When you’re working with a team of people, full of different personalities, experiences, and opinions, even the best leaders can’t guarantee nobody will butt heads. However, as the team’s leader, it’s your responsibility to make sure projects get finished on time, jobs are completed safely, and your team is working to a high standard. Part of that is maintaining the happiness, and therefore productivity, of your team members. What’s the approach for leaders when their teammates are acting less like a team, and more like opposing sides of a battlefield?
Team conflict can be moments of disagreement or tension, varying in severity from a mild discussion to full on shouting matches. While conflict amongst team members is natural, being unable to resolve conflict can have a negative outcome. Conflicts have an impact on the efficacy of your team; teammates unable to work together effectively will have an impact on productivity and can interrupt progress toward deadlines. And that is… well, bad.
Ideally, teammates will learn how to solve at least smaller conflicts on their own, without having to involve leadership. This comes from you, an effective leader, being able to impart communication skills into the people you’re leading. However, this is not always the case, and you will likely be involved in conflict resolution from time to time. Being able to effectively manage and lead through tension is a skill required of a strong leader. Knowing the different kinds of conflict, and how to address them with empathy, understanding, and clarity of communication is essential to successfully defusing moments of tension and encouraging team cohesion.
Task-based Conflict
Task-based conflicts may arise from disagreement over the actual division of tasks, who is assigned which portion, or how quickly or well those portions are completed. Effective teams understand their members’ strengths and weaknesses, act with equity and understanding in mind, and develop what they believe to be the best way to tackle a multifaceted project. Task-based conflicts can be mitigated by clear communication and use of shared scheduling strategies, to be sure everyone is always on the same page. Roles should be clearly defined and expectations laid out from the start.
Work Style Conflict
Work style conflicts relate to the approach each teammate has to the task. Being aware of the strengths within your team and assigning roles to fit those strengths will benefit workflow greatly. Seeking feedback on work styles and observing how the team is working together will let you, as their leader, understand what each person brings to the table, how it can be best highlighted, and how every member’s style can fit together to get the task completed.
Personality Conflict
Personality conflicts are related to how teammates present themselves and interact with each other. Some people have quiet, independent personalities, while others are exuberant and thrive on consistent conversation. One person may crack jokes during the workday, while another finds comfort in a more serious work environment. Understanding the different personalities on your team can help you develop a plan for cohesion, leading the team toward stronger understandings of each member. With this dynamic in balance, the team can accomplish their tasks with effective cooperation. Communication skills are key for solving this kind of conflict. Encouraging empathy in conflicting parties and providing opportunities for communication can both be leveraged to discover a comfortable middle ground that both parties can agree to. Creating a space that encourages mutual respect will stimulate empathy. Feeling respected in the workplace will open your team members up to these conversations, encouraging more transparent communication, with faster and more satisfying resolutions being the result.
Leadership-based Conflict
Every leader has a unique approach to their leadership. Some leaders watch their team closely, making consistent observations, while others take a back seat and provide more autonomy over decisions. The leadership style may conflict with the work style of the individual. Some teammates prefer autonomy and get uncomfortable working with a directly observant manager (especially micro-managers), while others may be confused by a lack of direction from a leader that’s hands-off. Being open to feedback and observing your team help a great deal in this conflict situation. Be flexible in your leadership style, and ready to adapt to the reactions of your team.
Regardless of the style of conflict, here are four essential steps to solving conflict:
- Understand the Conflict – Before you can hope to solve a conflict, or inspire those you’re leading to solve it themselves, you have to understand all of its aspects. Is it a misunderstanding, or is there a greater issue at hand? Do you have all sides to the story in order to make an unbiased decision, or provide support? Using empathy in your approach to the parties involved is important in encouraging communication, understanding the situation, and why those involved feel as they do.
- Create Open Communication – Make space for free conversation and allow involved parties to talk without interruption, providing equal opportunities to speak. Provide privacy and minimize distractions as much as possible. Keep your cool during these discussions, as they may get heated, but continue to be an active listener. Ask questions for clarity, demonstrate that you care by focusing on what’s being said. Be aware of your body language and remain open. Even if your verbal communication is strong and encouraging, body language and tone of voice can override what’s said, especially if they contradicts the words being spoken. Wait to act until you’ve gotten all the information you can possibly get.
- Discuss and Choose Solutions – After this (hopefully effective) discussion, everyone should have the information required to move forward to a resolution. Consider feasible options and seek a middle ground. Be open to many different approaches to solutions and consider input from involved parties. After discussing possible alternatives, come to a mutually agreeable solution. Hopefully, you’ll find a solution that works for everyone, but sometimes the issue escalates beyond the scope of your leadership capabilities. This is when we look to a third-party mediator. As leaders, we can sometimes get too close to the issue and unable to find a proper solution because of it. In these tougher conflicts, involving a third-party mediator allows for the problem to be addressed by someone completely objective, giving an extra set of eyes on the situation as well as absolute neutrality.
- Learn from Conflict – As a leader, what have you learned or gained through this process? How can you carry these strategies forward into future conflict resolutions? What maybe didn’t work so well for everyone involved? How can you improve your approach as a leader to conflict resolution and problem solving? Take note of what you’ve learned and incorporate that into your leadership practice going forward.
Once everyone involved has the chance to simmer down following this conflict and its resolution, it’s time to focus on rebuilding trust within your team. This is when you need to be your strongest as a leader and rebuild relationships that were strained. This will allow your team to come back stronger and better able to work on their own problem solving and communication skills going forward. Demonstrating that you care for your team during moments of tension, and having an honest desire to strengthen what has been affected by those moments, shows your team that you value their presence, contribution, and them.
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