Website design By BotEap.comAs the landscape in this industry becomes increasingly competitive, turf wars break out, often within organizations, and disruption adds to the downward spiral of sales and profits. If you are experiencing turf wars at your company, identify which combination of the following six causes you need to address immediately.

Website design By BotEap.com1. Insecurity

Website design By BotEap.comWhen a person feels insecure about their position, skill level, or job security, their insecurity will cause them to create a turf war. The insecure manager or salesperson will be quick to blame other members of his team for mistakes. This person will appear to have a “victim” mentality and is always the worst part of something that “just happened”! He will be constantly defensive about his decisions and will be very protective of his territory not wanting any help or encroachment (as he sees it) into his area of ​​responsibility. Finally, the insecure person will lash out, causing a major distraction to your other employees who will get sucked into the drama about him. The entire organization suffers as a result.

Website design By BotEap.comIf you see a turf war unfolding around a person you identify as insecure, the best way to calm them down is to take control of the situation. First, have a policy that “we’re a team and we help everyone get better by sharing knowledge, information, and support.” As the manager who creates this mutual assistance work environment, she is telling everyone that there are no sacred cows in her department; she is not interested in anyone trying to be the lead dog, because this is a team approach. If you are consistent with this expectation, turf wars will be reduced to a minimum. Also, sit down with this person to see what is going on in their life that may be causing this insecure reaction. Has his wife lost his job and is there increased pressure on him at home to perform financially? He is sailing himself? Has he given up because he no longer believes that he can compete? Coach this person through their insecurities and you will not only be a better employee but you will also remove the catalyst for turf war.

Website design By BotEap.com2. Changes in leadership

Website design By BotEap.comEvery time there is a change in leadership, employees go back to the animal-based programming deep in their DNA and try to determine the new “alpha.” The new leader will bring unfamiliar skills and expectations, and everyone wants to take a positive first step and take the opportunity to scale up the group realignment. In some cases, people may feel they were passed over for promotion and create a turf war with the incoming leader.

Website design By BotEap.comThe most difficult step for any manager entering a new position is being assertive enough to establish alpha status without shutting everyone down in the process. It can be even more complicated if that new person is promoted from the current staff of employees. As the new leader, it is best to call a department meeting and address these issues by making your expectations very clear, explaining his work style, and “taking the elephant out of the room” by addressing the reordering and positioning that is occurring. Talk to him up front.

Website design By BotEap.com3. Lack of resources

Website design By BotEap.comIn a downsizing environment, there is a scarcity mentality that will make people feel threatened. That threat makes them protectors of what they perceive as theirs, in other words, they begin to protect their territory. A scarcity mentality breeds protectionism and makes people play not to lose rather than play to win. Sellers focus on holding on to what they have rather than exploring new opportunities, which only perpetuates limited resources. Lack of resources also poorly prepares and equips staff to create additional resources. If training is reduced or eliminated, or if salespeople are not continually updated with technology to stay competitive with the competition, it will lead to panic and the aforementioned insecurity.

Website design By BotEap.comAs a friend told me, there is a difference between being poor and being broke. The difference is the attitude. Poor is a perception that this situation will not change, so measures must be taken to survive. Bankruptcy is an attitude that believes that lack of resources is a temporary condition that will soon go away with good decision-making focused on the long-term benefits of short-term sacrifices. When faced with a lack of resources, be sure to focus on the overall long-term benefit and keep a positive approach. No one would consider cutting off their left leg a good way to lose weight, so why do that in your business?

Website design By BotEap.com4. Internal Competition

Website design By BotEap.comIn this country we love our sport. We use sports analogies in business, we compare athletic heroics to the performance of individuals in the workplace, and we try to create the same kind of competitive environment that we believe leads athletes to greater heights. The flaw in this logic, as any coach or team manager will tell you, is that internal competition between players can cause the team to suffer at the expense of star attention. The competition is outside the organization on a global playing field; internal fighting only gives the opposition a chance to get ahead. Internal competition among sales staff will cause people to lose at the expense of their teammates. Sabotage, misinformation, and lack of support will lead to turf wars, and the biggest loser in this scenario is the business.

Website design By BotEap.comIf you want to create internal competition, it must be based on self-improvement. Have people compete against their own individual goals, as opposed to others in the sales force. With this type of contest there may be more than one winner. If the team fits together as the executive can only hope, they will help each other so that the whole team achieves their personal goals. Everyone wins, especially the company, as long as they set the goals correctly.

Website design By BotEap.com5. Bad communication

Website design By BotEap.comYou would think that with advances in communication technology we would have eliminated communication problems, but they continue to be the leading cause of business problems, lost profits and turf wars. Miscommunication can be withholding of information, incomplete information, or inaccurate information. Some poor communications are unintentional and some are intentional. “Knowledge is power” can be misconstrued by those fighting a turf war; Withholding information makes that person feel more valuable if he or she is the one who has the answers at the expense of other employees and the company.

Website design By BotEap.comThe new business model is the Fish Bowl model, clearly for everyone and without hidden information; everything can be seen and is out in the open. The Internet is eliminating privacy with the vast amount of information we have at our fingertips, both personal and professional, and the faster businesses embrace that model, the faster information can be shared and the better communications will be. Today’s technology allows the information-sharing process to happen faster, but the key to improving communication between employees and eliminating turf wars is setting the tone of the opening.

Website design By BotEap.com6. The Dog Fighting Manager

Website design By BotEap.comWhen I got out of college as a textile manager trainee, I heard about an organization that would hire a lot of college grads and literally have them standing by the walls of the plant waiting for another shift supervisor to make a mistake and lose their job. , creating the opening for the new employee. The pressure was insane and the revolving door and supervisor burnout was the end result of this type of turf war. If you are a manager who has ever uttered the words “Why can’t you be as good as him?” or “You better pull yourself together or you’ll be looking for a job” or “How can you let that guy beat you? You should be beating his numbers all day” then you’re a dogfight manager. A dogfight manager enjoys pitting one employee’s performance against another and then sits down for survival of the fittest. It’s a mandated turf war, and no one likes to work under those pressures.

Website design By BotEap.comAs the manager resists the comparison of the employees. Everyone brings different skills to the team, and you are there to train them and help them create the best team. Focus on the individual development of each member of your staff to make them better at what they do and grow in their skills and abilities. Instead of comparing the best and worst of your sales team, why not use the best as a mentor to the employee who needs the most development? Unless you have established internal competition for compensation, the mentor employee will appreciate the recognition and your team will be strengthened.

Website design By BotEap.comTurf wars can cause so much disruption and drama in a company that everyone becomes more focused on the internal soap opera and less productive. Take a look and identify the causes of your turf war. Identify them, fix them, and watch your profits increase.

Website design By BotEap.comRussell J. White, international speaker, author, and consultant, is president of Russell J. White International and founder of The Edgewalk Institute. His cutting-edge thinking helps companies with strategic planning, brand building, leadership development, and growth strategies. He can be reached at http://www.thinkbigguy.com or at 877-275-9468