We've all been there, right? Nicki takes pride in her work and sees Hiro's need for daily check-ins as micro-managing. Maya believes that Jay's offhand comments are sexist. Sophie and Ade vehemently disagree on the approach to take on the project. Alek is annoyed at taking up the slack for Evan's underperformance.
This is the stuff of everyday conflict in the workplace.
Conflict is fundamental in our workplace - in prioritising, planning, strategy, resource allocation, design, and everything else in an organisation—or at least it should be! Unfortunately, we also naturally want to avoid it. Yes, it can be tricky, uncomfortable, and cringeworthy. Yet the consequences of not handling conflict well can impact our careers, teams, projects, organisations, relationships, and personal health.
A crucial leadership skill is navigating these emotional and political discussions and finding solutions that benefit everyone involved. Reflecting on your team approach to conflict is a good step forward.
Does your team tend to confront issues head-on, or do they avoid them hoping they'll resolve themselves?
The answer might vary depending on the situation, but it's important to recognise your team’s natural approach to conflict, and how to normalise those difficult conversations.
Here are three tactics that your team could utilise to resolve conflicts quickly:
1. Act quickly
An unsaid, difficult conversation is like holding onto a piece of bread - the longer you have it, the mouldier it gets! Don't wait to see if issues resolve themselves; talk about them before they escalate. When you communicate early, you are more likely to discuss the problems before they become problematic.
2. Have a team talk about conflict.
Encourage an open and honest conversation about conflict within the team. We all come from different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences that have shaped our thinking about conflict. A conversation can help team members understand each other's perspectives and triggers, leading to better communication and mutual respect.
3. Add some tension to your meetings
By inviting small amounts of tension to your meetings, you can start to normalise conflict and feel more comfortable around it. Encourage the exploration of multiple perspectives, surface and separate the assumptions from the facts, and welcome dissenting views by asking, “Where are the holes in this plan?” “What are the downsides?”.
See if you can shift the team mindset from dread to opportunity. Think about the positive outcomes—conflict can be useful to stimulate creativity, innovation, and change, and help the team's responsiveness to issues when it’s managed correctly and not allowed to escalate.
Discussing conflict and possible resolution methods with your team can help you cultivate a culture where diverse viewpoints are appreciated and a blame culture is avoided. Quickly solving any conflict will improve how your team work together, and that leads to increased commitment, accountability, and the achievement of team goals. Bring it on!
PS: This article is part of an email series explaining the weekly leadership questions in the Architect’s Leadership Journal. Why I included it, and how you can think about it. You can join this email series here.