Reducing Conflict in Teams

One of the questions that inevitably surfaces during team training relates to conflict. Usually, it comes up during the Storming Stage of team development. The honeymoon period (Forming Stage) is over, and now the team has started to deal with the thorny issues of leadership, roles, rules and direction in which the team is moving (or sometimes not moving). This sets a natural stage for differences of opinion.

If you're fuzzy on the four (and sometimes five) stages of team development, here they are: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and sometimes Adjourning.

How do you know if you're in the Storming Stage? Here are some indicators. Do members frequently come in late, leave early or don't show up to meetings at all? Are there frequent disagreements that become personalized? Do team members question their own level of commitment to the team or to the goal of the team? Are team members often unprepared? Is there an undercurrent of defensiveness and frustration? Are there hidden agendas?

There can often be a good reason for team conflict, so it's important to move in a positive and proactive way to reduce conflict and get the team back on-track. Remember, all teams go through the Storming Stage. If a team says they haven't, they're kidding themselves, and you, too! To get beyond this stage, it is critical to encourage and facilitate honest and open discussion about disagreements. The Storming Stage can be marked by high levels of frustration and/or apathy, so addressing these issues quickly can be the difference between true conflict management and just "sweeping it under the rug"……the old……"Let's agree to disagree". High performing teams successfully address these issues and then move on to the next stage of team development.

Here's a baker's dozen worth of tips to help manage team conflict:

1. Try to deal with the underlying reasons for conflict; use active listening skills.
2. Be aware of what team members are doing outside of work. If a team member goes to an extreme, there may be problems outside of work that are causing the conflict.
3. Use sub-groups or joint job assignments to help reduce conflict.
4. Some conflicts, especially between dominant people, may need to be dealt with outside the group.
5. Focus on the positive side of each person's differences. Each person brings a different strength to the table.
6. If you want your team to be high performance, then you also need to be in a high performance mode, especially if you're the Team Leader or Facilitator.
7. If possible, redesign the job or role to maximize group effectiveness.
8. If you are dealing with multiple conflicts, start with the one that seems easiest to resolve. Go for the quick victory. That will set a tone of success in conflict management.
9. Do not overlook the possibility that you may be causing or exacerbating the conflict.
10. People often try to achieve solidarity by attacking a scapegoat, either within the group or outside the group. This is damaging, and the group should be re-directed.
11. If necessary, bring in a third person to act as a mediator.
12. Not all conflict is bad - a moderate amount of conflict is healthy and essential to a well-functioning team.
13. Do not take any of the hints too far or so literally that they do more harm than good. The techniques and information are guidelines, and you need to use judgment when implementing them with your team.

Lynda Ford, author of this article, is president of The Ford Group, a consulting firm dedicated to improving organizations through their greatest potential resource…people. Her first book, FAST52: Building an Exceptional Workplace Environment has just been published. She can be contacted by e-mail at lynda@fordgroup.com, or by phone at (315) 339-6398.

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