This is the fifth in a series based on our manager’s boot camp:
   - Part I: the ten hardest things about managing people.
   - Part II: the principles and tactics we teach in the manager’s boot camp.
   - Part III: the most common obstacles holding managers back.
   - Part IV: partial solutions to the top three obstacles.
Here in Part V, we'll address three more issues in the order of our readers' requests.

(12) My problem is conflicts among team members.
Often you are dealing with “he said/she said” situations. First, you cannot keep track of everybody and everything all the time. But you can be that manager who is all over the details so you are in a whole lot better position to evaluate conflicts when they do occur and make better decisions. Second, if you keep your employees very busy with work, they have a lot less time to have conflicts with each other. And the more focused everyone is on the work they all have in common the more likely they are to cooperate. Third, if you know that certain employees often clash with each other, do what you can to keep them apart working in different areas or on different shifts. Fourth, if this is an issue that happens on your team often, you should figure out why. Maybe you can eliminate or improve aspects of your business process to reduce unnecessary conflict. Fifth, if one or more employees are particularly prone to conflicts with other employees, you need to include this issue in your regular coaching dialogue with those individuals.

(10) The problems with my employees are intangible, like bad attitude.
First, if you want to see a bad attitude get much worse, try telling someone with a bad attitude that he has a bad attitude. Don’t. Anyway, it is rarely much help to “name” a behavior if you are trying to get someone to change it. Second, make the intangible more tangible by describing the behavior in as much detail as you can. Break it down. Spell it out. Third, you also have to describe the intangible behavior you want to see instead and therefore make it more tangible as well. Fourth, with seemingly intangible behavior, it often helps a lot if you have a simple and clear way of connecting the behavior with concrete work outcomes. With some persistent coaching, you can actually help someone make a lasting and meaningful change on something like this.

(13) In our company, it’s very hard to fire people. So how do I lose the losers?
You don’t have to fire an employee to get him off the team. Take advantage of the fact that low performers don’t like to be managed closely. Low performers don’t like scrutiny. Low performers don’t like to incur consequences for their low performance. So manage that person very, very closely. Put that person under a huge amount of scrutiny. Do everything in your power to impose consequences (however slight) for the person’s low performance, every step of the way. Have you ever shined a bright light under a big rock? The vermin scamper away fast. If you shine a bright light on a low performer, he will usually start looking around for a way out. He’ll go manager shopping---shopping for a manager who will leave him alone. He might move somewhere else in the same organization and that is no favor to the organization, but at least it solves the problem for you. Of course, you should hope he finds a new job working for your competition.