Impact of Internal Conflict on Team Performance

The uncomfortable truths about high-performing teams that nobody talks about (and what to do about it). After two decades of coaching executive teams, I've discovered five counterintuitive truths about exceptional performance: 👉 High-performing teams have more conflict, not less. Teams engaging in intellectual conflict outperform peers by 40% in complex decisions. → Action: Schedule structured debate sessions where challenging ideas is explicitly encouraged. 👉 Top teams strategically exclude people. McKinsey & Company found that each member above nine decreased productivity by 7%. → Action: Create a core decision team while establishing transparent processes for broader input. 👉 The best teams often break company rules. MIT Sloan School of Management research shows 65% of top teams regularly deviate from standard procedures. → Action: Identify which processes truly add value versus those that add bureaucracy. 👉 Emotional intelligence can be overrated (but not overlooked). Teams with moderate EQ but high practical intelligence outperform by 23%. → Action: Balance empathy with pragmatic problem-solving in your team assessments. 👉 Effective teams experience productive dysfunction. 82% of top teams go through significant tension phases before breakthroughs. → Action: Recognize periods of dysfunction as potential catalysts rather than failures. In today's complex work environments, understanding these hidden truths is critical. Embracing these contradictions rather than fighting them positions you as a leader to build exceptional teams—even when the process looks messier than expected. Embrace the mess. Coaching can help; let's chat. Joshua Miller #executivecoaching #leadership #teamdevelopment

They won’t speak to each other. And the tension is bleeding into the whole team. 👥 This is the first post in a new series from Rachel Platt (PLATTinum Consulting) and me, Stephanie Eidelman We’re teaming up to tackle the tough stuff: the real conflicts, missteps, and messy team dynamics no one prepares you for. 🔴One brings the business-owner reality (Stephanie). 🟡One of us brings the People & HR expertise (Rachel). Both of us believe great leadership starts with honest conversation. ______________________ Two top performers. Two different views of what’s “right.” Zero willingness to engage. And frankly, both have a point. But the silent feud is tanking the team. No one wants to take sides. No one wants to address it. But not dealing with it is the bigger risk. We’ve both seen this situation more than we’d like. After decades of experience, Here’s how we’ve learned to handle it: As the leader, you do the thing no one wants to do. You call them in. Together. You set the ground rules. They air their grievances. You all finally name the real issues. It can be excruciating. It is vulnerable. And it’s likely the most clarifying hour of the year. Not because you solve everything. But because people start sharing their truth. Here’s how each of us would make this conversation productive: 1) Set expectations 🔴 “It's not about who’s right. It’s about moving forward.” 🟡 "We all know there’s a problem. It's our job to resolve it. Right now." 2) Establish Ground Rules   🔴 “No interruptions. We’re here to listen, not attack.” 🟡 “Repeat what you heard. Clear words avoid mixed messages.” 3) Limit assumptions 🔴 “Say what happened, not what you think they meant.” 🟡 “Conflict grows from half-truths. Say ‘I saw’ or ‘I felt.'" 4) Name what’s not being said 🔴 “Is this really about the task, or something else?” 🟡 “Unclear communication? Role confusion? Workload?” 5) Shift from venting to action 🔴 “The goal here is progress, not perfect agreement.” 🟡 Use ‘Stop, Start, Continue’ to respectfully share changes each would like to see. 6) End with shared goals 🔴 “You don’t have to be close, but you do have to work together. Let's summarize next steps.” 🟡 “Schedule time to regroup. Celebrate or recalibrate at that meeting.” Final thought from Stephanie: 🔴 Avoiding conflict doesn’t protect your team. It sends a message: This behavior is fine. Final thought from Rachel: 🟡 Conflict is data. Don’t just solve it. Study it. What does it say about your communication style, team culture, and structure? Have you faced a conflict like this? What worked? What didn’t? _____________________ ♻ Repost to share this with someone facing the tough conversations. 👉 Follow us for more two-for-one leadership advice: Stephanie Eidelman (Meisel) and Rachel Platt.

At Amazon, two of my top engineers had a shouting match that ended in tears. This could be a sign of a toxic workplace or a sign of passion and motivation. Whether it becomes toxic or not all comes down to how management deals with conflict. In order to deal with conflict in your team, it is first essential to understand it. A Harvard study has identified that there are 4 types of conflict that are common in teams: 1. The Boxing Match: Two people within a team disagree 2. The Solo Dissenter: Conflict surrounds one individual 3. Warring Factions: Two subgroups within a team disagree 4. The Blame Game: The whole team is in disagreement My engineers shouting at each other is an example of the boxing match. They were both passionate and dedicated to the project, but their visions were different. This type of passion is a great driver for a healthy team, but if the conflict were to escalate it could quickly become toxic and counterproductive. In order to de-escalate the shouting, I brought them into a private mediation. This is where one of the engineers started to cry because he was so passionate about his vision for the project. The important elements of managing this conflict in a healthy and productive way were: 1) Giving space for each of the engineers to explain their vision 2) Mediating their discussion so that they could arrive at a productive conclusion 3) Not killing either of their passion by making them feel unheard or misunderstood Ultimately, we were able to arrive at a productive path forward with both engineers feeling heard and respected. They both continued to be top performers. In today’s newsletter, I go more deeply into how to address “Boxing Match” conflicts as both a manager and an IC. I also explain how to identify and address the other 3 common types of team conflict. You can read the newsletter here https://lnkd.in/gXYr9T3r Readers- How have you seen team member conflict handled well in your careers?