One owner says a job takes priority. The other asks for something else to be completed first.
An employee listens to both. Then tries to work out who will be angrier if their request is not followed.
From that point on, the employee is no longer organising work solely by importance. They are organising it around the relationships they need to protect.
Co-owners do not have to agree on everything. Different assessments can help a company understand risks, customers and opportunities more clearly. But disagreement becomes a problem when it reaches the team as several conflicting decisions that all remain in force.
People start seeking extra approvals. They keep messages. They repeat who told them what. Some wait for the owners to agree, while others approach whichever owner is more likely to give them the answer they want.
Work slows down, even though everyone appears busy.
Telling employees to communicate better is not enough. They cannot resolve a question the owners have failed to settle between themselves.
Who decides in each area? What happens when decisions conflict? Who confirms the final priority? How does the team learn that an earlier agreement has changed?
Those answers should exist before the next conflict, while no one is yet trying to defend their own decision.
It is particularly damaging when one owner overrules the other in front of employees, yet both continue to expect the same accountability from the team. A person can be accountable for their work. It is difficult to hold them accountable for two contradictory instructions they have no authority to reconcile.
If a decision changes, someone needs to explain clearly what now applies, what will be postponed and who will speak to the people who were previously promised something else.
A company does not gain clarity because one owner wins an argument. It gains clarity when the discussion produces an agreement people can work with.
Owners have the right to disagree. They also have a responsibility to let their team work without having to choose a side every day.
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