team members, others reward employees. individually: depending on the sales or the objectives set, it is a person who receives the commission. This type of incentive can cause friction between workers, since the competitiveness that is created brings with it conflicts between workers.

6. Love relationships

Co-workers may have an affair, which doesn't have to be negative. Now eIn some situations, love affairs at work can lead to conflict. Love relationships can arise in the work environment as in any other place, but, to avoid conflicts, it is necessary that they do not interfere with work.

7. Colleagues who do not work well

And of course, when a partner does not perform as she should, conflicts can appear. When someone does not do her job well, it will end up interfering in yours, and possibly, it will make you have to do hers and work more. Businesses and organizations are dynamic systems, and a delay in the deadline to deliver a project can cause the entire general functioning of this "living organism" to suffer. Nobody likes to work twice as hard.

8. Prejudice (machismo / racism)

Prejudices are a source of conflict in different spheres of life, and also at work. Colleagues who do not tolerate people from other parts of the world or with another skin color, bosses who treat their employees in a macho way, and so on. These are cases that can appear in the workplace.

9. Personality clashes

Sometimes the personalities just don't match and the spark jumps at the first few changes.. In personal relationships, conflicts exist day in and day out as well. When such a conflict arises, it is best to resolve the problem as soon as possible.

However, it must be borne in mind that clashes between different personalities are not usually the most frequent reasons why conflicts appear in the company. On the contrary, many problems that are actually organizational and collective are wrongly attributed to the individual characteristics of certain people, since this is "the easy option" when looking for an explanation for what happens (for something it is based on an essentialist vision of the workers).

10. Mobbing

Mobbing, also known as workplace psychological harassment, occurs at work when an individual or several exercise psychological violence in a systematic and repeated way on another individual or individuals. The mobbing can be between employees, from the employees to the superior, from the superior to the employees or from the organization to one of its workers. Not only does mobbing affect job performance and cause serious conflict, it also can cause serious psychological problems in the person who suffers them. This is a problem that must be tackled at the root once it is detected.

• You may be interested in these posts: "Mobbing: psychological harassment at work"or"The 6 types of mobbing or workplace harassment"

11. Changes in the company

Changes in the company can generate conflicts of different types. For example, staff cuts can lead employees to feel uncomfortable and unmotivated; or changes in the top management may lead to new policies that are welcomed by employees, especially the most veteran. Ultimately, these disruptions can cause the progress that had been made so far to be truncated until a new readjustment situation occurs.

12. Exploitation

Exploitation by employers can also generate conflicts with workers, for example, if the worker does not feel that he receives fair remuneration or perceives that he is working excessively (more hours than you should) can end badly with the company and others workers.

13. Resource conflicts

Working excessively can be due to obligation as in the previous case. But it can also happen that the lack of resources of the company (fewer workers than it should have, a bad personnel management, etc.) make workers conflict with the company or feel stressed and burned.

14. Conflict over values

It may happen that we are very clear about the values ​​of the company and that we like our work very much, so we will perform at an optimal level. But It may be that one of our colleagues does not feel the same as us in this regard. This can cause that, in the case of the latter, their performance is low and they are unmotivated. This can create a bad atmosphere between colleagues.

15. Unclear guidelines

It has already been commented in a previous point that communication is essential for the proper performance of professional work. One type of communication that needs to be considered and handled carefully is unclear guidelines.

Lack of communication in company regulations or in the objectives expected of an employee, can cause what is known as role conflict, in other words, not having a correct idea of ​​what to do or what is expected of a worker. Role conflict creates conflicts between workers and is also one of the most common causes of job stress or burnout.

• Related article: "Burnout: How to spot it and take action"