As flare-ups go, it was pretty extreme. On the surface, it hard to see the management lesson in boxer David Haye’s violent altercation with Dereck Chisora after the latter has followed in the footsteps of the former and lost to one of the Klitschko brothers. Yet the lessons are there – the viciousness simply a eversion of nasty set-tos that happen in UK offices every day, exponentially magnified through the violent, testosterone-tinged prism that is the world of heavyweight fighting.

My old history teacher, a keen boxing fan, once ascribed his dark fascination for the sport to the fact to that it was the only trade where it is within the regulations that, after someone hits you, you get up and he hits you again. Physically that may be true yet, metaphorically, every profession is like that for some of those who are at war with a colleague. The bruising can go on and on. Eventually, those wars can lead to unedifying public rows, and that’s bad news for everybody.

So, how to handle such disputes? First, ask yourself whether it is worth handling them directly at all. Two battling staff are a drain on the energy and productivity of everyone else: if the pair cannot behave around each other, you may have to move one of them – or move both.

How to fight the fighters

Yet sometimes you need them both. If you do, you must move on to the second step. When a public altercation happens, you should consider making a public acknowledgment to both parties that such behaviour is not acceptable. Chisora’s promoter, Frank Warren, was swift to do this – describing the brawl as “disgusting”. In the office, that chastisement may include a public dressing-down for both parties. As one manager tells me, “Fortunately, I have encountered an intemperate public row between staff only once. I immediately stood up, told the pair their behaviour was entirely unacceptable and called them into the meeting room to explain their actions.” That strikes me as a strong and effective response, and leads me on to my third point: stop it happening again. Usually, this is possible simply through sensible mediation. Often, in such circumstances, there has been a misunderstanding or, in some cases, the initial spark for the disagreement was so trivial that it can be overcome with minimal intervention.

In more serious cases, one can solve the dispute by allocating work to the the dueling pair so that their tasks don’t overlap and they therefore have few dealings with each other.

In very rare cases, the antipathy between the workers runs so deep that almost nothing you can do will allow them to work together. One manager tells of an explosive situation where one man in the office had had an affair with the long-term girlfriend of another. In such or similar cases, you may have to revert again to step one and move or remove one or both employees, no matter how valuable to the business they may be.

Interestingly, the British Board of Boxing Control is considering such a step with its wildcat pugilists – Chisora could lose his licence to fight while sources have suggested that Haye, officially retired, may struggle to win back accreditation were he ever to decide to return to the ring. Normally, it is not in the BBBC’s interests to ban boxers who have the ability to attract large crowds and large amounts of cash, but sometimes it is unwise tolerate those who, through their misbehaviour, sully the reputation of your organisation.

Leon Walker returns next week. 

Image of David Haye courtesy of waynehowes / Shutterstock.com