There comes a time in every small- to medium-sized business when leaders start asking, “how do we scale our team”? While for startups this involves making first hires beyond the core owner / operational team, for established businesses this usually means navigating adding management and executive leadership.

The general trajectory for businesses is three basic steps:

1. They hire the entry-level and technical personnel.
2. They hire those who manage and organize people and workflow.
3. They hire an executive team to oversee forwarding the vision and direction of the company.

Three types of organizations approach their scaling challenge three different ways. Please note that these are categories, and intended as descriptions, rather than prescriptions.

The Models

In 2009 1,500 Realtors attended a 36-hour conference with an industry leader whose specialty was “Business by Referral.”  This man was a superlative presenter, supported by both state-of-the-art technology and a well-honed team. 

About 3:30 on the second afternoon he was taking final questions and wrapping up – and, perhaps, mentally heading out to the airport and his California home. 

Then a person stood up, and said, “Brian, I’ve used your system for many years and you know how highly I think of it.  But I’m really struggling.  It’s a tough year, and nothing seems to have traction any more.  I need you to tell me: What’s the One Thing?  What’s the absolute basic tool to which you always return and which always works?”

His sincerity and earnestness gathered everyone’s concerned attention – and curiosity.  What would Brian say?  And you could see Brian mentally getting back out of the Uber, pulling himself back into the room, and maybe thinking, “Geez, what else can I do?  I’ve poured it all out here these two days, with workbooks and videos and pep songs and breakout sessions….”

But he squared his shoulders, thought for a moment, took a steadying breath, and said,

There are two types of office conflict: communication and emotion. We have all experienced breakdowns in communication whether it is because all pertinent information was not provided, or information is misinterpreted. We have all also experienced those moments when emotions drive decisions and effect relationships, processes, professionalism, and reputation. While no two situations are the same, conflict cannot be denied or painted over. Like a weed, avoiding the conflict will seed more conflict, etc, until you are overrun. Here are a few tips for dealing with conflict in your office culture.

1.) Define Appropriate Behavior.

We all deal with conflict in our own ways as a result of our individual socialization and emotional processing. Feelings are valid and expressing them is a legitimate exercise in emotional and social health. That being said, there is a time, place, and manner and acting outside of certain norms can be a breach in professional/social contracts. For instance, let’s say John and Greg disagree on the best approach for their mutual client. When meeting with their client, they disagree and even argue heatedly. Not only does this put the client in an expectedly uncomfortable social situation, but it also stirs doubt in their mind as to what actually is best for them. The display of discord is very unprofessional, and damaging for the company as a whole.

How can this be solved to avoid the conference room demonstration?

Let’s face it: our communication patterns have changed since the first quarter of 2020. Particularly in the business-to-business sector, the pandemic – and its accompanying restrictions – has disrupted many of the ways we have been accustomed to building relationships. Here at the L M Thomas Group, we had to rebuild significant parts of our sales process starting in March 2020. 

What disruptions have you seen? What have been your solutions?

Let's look at 10 pandemic disruptions to communication and 5 approaches to resolve those disruptions.

Let’s look at some of the disruptions we have seen: