How to manage conflict in your team
Conflict between team members can take its toll on a leader. And of the trickiest situations is navigating a disagreement between team members who both think they’re right about an issue – and neither is willing to budge! While it’s tempting to jump in and make the call yourself, doing so can risk you being seen as favouring one over the other (or even micromanaging). So, how do you resolve team conflicts effectively without taking sides or undermining your leadership?
Address conflict early
When two team members clash, it’s crucial to intervene before things get personal. What might start as a professional disagreement about a process or approach can quickly escalate into resentment, making it harder to resolve later on. Time is of the essence!
Facilitate a conversation
Bring them together in a neutral space. Maybe your office, or a cafe - somewhere neither has a bigger claim to than the other. Tell them that, for this conversation, you’re here to guide them to a resolution, rather than to tell them what to do. You’re going to be their facilitator. Remember (and remind them) that it’s good for colleagues to have different views as it makes for better processes and systems, but they need to be structured so it doesn’t delay work, or become a full-blown conflict.
Agree on desired outcomes
Ask them to set a clear goal for the discussion, so the conversation doesn’t go round in circles. The aim isn’t to determine who is ‘right’, but rather to decide on a solution that benefits the team or organisation. Help them agree on the desired outcomes for the issue – for example, should the solution:
Be the quickest to implement?
Minimise cost?
Lead to the greatest satisfaction among stakeholders (e.g., students, clients)?
Reduce complaints or errors?
Recognise that a good solution might unite both their ideas
It could be that the best solution makes use of each of their ideas, or maybe it doesn’t. They need to be open to collaboration and conceding to the other if it leads to the desired outcomes.
Follow up and keep an eye out
Once a solution is agreed upon, tell them that you’ll check in with them to see how it’s going, and assure them that, as with all good solutions, there may be adjustments to refine the idea. You’ll then want to monitor them going forward to see if there are any more spats. If so, you may need to help them create a process to handle problems going forward, so that you do not have to get involved each time.
3 resources to help handle team conflict
Types of team conflict and how to resolve them: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/types-of-team-conflict
More on how to run a conflict meeting: https://www.unicornlabs.ca/blog/how-to-master-conflict-meetings
Why teams need some conflict: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danabrownlee/2019/05/21/avoiding-team-conflict-can-be-a-grave-mistake-four-strategies-for-healthy-team-conflict/
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