Navigating Team Conflict: A Proactive Approach

Engage individuals in conflict with empathy. Uncover their thoughts, feelings, and perspectives using open-ended questions.

“Finding out what the issues are creating the conflict is a pretty critical step.”

Anonymously collect feedback from peers and line reports to gain a broader understanding of the conflict dynamics.

“Then speak to those who are working around the individuals in conflict speak to their peers their line reports the junior members of the team ask what they are seeing ask them what is causing the conflict in their view you are looking for patterns in the behavior within the conflict aim to understand what the causes might be not just the resulting behavior of a conflict.”

Recognize and address bullying, demanding behavior, and incompetence in team members. Consider underlying reasons for the behavior and approach with empathy.

“Conflict between team members can be caused by people with behavioural problems such as bullies and it can be caused by incompetent people”

Evaluate team member skills and roles. Identify opportunities for training, coaching, or role adjustments to maximize contribution and minimize conflict.

“Get the incompetent individuals into a more appropriate position in which they can make a much more positive contribution to their colleagues and the company.”

Review and refine areas of responsibility. Ensure alignment between individual, team, and department goals. Document clearly and communicate effectively.

“Causes of conflict can be due to organizational setup, conflicting goals, overlapping responsibilities or territories or recent changes implemented”

Create clear, written job descriptions, project plans, and communication protocols. Ensure all team members understand their roles, responsibilities, and expectations.

“It can take some digging to find out the real issues particularly as the individuals involved in the conflict between the team members may not be aware of why the conflict is happening ask as many people around the situation as possible to get many viewpoints and don't forget to look at yourself as possible causes of conflict”

Simulate a private meeting between individuals, practicing mediation techniques to build understanding and find a compromise. Focus on active listening and empathy.

“Communication between the parties to build a true understanding of each party's views feelings and reference points is likely to make a significant positive difference”

Practice active listening techniques: paying attention, showing that you're listening, providing feedback, deferring judgment, and responding appropriately. This enhances understanding and reduces misunderstandings.

“If they understand what is behind the conflict differences of opinion very different assumptions or references different pressures or goals imposed upon them or other external factors most people change their perceptions and the conflict reduces or even ceases for causes of conflict that are largely contained between two individuals such as differences of opinion get the individuals into room together to improve communication and understanding”

Identify key stakeholders and build a coalition of support for proposed changes. Clearly communicate the benefits of the change and address any concerns.

“Communicating and persuading those within your team to accept the changes should be very doable”

Acknowledge and celebrate successes resulting from the implemented changes. Analyze challenges and use them as learning opportunities for continuous improvement.

“You have to get the individuals and teams brought into the change being proposed for it to have a chance of being successfully implemented”