4 Causes of Conflicts Between Your Customer Support Teams

Unhealthy competition

When there is simply an unhealthy dose of competition, your workplace will always be rife with conflicts. An unhealthy competition between customer support teams means that your agents believe that winning is a zero-sum game: a team only wins at the expense of another.

The situation can lead to a toxic atmosphere where your agents no longer value mutual respect and instead are focused on grabbing whatever rewards are being promised at all costs.

Lack of team spirit

Another source of possible conflicts between customer support teams is the lack of team spirit. When your agents are not encouraged to work together or even reach out to other people outside their teams, they are more likely to form into and stay loyal to their small factions. They are more likely to misinterpret communication or may distrust the intentions of agents from another customer support team.

Vague instructions

Giving unclear communication is also another kindling point between customer support teams. Conflicts usually occur when institutional changes happen or when roles and responsibilities are not well-defined. Your employees will have a harder time understanding not only the instructions but also how to deal with the change or their colleagues' evolving roles.

A clear example is creating a new customer support team that can handle billing concerns and basic technical troubleshooting. Without any clear set of rules that define the extent of the troubleshooting required, the team's agents may face challenges when their colleagues do not completely understand their new job and have unfair expectations about them.

Leadership conflicts

Another cause of conflict is unresolved bickering among people in leadership positions. When this conflict is not resolved immediately, it can spread to the rest of the organization, as the parties involved may not be able to control their words or actions toward each other. Eventually, customer support team members may pick up on the simmering tension and may, in the process, be pushed unwillingly to pick sides.

Harmonious workplace

There is no doubt that a harmonious workplace makes your customer support team more productive and engaged. Do everything you can to prevent conflicts from happening by maintaining great communication, resolving misunderstandings in a timely manner, building healthy competition, and urging your employees to collaborate.