6.5 Managing Team 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 in a university context, 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 their role 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):

1. Define the problem
2. Analyze the problem
3. Establish criteria for a successful resolution to the problem
4. Consider possible solutions
5. Decide on a solution or a select combination of solutions
6. Implement the solution(s)
7. Follow up on the solution(s)

Here is a list of some additional approaches to keep in your tool box:

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.

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.

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.