Relational Strain and Conflict at Work: What the Evidence Says and How to Prevent Harm

Written By KA Dear

Healthy working relationships are the backbone of effective community organisations. When relationships fray through incivility, exclusion, unclear roles, or unresolved disagreements - stress rises, performance drops, and harm becomes more likely. The good news: there’s solid locally grounded guidance on what causes relational strain and what works to prevent it.

What the research tells us

Not all conflict is equal - unresolved relationship conflict harms outcomes more significantly.
Research consistently finds that “task conflict” (what we’re doing) and “relationship conflict” (how we feel about one another) both drag on performance and satisfaction, with relationship conflict doing the most damage. Building clear roles, fair processes and respectful communication reduces the risk that task differences turn personal (see the Model Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work for the duty to control social/relational hazards). (Safe Work Australia)

Incivility can spiral and it’s a safety issue, not just ‘ poor manners’.
Seemingly “small” discourtesies (interrupting, eye-rolling, talking over people) trigger tit-for-tat patterns that escalate and erode cooperation. In high-stress settings, even brief rudeness impairs information-sharing and help-seeking. That’s why Australian guidance calls out poor support, low role clarity, conflict and aggression as psychosocial hazards that must be controlled. (WorkSafe Queensland)

Bullying and ostracism can harm health, including bystanders.
New Zealand data show bullying/harassment is common with 1 in 5 to 1 in 3 workers report exposure annually and PCBUs must manage it. Long-term programmes from NZ researchers (e.g., Massey University’s bullying studies) highlight the health and organisational toll and the need for early, fair responses. (WorkSafe, massey.ac.nz)

Workplace Mobbing

Australian researcher Dr Linda Shallcross describes workplace mobbing as a form of group bullying, where colleagues collectively target an individual through exclusion, criticism, or subtle hostility. Unlike one-to-one bullying, mobbing is systemic and often minimised by leadership, creating a culture of silence. The impacts can be severe, ranging from anxiety and loss of professional identity to staff turnover and reputational harm. Preventing mobbing requires more than individual coping; it demands organisational accountability through clear policies, safe reporting channels, and leadership that actively disrupts harmful group dynamics.

Psychological safety enables learning and performance.
Teams do better when people feel safe to speak up, ask for help and admit mistakes - the very behaviours relational strain shuts down. Australian WHS materials and AS/NZS ISO 45003 encourage building this into everyday practice, not just training days. (standards.org.au)

This isn’t optional - there’s a WHS duty to manage these risks.
In Australia, PCBUs must identify, assess, control and review psychosocial risks, including relationship conflict, poor support, aggression and low role clarity (see the Model Code and Queensland’s 2022 Code of Practice). (Safe Work Australia, WorkSafe Queensland, Comcare)

Practical steps to prevent harm (primary, secondary, tertiary and returning to work)

Primary prevention: design work and culture to avoid harm

  • Clarify roles & decision rights. Publish and promote who decides what, how input is gathered, and when decisions are final (supports procedural and informational fairness set out in the Codes). (Safe Work Australia)

  • Set respect and civility norms or team agreements. Co-create a short “how we work” charter (meeting etiquette, turn-taking, feedback rules). Make respectful communication part of performance expectations; coach to it. (WorkSafe Queensland)

  • Embed psychological safety. Leaders model curiosity, thank challenge, and close the loop (“what we did with your input”). Align with AS/NZS ISO 45003 guidance on leadership and worker participation. (standards.org.au)

  • Design for manageable workload & support. Resource peaks, enable reflective supervision/peer debriefs; these are listed controls in AU/NZ guidance. (Safe Work Australia, WorkSafe)

  • Use a WHS psychosocial risk cycle. Routine identify → assess → control → review for relational hazards (conflict hotspots, disrespect, exclusion), per Codes. (WorkSafe Queensland)

Secondary prevention: catch issues early

  • Early-resolution pathways. Train managers to spot strain quickly and run brief, structured conversations; use neutral facilitators where needed. (Even brief rudeness can degrade performance, so don’t wait.) (WorkSafe Queensland)

  • Fair process for decisions. Communicate the “why”, the criteria, and how input was considered to reduce perceptions of favouritism or exclusion. (Safe Work Australia)

  • Monitor leading indicators. Short pulses on respectful appropriate behaviour amongst workers, psychological safety (feeling ok to speak up) and role clarity; complement with incident patterns and qualitative themes from discussions with workers.

