Managing
Conflict in Teams
Whenever different people interact or work together in
a group there is a potential for conflict to occur. You
may encounter
conflict
in your CEVE team, in a student organization you belong to,
in an internship position you work at, or simply in your
everyday personal interactions with friends and family members.
The topics covered below will help you negotiate conflict
in any of these situations. In order to develop effective
conflict management skills, you need to understand how people
handle conflict, how conflict is negotiated through communication,
and what steps you can take to resolve conflict in your life.
Conflict management styles
Every individual handles conflict differently. In a conflict
situation, an individual's behavior can be described by how
assertive and cooperative it is. Using these two dimensions
of behavior, researchers have identified five methods of managing
conflict. These five conflict management styles are shown below.
Note where each style falls on the cooperation and assertiveness
continuum. For instance, a competitive style is highly assertive
but uncooperative; a collaborative style is high in both cooperative
and assertive behavior, etc. Roll your mouse over each style
to see a more detailed description.
You can assess your own conflict management style
by taking the Thomas-Kilman
Conflict Mode Assessment Instrument
Communication
skills needed for effective conflict resolution
Now that you understand how individuals manage
conflict situations, let's look at some of the communication
skills you will need to manage conflict effectively.
In order to understand the
nature of any conflict, it is extremely
important to listen to the other person's point of view.
Only by carefully listening to their point of view can you
truly identify their needs and interests. Active listening
strategies include asking clarification questions, paraphrasing
the other person to check the accuracy of your understanding
of his or her position, as well as acknowledging that person's
feelings and encouraging him or her to keep expressing them.
Nonverbal sensitivity refers to your ability to read the
other person's nonverbal signs. Not only do you need to listen
to the other person's verbal message, but you also need to
"read" his or her nonverbals in order to get an
accurate picture of how he or she feels. When listening,
pay attention to your interlocutor's facial expressions,
gestures, body posture, and paralanguage (i.e. pitch, speech
rate, volume). Also, be aware of the nonverbals you are giving
off. Avoid those that make you look defensive, and try to
convey a sense of openness and supportiveness instead.
Empathetic understanding refers to your ability to put yourself
in other people's shoes. Put yourself in the other person's
place and try to imagine how you would feel in that situation.
Doing so helps you appreciate your opponent's position and
see the conflict from his or her perspective.
Rhetorical sensitivity refers to the degree to which you
adapt your messages to how you think
others might react to them. In a conflict situation, you
should monitor what you say and strive to find the most effective
way to express your point without offending your opponent.
In other words, be mindful of the effect of your words on
other people and choose your words carefully.
I-messages refer to the idea that you should take
ownership of your thoughts and feelings when interacting with
others. I-messages allow you to make it clear that this is
how you feel
or how you perceive a situation. Compare the following
messages:
1. Your performance on the request for qualifications
presentation was really poor.
2. Everyone in the group thought that you did very poorly
on the presentation.
3. I was really disappointed by your presentation. I felt
that you could have made a stronger point at the end.
The first two comments do not identify who owns these feelings.
The first comment accuses the presenter of having done
a poor job but it does not identify who owns the feelings.
The second statement similarly fails to clearly identify
the owner of those feelings and instead pushes it off on
"everyone". The last statement is an example of an I-message
because it clearly identifies who feels this way ("I was
really disappointed").
Ad-hominem attacks are arguments that attack your opponent
(or the integrity of your opponent) rather than the problem.
Stay away from such name calling and focus on the issue at
hand instead. Remember that personal attacks create resentment
and are difficult to take back.
Method
for resolving conflict: The principled negotiation
(adapted from Fisher & Ury, 1983 - click here for
a summary of the book)
Principled negotiation is a conflict resolution
strategy which encourages parties to a conflict to express
their needs in an ethical, decent manner without offending
anyone. If you encounter conflict in your team, try this four-step
procedure:
- Separate the people from the problem
In a conflict situation, differentiate
between the problem and the people involved in it and deal
with each separately. Use empathetic understanding and active
listening to get to the core of the problem and to understand
how the other party feels. The goal of this step is to understand
the problem as well as the needs of all the parties involved
in it.
- Focus on interests, not positions
Each position has an underlying need or interest that
gave rise to it. Your goal is to identify
the interests or needs that lie at the heart of each party's
position. Empathetic understanding may again be necessary
in order to understand why your opponent(s) advocates a certain
position. Consider the following statements:
1. I insist that we use PowerPoint for our presentation.
2. I insist that we use a presentation board for our presentation.
Both positions seem incompatible until one examines the
needs behind those positions. The first position could stem
from a desire to showcase one's technology skills, while
the second could stem from a desire to avoid the pitfalls
of a PowerPoint presentation. Knowing what the underlying
desires/needs are, allows the team to find a solution capable
of meeting both needs (i.e. create a carefully designed slide
show that showcases the team's technology skills while at
the same time avoiding the pitfalls of a traditional PowerPoint
presentation).
- Invent options for mutual gain
The previous example shows how focusing on interests allows
you to develop creative solutions that reconcile
everyone's needs. Once you've identified the interests underlying
each position, brainstorm for solutions
that meet everyone's needs.
- Use objective criteria
Make sure that the criteria
you use to evaluate potential solutions are agreed upon by
everyone. That way, team members will perceive the solution
as fair, and satisfaction with the solution should be high.
External Resources:
NOAA
Guide on managing conflict in a collaborative process
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