Conflict is not unusual in laboratory teams. Staff members bring different communication styles, work habits, priorities, and expectations into a space where accuracy, safety, and productivity all matter. Some disagreement can even help a team make better decisions. The problem begins when interpersonal conflict moves beyond healthy debate and starts interfering with the lab’s ability to get work done.
Dwayne Henry, instructional lab manager of chemical and biological sciences, has seen how unresolved conflict can affect team progress. In his view, interpersonal conflicts become especially damaging when they are “allowed to hinder the progress of the team” rather than being addressed early and professionally. When that happens, the conflict is no longer just between two people. It can influence meetings, delay decisions, reduce trust in leadership, and weaken the culture of the department.
Lab managers should pay attention to where that line is crossed. The goal is not to prevent every disagreement. That would be unrealistic, and in many cases, unhelpful. The goal is to recognize when conflict has started to affect the team’s work, then step in before it becomes part of the lab’s operating culture.
Do not let conflict become the culture
Henry notes that long-standing conflict can follow people from one committee or team to another when leaders do not address it. Over time, staff may begin to expect tension, side conversations, poor attitudes, or unproductive meetings. Some team members may disengage, stop volunteering for action items, or avoid joining future committees because they do not want to step into a tense environment.
That is where interpersonal conflict becomes an operational issue. A team that spends its energy managing personalities has less capacity to solve workflow problems, improve processes, train staff, or support the lab’s broader goals. Even employees who are not directly involved in the conflict can feel its effects.
Henry also connects this problem to trust. Staff look to leadership not only for direction, but also for help removing barriers to progress. When leaders allow disruptive behavior to continue, employees may lose confidence that management can guide the team through difficult situations. That loss of trust can be harder to repair than the original disagreement.
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Set expectations before problems start
One of Henry’s strongest recommendations is to address conflict management early in a team’s development. The formation stage of a committee, project group, or lab team gives leaders a chance to set norms before tension builds.
This does not need to be complicated. Lab managers can begin by asking the team to agree on basic expectations for meeting behavior, communication, accountability, and how concerns should be raised. Those expectations give leaders something concrete to return to if conflict starts to affect the team.
Henry also recommends discussing what helps teams succeed and what causes them to stall. A brief conversation about behaviors that derail progress—such as defensiveness, assumptions, dismissive comments, or personalizing disagreement—can help team members recognize those patterns before they take over.
This approach is especially useful in laboratory settings because it moves conflict management out of the realm of personality and into team performance. The question becomes: Is this behavior helping or hindering the team’s work?
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Intervene early, but do not make it personal
When conflict begins to slow progress, Henry recommends intervention at the first sign of trouble. However, he cautions against simply “laying down the law” and telling people to get along. That approach may stop the immediate behavior, but it may not address the misunderstanding, communication gap, or difference in perspective underneath it.
A coaching approach can be more effective. Lab managers can meet with the individuals involved, ask focused questions, and encourage each person to explain what they believe is happening. In many cases, Henry notes, conflict grows from misunderstandings or differences in perspective that become personal over time.
The leader’s role is not to pick a side. It is to help staff understand how their behavior affects the team and what needs to change so the work can move forward. Questions such as “What outcome are you trying to achieve?”, “Where do you think the breakdown is happening?”, and “What would help this team make progress?” can redirect the conversation toward shared goals.
Build people-management skills into lab leadership
Technical expertise alone does not prepare someone to manage interpersonal conflict. Henry emphasizes that lab leaders need training in people management, not only technical operations. That includes communication, conflict management, coaching, listening, and understanding different conflict styles.
This matters because unresolved interpersonal issues rarely stay contained. They can influence team morale, staff participation, meeting productivity, and the willingness of employees to work across groups. Addressing conflict well, on the other hand, can improve trust in leadership and make future teams less hesitant to collaborate.
Lab managers do not need to turn every disagreement into a formal process. But they do need to treat recurring, disruptive conflict as a leadership responsibility. When leaders set expectations early, intervene before conflict spreads, and keep the focus on team progress, they help protect both the work and the people doing it.
In a lab environment, progress depends on more than technical skill. It also depends on whether people can work through differences without allowing those differences to define the team.
