6.5 Managing Conflict
Whenever people work together in teams, conflicts are bound to arise — and this is okay. Some conflict, based on disagreement over ideas for example, can be productive and lead to unexpected innovations if managed effectively. Poorly managed conflict, like attacks on individuals, however, can be detrimental and can even derail a team and the project entirely.
Often, conflict arises from confusion over team members’ roles and team goals. For example, if one team member’s goal is to get an A+ on the project, and another’s is to simply pass, their goals are misaligned, and this will show in work ethic and commitment to the project. If team members do not share the same goals, or if members are unsure of what their role is in the team, this can lead to anxiety, confusion, or even anger. This in turn can cause unproductive behaviours like isolating (breaking away from the team and just doing work on your own), hijacking (taking over the project without consulting with the team), or hitchhiking (just coming along for the ride, but not contributing).
People respond differently to conflict. As suggested in the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Model, discussed in Chapter 6.2, people will respond by either competing, accommodating, compromising, avoiding, or collaborating. The advantages and disadvantages of each response is covered in that chapter. Suffice it to say here that finding a constructive path to resolving team conflict will result in an effective team that is built on trust.
Conflict can have a significant impact on the team’s performance and morale:
- Team members will focus more on the conflict and less on the work to be done
- The team’s energy will become drained due to the stresses caused by the conflict
- Meetings will become ineffective and difficult to manage, or. . .
- Team members will opt to avoid meetings, effectively slowing the collaborative work
- Trust in each other will be compromised
Dealing With Team Conflict
How to deal with team conflict? The first strategy is to develop systems that help to prevent conflict where possible. You can do this in the forming stage by creating clear team guidelines and expectations. Creating a Team Charter can help you define team goals, expectations for equitable contribution, and procedures for communicating and producing work. You can also define problem-solving approaches that your team will use when conflicts arise.
Think about conflicts or problems you have had before when working in teams. Can you think of ways you could have planned ahead to prevent them?
Even with these preventative measures, however, conflict is bound to come up. So you need to have some strategies for managing it effectively when it does arise.
Once a group encounters a problem, questions that come up range from “Where do we start?” to “How do we solve it?” While there are many approaches to solving a problem, the American educational philosopher John Dewey’s reflective thinking sequence has stood the test of time. This seven-step process (Adler, 1996) produces positive results and serves as a handy organizational structure. If you don’t know where to start, consider these seven simple steps in a format adapted from Scott McLean (2005):
- Define the problem
- Analyze the problem
- Establish criteria for a successful resolution to the problem
- Consider possible solutions
- Decide on a solution or a select combination of solutions
- Implement the solution(s)
- Follow up on the solution(s)
Here is a list of some additional approaches to keep in your tool box:
Strategies for Managing Team Conflict
- Acknowledge, understand, and value the diversity within your team; recognize team members’ various strengths and weaknesses, and play to your strengths, while acknowledging and trying to improve on your weaknesses.
- Don’t “silo” (break up into smaller teams of “us” vs “them”); deal with issues as a whole team
- Don’t ignore problems or conflicts; deal with them head on; communicate issues quickly and directly with the whole team; maybe review the team charter to remind you of the expectations and protocols.
- “Don’t sweat the small stuff”; don’t get side-tracked by minor differences of opinion or approach that don’t have a significant impact on the project; be willing to make some compromises.
- But keep in mind that compromise does not always lead to the best solution; be a strong, but diplomatic advocate for what you think is the best approach. Persuade, but don’t bully. Your team mates will thank you for it in the long run.
- Separate the “people” from the “problem” (avoid the “blame game”); don’t dwell on past actions and consequences; focus on coming up with solutions that benefit the whole team.
- Focus on “interests” not “positions” — that is, focus on what is in the best interests of the team rather than on “your position” vs “my position”; try playing “devil’s advocate” or use “debate” format to argue for/against ideas in an objective and neutral way.
- Reviewing the Models for Understanding Team Dynamics in Chapter 6.2 may give you insights into some of the causes of team issues and ideas for solutions.
Using LLMs in Resolving Team Conflict
It’s always best to work closely with team members to resolve conflict. When brainstorming ideas for pathways to conflict resolution, teams can draw on their own knowledge and experience and make use of LLMs for additional ideas. The cause of conflict can be as varied and as unique as all the personalities that engage in the collaborative process. LLMs can be effective tools in gaining some quick insights into the issues and gaining some suggestions for resolving the conflict effectively. Here are some tips for using LLMs effectively to resolve team conflict.
Asking a LLM to Help Resolve Team Conflict
When asking a LLM to offer suggestions for resolving team conflict, you should keep privacy and confidentiality at the forefront of your activity. These tips will help you develop a strategy that will be respectful yet purposeful:
- Do not mention any team member’s name or the name of the organization
- Do not reveal any confidential project-related or personal information
- Take a proactive, solution-oriented approach
- Describe the situation in an objective manner
- List the criteria that need to be met for a solution to be effective
- Ask for more than one solution option; if you request more than one, ask the LLM to suggest the better one and explain why it’s viewed as the best. You then have a few options and can choose one or combine the best qualities of each one into your own version.
- Identify what you consider to be the ideal solution and why, then ask the LLM for an opinion and additional suggestions
- Go back to the team and discuss the options. Only by consensus can a resolution be found.
Remember that exploration of ideas is an iterative process; refinement of the process will result in more useable suggestions.
Escalating the Matter
If your conflict management strategies are not working as well as you’d like, consult with your supervisor, facilitator, or instructor for additional support – before it’s too late to solve the problem. In an educational context, especially if you feel like the problem is impacting your grade, you should alert the instructor as soon as possible. Your instructor will have additional “managerial” tools to help deal with the problem that are not necessarily available to you as students. In a workplace context, alerting your immediate supervisor or manager to the situation will also help achieve a resolution to the matter sooner than later.
Using a proactive and constructive approach that enlists your team members in the conflict resolution process can lead to a more fortified and committed team. Carefully consider the situation using an objective lens, and engaging in a solution-oriented process will help the team move forward as a stronger unit.
Knowledge check
Content about the problem-solving method has been adapted from Venecia Williams, Chapter 17: Working in Teams – Fundamentals of Business Communication CC by 4.0.
References
Adler, R. (1996). Communicating at work: Principles and practices for business and the professions. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
McLean, S. (2005). The basics of interpersonal communication. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
GenAI Use
Chapter review exercises were created with the assistance of CoPilot.