Why do partners stop talking to each other?
A boardroom conflict rarely starts with a big row in front of witnesses. Usually, everything starts with one missed phone call or an email regarding an invoice for 12,400 PLN that remained unanswered for 4 days. At Arka Przymierza, for 8 years we have been observing how small cracks destroy companies employing 14 or 26 people.
Small amounts generate great tension
Most disputes that end up at Arka Przymierza start with expenses that are small for a corporation. In February 2024, we conducted a mediation in a transport company from Mazovia. The partners argued over the leasing of three delivery vans for a total amount of 412,000 PLN. One of them signed the agreement without the final approval of the other, because 'the opportunity ended on Friday at 3:00 PM'. This was enough for the men to communicate exclusively through the secretariat for the next 7 months, which almost led to the loss of a contract with a German logistics operator. We talk specifically about numbers, because they show the scale of the problem.
Often the problem is not a lack of money, but the way it is spent on trivial things. We have seen cases where a dispute over an office renovation for 34,500 PLN blocked a dividend payment worth 240,000 PLN. People stop talking because they feel left out of the decision-making process. When one partner feels that he is becoming just an 'ATM' for the other's ideas, trust disappears within 11 days. That's when we come in, because we save transactions on the edge before the case goes to court and stays there for 4 years.
Trust in business is built for years and lost over one invoice for a dozen thousand PLN that you forgot to mention to your partner.
The trap of silence in the office in Warsaw's Wola district
Silence is the most expensive form of communication in a company. In 2023, we worked with a software house where 2 co-owners had not spoken to each other for 83 days. Employees, a team of 14 programmers, began to sense tension after the first week. The effect? Efficiency fell by 23%, and 2 key seniors resigned in the same month. Each day of silence in the board cost the company about 4,200 PLN in lost man-hours. We close disputes, we open businesses, because we know that without dialogue there is no profit.
Lack of conversation often stems from fear of confrontation. Partners are afraid that if they point out each other's mistakes over coffee, the company will fall apart. The truth is that the company falls apart precisely when these mistakes are swept under the carpet. At Arka Przymierza, we apply the principle of a clean table. At meetings lasting usually 3 to 6 hours, we bring all the grievances to the surface. Discretion is our standard, not a promise, so these conversations never leak outside our office at 44 Jerozolimskie Ave.
Different visions of development with a 9-person team
Conflict often arises when a company reaches a certain level, for example 9 or 11 employees. One partner wants to continue taking risks and take a loan of 250,000 PLN for new machines, and the other wants to start consuming profits and buy a house in Masuria. In June 2024, we mediated in a production company that was stuck in such a deadlock for 156 days. During this time, no investment decision was made, which allowed competition from the neighboring district to take over 12% of their market. It was a classic decision-making stalemate.
In such situations, we don't look for the guilty, we just calculate the costs of standing still. We show partners that their stubbornness costs them a real 18,000 PLN a month in contractual penalties and unused capacity alone. Often the solution is not a compromise that satisfies no one, but a clear division of competencies. One deals with sales, the other with production, and they don't get in each other's way for 5 days a week. It's simple, but difficult to implement without a mediator.
A decision-making stalemate is the simplest way to give the market to the competition for free.
How emotions destroy an Excel sheet
We conduct communication risk audits and we see that 67% of disputes are purely emotional. It's about who is right, not about what is profitable. In one Warsaw advertising agency, the conflict started because a partner was not invited to an important meeting with a construction client. He felt slighted. For the next 4 months, he blocked every decision of the second partner, taking revenge for that one afternoon. Our job is to separate these emotions from the numbers in the spreadsheet.
When we sit down for mediation, we ask for phones to be turned off for 120 minutes. It's time to return to the fundamentals: why did you start this company in 2018? Are the goals from that time still valid with today's revenues of 3.2 million PLN per year? It often turns out that the men simply forgot about each other as partners, becoming only rivals for influence over the company account. At Arka Przymierza, we restore the correct proportions.
When mediation is the last chance
If partners stop talking to each other, they have two choices: court or mediation. Court in Warsaw means a minimum of 3 years of waiting for a verdict and lawyer costs exceeding 45,000 PLN. Mediation at Arka Przymierza usually lasts 2 to 4 meetings and ends with a binding settlement that is approved by the court within 14-21 days. The choice for a pragmatic businessman is simple. We save transactions that seem already lost because we know how to talk about difficult matters without beating around the bush.
Being stubborn in business is good when negotiating with a supplier, but deadly in a relationship with a partner. We have seen too many prosperous companies fail because no one wanted to be the first to reach out after a dispute over 14,000 PLN. We help reach out that hand, while maintaining the face of both sides. We don't offer magic, just specific negotiation techniques and cold analysis of losses. If your company is to survive another 11 years, you must start talking about what divides you instead of pretending that the problem does not exist.
