How To Rise Above Conflict, For The Sake Of Your Business

What should you do if you’ve gotten to know your partner well enough to realize that your personalities just don’t mesh? Can a business be run by partners who don’t get along anymore? The answer depends on whether you still have trust and how successful the business is.
1. Trust
It may seem counter-intuitive to suggest that you could still trust someone that you wouldn’t keep as a friend. But if the issue is a matter of personality more than integrity, then trust can still exist. You may not like your partner’s demeanor or personal preferences and still respect professional skills, judgement and character.

If there is any doubt about you’re partner’s honesty or trustworthiness, for any reason, then it’s time to either work on that issue together or seriously consider ending the partnership. But if you trust the other person with your business, your reputation and your livelihood, then there it becomes a matter of configuring the operations to maximize the benefits and minimize the conflict between the two of you.
2. Success of the business
If business is lousy, odds are long that the partnership will last. There are simply too many pressures adding stress to an already tenuous relationship. When you’re in business, you have to recommit every day. It has to be worthwhile, and any pain points have to be bearable. If the numbers aren’t working, or the work has lost its appeal, it’s hard to manage the stress coming at you from all sides.
But if business is booming, there’s are ways that you can make it work. Here’s how:
Divide and conquer
Split responsibilities down distinct lines and respect the boundaries. Focus on different lines of business or different target audiences. Allowing each person to own a part of the business, and giving them the power to act independently
Don’t share an office and don’t force unnecessary interaction. It’s easier to be authentically polite when you don’t have to fake niceties every day.
Meet with intention
Schedule regular in-person meetings but keep them to a minimum. Agree on agendas in advance and handle as much preparation as possible via email. Let your assistants coordinate all the logistics so you don’t end up arguing about petty things, and bring your legal and tax advisors together for big discussions; the group dynamic can help focus the conversation while maintaining professionalism.
Maintain a united front
It’s critical to present yourselves as aligned to staff, to external partners and to clients. You don’t have to present yourselves as friends, but you do need to show that you respect each other and that you will make decisions, problem solve and act in the interest of your business. The best way to show that is to actually do it.