Tertiary prevention: respond well when harm occurs

  • Support targets and witnesses. Provide confidential reporting options, timely support, and clear choices for safe participation; NZ guidance stresses swift, appropriate action. (WorkSafe)

  • Use proportionate, fair investigations or reviews. - separating worker support from fact-finding. When responding to relational harm- whether from conflict, bullying, or mobbing, it’s vital to keep wellbeing support distinct from investigative processes. Workers must feel able to access care, adjustments, or counselling without fear of that information being used in formal investigations. Investigations, on the other hand, require neutrality, procedural fairness, and specialist competence. Queensland’s Managing the Risk of Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice explicitly recommends using a trauma-informed approach, ensuring that investigations are fair, independent, and handled sensitively, thereby preserving trust and protecting both individuals and organisational accountability. Apply consistent processes to avoid secondary harm and ensure trust in the system (Codes require reviewing system factors, not just individuals). (WorkSafe Queensland)

  • Repair and reintegrate. Where appropriate, use restorative steps and a Safe Work Agreement to reset ways of working; ensure any workload/role adjustments are supportive, not punitive.

  • Review system controls. After incidents, revisit staffing, supervision, work design and communication practices as required by the Codes. (Safe Work Australia)

  • Supporting return to work after relational conflict. When a worker has stepped back due to conflict, mobbing, or strained relationships, reintegration requires as much care as recovery from injury. Even if no workers’ compensation claim is involved, organisations should apply the same principles outlined in the Queensland and NSW Codes of Practice: early communication, collaborative planning, and adjustments that restore safety and trust. This might mean facilitated conversations, changes to team structures, or temporary workload adjustments. A trauma-informed approach ensures the returning worker feels safe, while also addressing team dynamics to prevent recurrence. Treating relational strain as a psychosocial hazard - not a personal failing, signals that the organisation values wellbeing and accountability, and helps protect all parties involved.

Tips for community organisations

  1. Get your policies and procedures in order up to date and implemented including: Code of Conduct, Preventing Bullying and Harassment, Psychosocial Risk Management

  2. Team Charter (1 page): Civility norms, meeting comms guidelines, feedback rules, conflict-resolution steps (align with Code controls). (WorkSafe Queensland)

  3. Relational Risk Map: Quarterly heat-map of hotspots (role overlaps, hand-overs, high-stakes decisions).

  4. Foster Leader Micro-habits: Ask one “safe” curiosity question per meeting; thank dissent; summarise decisions and next steps. (Supports psych safety/justice under AS/NZS ISO 45003.) (standards.org.au). Example: In a team meeting, the leader asks, “What’s one thing that would make your work easier this week?” This simple curiosity question invites input, surfaces hidden pressures, and shows that leaders value staff perspectives. Over time, these small practices build psychological safety and reduce relational strain.

  5. Early Intervention in Relational Strain - Often the best prevention is a small step, taken early. Leaders and peers can:

    • Notice and name tension gently (“I sensed some frustration in that meeting - did I get that right?”).

    • Offer a curiosity question rather than a judgement (“What’s making this tricky right now?”).

    • Create space for repair through a quick check-in before the next task or meeting.

    If strain continues or risks harm, then move to structured resolution or escalation..

  6. Measurement: Use survey/benchmarking + brief pulses on respect & psych safety; track time-to-resolution and % resolved early.

  7. Governance Dashboard: Board/committee receives psychosocial risk updates and control effectiveness, per the Model Code. (Safe Work Australia)

Why this matters for your mission

Community organisations carry complex caseloads and high emotional labour. AU/NZ guidance frames relational strain (bullying, poor support, low role clarity, conflict) as controllable WHS hazards - not personality clashes to “rise above”. Designing work and culture deliberately is both a legal duty and a performance driver. (Safe Work Australia, WorkSafe Queensland, WorkSafe)

Work with me

I help organisations turn these insights into practical, right-sized systems: co-creating team charters and Safe Work Agreements, training leaders in early resolution, implementing WHS-aligned psychosocial risk processes, and setting up simple dashboards Boards can useSelected AU/NZ references

References

KA Dear
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