Healthy conflict is a sign teams are thriving and highly cohesive. This normally shows itself as colleagues openly challenging and debating ideas with others and having open conversation with others. This is when teams are most likely to find a solution and you are more likely to results quickly and more effectively.
In healthy conflict you shouldn’t normally need to get involved but when things get out of hand you can sometimes be required to step in.
In this situation you can:
- Tall to your team members. Is it workplace related, a grudge, personality or value clashes, a misunderstanding?
- Organise a meeting in neutral territory to help stimulate a conversation
- Set some rules on the discussion around the conflict to stop it getting out of hand
- Don’t be swayed, as a leader, by office politics or gossip
- Allow both individuals to have their say
- Ask questions to get both sides thinking
- Always find a productive/effective way to move forward
- Help to heal the wounds, if there are any, after the conversation
Unhealthy conflict can present itself as personal attacks or arguments. It can look like false harmony. This is when it looks calm on the surface but underneath there are grudges, ill feeling and passive aggressive behaviours.
This can be very destructive to team performance.
It is important to understand why the conflict exists in the first place. Once you have established the root cause, you can take steps to resolve it. Conflict is very much like an iceberg. You can only see the surface but the conflict can sometimes go deeper than you think.
A case study
I once worked with two managers within a manufacturing environment. They were early in their career and at the same level. When they were both relatively new to their roles they had a dispute.
Time went on and both started in roles which meant no longer working alongside each other. They never resolved their issue they just went their separate ways.
Eventually both managers ended up being the leads of their area and that meant working together again but it was clear they had unfinished business from their earlier conflict. When one spoke about an idea the other would demonstrate negative behaviours and therefore became a blocker.
As a tit-for-tat, the other manager started doing the same back which meant neither were able to fully present their ideas to the senior leadership team they were working in.
I held a workshop with both managers teams regarding conflict and their team members called it out. This made the managers realise they had not discussed their conflict so they had an open conversation were they settled any unrest. This was not only for their personal benefit but also to help their teams work cohesively.
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