Why is it good to do the exercise?

If you have started to become irritated by a colleague, then eventually you can find yourself being driven crazy by the smallest things – such as the sound of their voice or their way of walking. We do not always choose our colleagues, and sometimes the personal chemistry just isn’t there. Studies show that interpersonal conflicts – conflicts based in personal values and opinions – significantly hamper the performance of the work group. Organizational psychologists Carsten De Dreu and Annelies Van Vianen found in a study that in work groups with interpersonal conflicts, members of the group spend time and energy focusing on one another’s personal characteristics and not on work tasks. It takes a shift in focus to be able to see past personal characteristics and focus on how well colleagues actually perform their work tasks.