Managers describe a conflict on their team and get guidance grounded in your conflict resolution policy and manager guides, with citations and a clear line on what they can handle and when to bring in HR.
For
People Managers
First-Time Managers
HR Business Partners
HR Leaders
Sample prompt to Joy's Assistant
Two of my team members clash constantly and it's affecting the team. How should I handle it based on our [conflict resolution policy]?
What it can look like
An illustrative example. Your output will reflect your own sources, data, and prompts.
Two of my team members clash constantly and it's affecting the team. How should I handle it based on our Conflict Resolution Policy?
Here's how your Conflict Resolution Policy and the Manager's Guide want you to approach this, and the line that decides whether you handle it yourself or bring in your HR business partner.
A standing clash between two people that’s spilling onto the team is yours to work first, as long as it stays about working style and not protected conduct. The Conflict Resolution Policy, Section 2 (“Informal Resolution”), treats manager-led resolution as the expected first step, and the Manager’s Guide, Chapter 5 (“Managing Team Conflict”), walks through how to run it.
Start with separate, private one-on-ones — one with each person before you ever put them in a room together. Keep each conversation on behavior and impact rather than personality, and dig for the underlying issue driving the friction. Which way you take it from there depends on what you’re actually dealing with.
If this is two capable people rubbing each other the wrong way — competing for the same work, clashing on approach, or carrying an unresolved disagreement — the Conflict Resolution Policy keeps it with you.
Meet each person privately first. Describe the specific behavior you’ve seen and its effect on the team, then ask what’s driving it from their side and listen before you respond.
Find the underlying issue. Most standing conflicts trace back to something concrete — unclear ownership, a workload imbalance, a past incident no one addressed. The Manager’s Guide asks you to name it rather than treat the friction as a personality problem.
Set clear expectations. Agree on how they’ll work together going forward, in specific terms, and tell each person what you’ll be watching for.
Bring them together only when it helps. A joint conversation works once each person has cooled down and you can keep it on the work, not the history.
Document each step informally as you go — dated notes on what was discussed and what you agreed. If the behavior doesn’t change after you’ve set expectations, the Manager’s Guide points to the performance management process as the next step.
Some situations are never yours to settle informally. The Conflict Resolution Policy, Section 4 (“When to Escalate”), takes these out of a manager’s hands and puts them with your HR business partner:
Harassment or discrimination. Any allegation tied to a protected characteristic, or conduct that could be harassment, goes to HR immediately — not into a private one-on-one.
Safety or threats. Threats, intimidation, or anything that makes someone feel unsafe, per the Anti-harassment and Anti-discrimination Policy.
Conduct that breaches the Code of Conduct. Retaliation, bullying, or hostility that has crossed from friction into misconduct.
It persists after informal steps. If you’ve done the one-on-ones, set expectations, and the conflict still continues, loop in your HRBP rather than escalating the pressure yourself.
The HRBP contact directory lists the partner assigned to your team; bring your dated notes so they have the history. Once a situation sits with HR, they lead it — your job is to support the process, not to investigate or mediate it.
One caution the policy is firm on: don’t let an informal situation drift. Set a concrete expectation, note the date, and give it a defined window of a week or two. If it hasn’t improved by then, that’s the moment to move to performance management or bring in HR — not a reason to keep waiting.
Want a short script for opening the one-on-one, or the location of the informal documentation template in the Manager's Guide?
From your policies to instant guidance
Conflict Resolution Advice gives managers a private assistant grounded in your conflict resolution policy, manager guides, and code of conduct. A manager describes the situation and gets a clear, cited path through it, laid out in the order your policy expects them to work.
Connect your sources
Upload your conflict resolution policy, manager guides, code of conduct, and HR playbooks to the Knowledge Center.
Scope it to managers
Set up a JoySuite assistant restricted to managers so these questions stay confidential and employees can't see what's being asked.
Managers describe the situation
A manager explains the conflict in plain language and Joy answers with the policy-aligned steps, what to document, and the point where HR takes over, each with a citation.
Set what must go to HR
Tell Joy which topics it should never handle informally, such as harassment, discrimination, safety, or threats, so it flags them and points to HR instead of offering advice.
Make it one click for your team
Save this ask as a custom command on the assistant your team already uses, so anyone can run it in one step.
Make it yours
Cited Guidance
Every answer points to the exact policy section, so managers know the advice is compliant and can read the detail themselves.
Confidential to Managers
Scoped so only managers can access it. No employee sees the question, and there's no paper trail on their side.
Knows the HR Line
For harassment, discrimination, safety, or threats, Joy holds back and points the manager to HR with the context to bring.
Ordered Steps
Guidance arrives in the sequence your policy expects: private conversations first, then documentation, expectations, and only then escalation.
Multi-Location
Different labor laws and reporting rules for different regions. Managers get location-appropriate guidance and the right escalation path automatically.
New Manager Support
Extra scaffolding for first-time managers facing their first real conflict, with the basics of a private one-on-one spelled out.
Joint Conversation Prep
Guidance for the manager on how to set up and run a joint conversation once both people are ready to sit down together.
Performance Season Mode
When a conflict overlaps review cycles, guidance on keeping documentation clean and separating the conflict from the performance rating.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is conflict resolution advice for managers?
It's an on-demand assistant that answers a manager's question about a team conflict using your own conflict resolution policy and manager guides. The manager describes the situation and gets policy-aligned steps, what to document, and citations to the exact source, all in chat.
Can Joy resolve a conflict between two employees?
Joy gives guidance from your policies and flags when a situation must go to HR, such as a harassment allegation. It does not investigate, mediate, or contact anyone. It hands the manager the policy-aligned steps and the point where a human has to take over.
How should a manager handle two team members who constantly clash?
Your policy generally expects the manager to start with separate, private one-on-ones focused on behavior and impact, look for the underlying issue, set clear expectations, and document informally. Joy returns those steps in order, cited to your conflict resolution policy and manager guide.
When does a workplace conflict have to go to HR?
When it involves protected conduct, such as harassment, discrimination, safety concerns, or threats, or when it persists after informal steps. Joy recognizes these triggers, stops offering informal advice, and points the manager to their HR business partner with the context to bring.
Is the guidance confidential?
Yes. The assistant is scoped to managers, so employees can't see what's being asked, and there's no paper trail visible on their side. The manager decides what to act on and what to document.
