How Small-Business Owners Should Approach Conflict

"Is it a 'people' problem or a process problem?"

This is the question my manager asked me on one of my first consulting gigs as a CPA, almost 15 years ago. I was spending several hours a week on-site at a small manufacturing client. During a debriefing session back at the office, I tried to describe for my manager the almost unbearable tension I was witnessing between the sales and production departments.

With the help of a few probing questions, my supervisor helped me suss out that it was a bit of both problems. The sales team needed to hit its year-end targets and was uncomfortably behind. The team had obtained an authorization from management to steeply discount the company's products to create incentive for deal closings, and a green light to promise faster shipping dates. Production was rightfully worried about both the pressure to manufacture profitably and to make looming tight deadlines.

Source: Fool.com