Addressing Conflicts Early to Maintain Team Cohesion

Conflict gets a bad rap in the workplace. Early in my career, I believed conflict had no place in a healthy workplace. As I progressed, I realized that it was quite the contrary. The lack of conflict isn't a sign of a healthy work culture, rather it is an indication that important debates, discussions and differing viewpoints are being disregarded or suppressed. This insight revealed another key aspect: high-performing teams do not shy away from conflict. They embrace it, leveraging diverse opinions to drive optimal outcomes for customers. What sets these teams apart is their ability to handle conflict constructively. So how can this be achieved? I reached out to my friend Andrea Stone, Leadership Coach and Founder of Stone Leadership, for some tips on effectively managing conflict in the workplace. Here's the valuable guidance she provided: 1. Pause: Take a moment to assess your feelings in the heat of the moment. Be curious about your emotions, resist immediate reactions, and take the time to understand the why behind your feelings. 2. Seek the Other Perspective: Engage genuinely, listen intently, show real interest, and ask pertinent questions. Remember to leave your preconceived judgments at the door. 3. Acknowledge Their Perspective: Express your understanding of their viewpoint. If their arguments have altered your perspective, don't hesitate to share this with them. 4. Express Your Viewpoint: If your opinion remains unswayed, seek permission to explain your perspective and experiences. Remember to speak from your viewpoint using "I" statements. 5. Discuss the Bigger Objective: Identify common grounds and goals. Understand that each person might have a different, bigger picture in mind. This process can be taxing, so prepare beforehand. In prolonged conflict situations, don't hesitate to suggest breaks to refresh and refuel mentally, physically, and emotionally. 6. Know Your Limits: If the issue is of significant importance to you, be aware of your boundaries. For those familiar with negotiation tactics, know your BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement). 7. Finalize Agreements: Once an agreement has been reached, continue the engagement to agree on responsibilities and timeframes. This ensures clarity on the outcome and commitments made. PS: Approach such situations with curiosity and assume others are trying to do the right thing. 🔁 Useful? I would appreciate a repost. Image Credit: Hari Haralambiev ----- Follow me, tap the (🔔) Omar Halabieh for daily Leadership and Career posts.

Managing conflict in my team is never easy but it's part of the job. Handling conflict within my team is a task that comes with its set of challenges, but it's essential for keeping the team functional and happy. Here's how I typically go about running a team meeting to address conflict: 1. Recognizing the Source: First, I identify what's causing the conflict. Before we even sit down for a meeting, I pinpoint what's causing the issue by talking to everyone involved. This usually involves speaking privately with the team members involved to understand their viewpoints. 2. Establish Objectives: Before calling the meeting, I define what we aim to achieve. Is it conflict resolution, finding a middle ground, or simply airing out grievances? Knowing the objective helps structure the conversation. 3. Set Guidelines: I establish ground rules for the meeting to ensure a safe space. This includes allowing everyone to speak without interruption and keeping the conversation respectful and on-point. 4. Facilitate Dialogue: During the meeting, I act as a facilitator rather than a dictator. I guide the conversation, ensure everyone has a say, and keep the discussion focused on the issue, not personal attacks. 5. Reach an Agreement: Once everyone has had their say, we work towards a solution. This is usually a compromise that may not satisfy everyone entirely but serves the greater good of the team. 6. Action Plan: We end the meeting by laying out an action plan, defining who will do what, by when, to resolve the issue. 7. Follow-Up: A few days to a week after the meeting, I follow up with the individuals involved and the team as a whole to ensure that the action items are being implemented and to see if the conflict has been resolved or reduced. By approaching conflict with a structured, open dialogue, and a focus on resolution, I find we can often turn what could be a divisive issue into an opportunity for team growth. "The best way to resolve conflicts is facing them, not avoiding them." Have a Positive, Productive and Safe Day! #TeamConflict #ConflictResolution #Leadership #TeamGrowth #EffectiveCommunication

🚨 Project Management Myth #10 – Be sure to avoid conflict! Early in my project management career, several people gave me advice to avoid conflicts. Even to this day, I occasionally hear this claim. In project management, conflicts naturally occur as the complexity and scope of projects increase. Avoiding conflict is also something I see done by some project managers. In general, many people I see who shy away from conflicts seem to be polite introverts. However, there is a big problem with avoiding conflicts, as this does not always solve the issue. 🫤 Sometimes, conflicts may fizzle out. But many times, conflicts will become more intense. In addition, many conflicts which appear to “fizzle out” are still there, under the surface. If they ever come back up again, the intensity is often much worse. 💣 Rather than ignoring conflict, I recommend nipping them in the bud by addressing them early with conflict resolution best practices. 👍 Here is 1 method I use to resolve conflict. It’s called the SLAP method, as shared by Brad Egeland. ✅ STOP – When the environment is not conducive for healthy project progress, it’s time to acknowledge the issue and talk to the team or any team members involved. 🛑 ✅ LISTEN – Hear each side of the conflict and seek to understand. Don’t show any favoritism. Listen to each person without interrupting or allowing them to interrupt others. 👂 ✅ ANALYZE / ADDRESS – Ask yourself questions such as: What are the issues? Are they legitimate? Can they easily be solved? ❓❓❓ ✅ PUSH ON – Once you understand the situation, then you either push the solution you think is best or you can seek collaboration by proposing potential solutions that you see and invite the team to add to those and weigh in. Each situation is different. Some conflicts may need a more authoritarian approach if there will never be team agreement. But in general, I like to try the collaborative approach first. That gets buy-in from the team and usually leads to better productivity moving forward. 📈 Have you ever heard this opinion before regarding conflicts, especially with project management? What was the context and how did you respond? 🤔 Please share your experiences and examples in the comments! Also, if you have another conflict management method that works well for you, please share! We can all learn from one another. _________________ 🔔 Ring the bell to follow me on LinkedIn for topics on #projectmanagement, #programmanagement, #pmo, #businesstransformation, #careertips, and #leadership, as well as the rest of this series! #projectmanager #programmanager #businessanalysis #businessanalyst #projectmanagementprofessional #projectmanagerskills #conflictmanagement #conflictresolution