Managing team conflict

“Conflict is the struggle that arises when the goal-directed behaviour of one person or group blocks the goal-directed behaviour of another person or group.”  (Prof Michael West, Occupational Psychologist, CIPD, 2001)

Some key principles

Recognise that you will experience disagreement from time to time and decide beforehand how you will identify, articulate and address it within the team.

Identify what the conflict points to, for example:

    Talking at cross purposes 
    Pressing on a raw nerve 
    Different understanding of what is required 
    Lack of clarity over lead ownership 
    Different ways of approaching the same task 
    Competing pressures and priorities

Revisit your common mission and values to ensure you don’t violate those things most important to you.

Encourage the conflicting parties to ask of one-another, “What would be a win-win solution for you?”

Encourage each party to present the other party’s position to their satisfaction before presenting their own.

Allow time to cool off, reflect, pray and revisit if disagreement becomes heated or intractable in the ‘now’.

Consider mediation if the conflict is high-impacting and appears unresolvable.