Overview

Even with a motivated team and a leader who understands and appropriately navigates power, conflicts will sometimes arise, especially in the "Storming" phase of team development. Let's explore best practices in conflict management, which are applicable to all team members, regardless of whether or not they are in a leadership role.

On this page, we will discuss:

The Value of Conflict in Innovation
Modes of Conflict Management
How to Prevent Conflict

Cartoon labelled "How NOT to Do Conflict Resolution". An elephant and a donkey stand next to each other, with multiple injuries as if they had been in a fight.

The text around them has multiple steps with arrows:

1. Engage in blame
2. Get angry
3. Refuse to listen
4. Be arbitrary
5. Repeat the cycle

The Value of Conflict in Innovation

Not every conflict is a bad thing. When managed well, respectful conflict can actually be a healthy part of the process. If you are interested in learning more, you can read about the benefits of constructive conflict in the following articles:

Collaborative Leadership: Managing Constructive Conflict (Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School)
6 Practical Pointers for Creating Constructive Conflict at Work (Insperity HR)
Constructive Conflict (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development)

OPTIONAL Video: Why Diversity and Conflict Are Key to Leading Innovation

Dr. Linda A. Hill suggests that "creative abrasion" - defined as "different ideas and perspectives battling constructively for success" (I - Global Intelligence for Digital Leaders, 2016) - is critical to organizational wellbeing.

At timecode 0:24 in the optional video below, Dr. Hill explains why "you do not get innovation usually without diversity and conflict".

This external video has accurate captions. For closed captioning, click on "CC" or the subtitles button at the bottom-right of the video interface (beside the gear icon), or download the transcript (PDF | DOC).

Reflection

How do you usually handle conflict? What are the most effective ways you have recognized someone manage conflict? What were the least effective ways? Can you think of an example where conflict led to a beneficial outcome?

Modes of Conflict Management

A well-equipped leader will understand how they can address conflict to reach the most amicable solution. One way to do this is by exploring the modes of conflict management, considering:

Relationship importance, and
Task importance.

All our professional relationships are important, but in the modes of conflict management, we think about "relationship importance" as the need to protect feelings and minimize interpersonal tension. This can vary from person to person, and from moment to moment.

Similarly, "task importance" is how important the quick and effective completion of a task is for project success. It is critical for project managers and leaders to be able to discern the situation and identify the appropriate response.

Activity: Modes of Conflict Management

Here are some suggestions on how to respond to conflicts, considering the importance of both relationships and tasks.

Instructions:

Click on each of the 5 question marks in the image below.

Adapted from Schwalbe (2017, p. 252).

Reflection

All of us have natural tendencies for how we typically manage the conflicts that arise around us, but it is important to carefully consider the context and respond accordingly. In fact, there are other factors that will impact your approach. Can you think of any?

Raymond’s Example of Conflict Management

Raymond with his hand up, as if to say, "Pay attention to this."

Towards the end of Raymond's work term at Scotiabank, he was given a small project to take the lead on. He stood out among the interns during previous projects he worked on by regularly taking initiative and demonstrating excellent leadership skills.

Raymond's task was to lead a team of his fellow interns to write a report about different data analysis tools. The purpose of this report was to help his team better understand the market landscape, and gauge which tools would be most useful to implement within the company. While completing the project well was a top priority for Raymond, he also knew maintaining a good relationship between members of the team was just as important, since this would make the process of completing the project more efficient and pleasant.

When a disagreement with a team member on the format of the report arose, Raymond chose to go into confrontation mode and approach the team member to discuss the matter directly and purposefully. Since then, for every big decision, Raymond has learned to carefully consider the context, both in terms of the task and relationships.

Industry Insight

"Not everyone is like you, and when you're performing a task with others, you can't let disagreements stray you off course. That doesn't mean pretending to be nice to meet your objectives; you can be direct without coming off as rude or mean. It takes time to learn and adapt to other personalities, which is vital for not just completing tasks, but also building a reputation with your colleagues and others who work adjacent to them."

Richard N., Cloud Technologies Professional
Honours Bachelor of Science, Computer Science (Specialist), University of Toronto

How to Prevent Conflict

In many of your small-scale projects, there is not a formal leader who will initiate a conflict management strategy. This is another reason why creating a team charter can be so valuable. It allows you to think about the common conflicts that may arise in your project and develop a process for managing them before they emerge. If conflicts do surface, you will be equipped to resolve them effectively.

We will explore this more in Tips for Being a Good Leader and Team Member, and later in the Workplace Communication module series.

In addition, you may wish to revisit the following sections in our prior lessons:

Note that there is a difference between naturally occurring conflict that most teams experience, and harassment and bullying. If you are experiencing harassment and/or bullying while on your work term, be sure to connect with your supervisor where appropriate or connect with an ASIP Coordinator for support.

OPTIONAL Video: The Problem Does Not Equal the Person

Simon Sinek, an American author and motivational speaker, argues that "when we develop a narrative or a label for someone, everything we see from them will start to seem like proof of our preconception. As leaders, we have to take the time to find out what problems someone might have before we assume that they are the problem" (Sinek, 2021).

Sinek explains these ideas further in the optional video, The Problem Does Not Equal the Person.

Video player icon with the words "embed video here".

This external video has auto-generated captions, which may contain errors. Download the transcript (PDF | DOC).

References

Feirsen, R., & Weitzman, S. (2021, April 1). Constructive conflict. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/constructive-conflict

I - Global Intelligence for Digital Leaders. (2016, March 3). Harvard Business School’s Linda Hill: Why diversity and conflict are key to leading innovation [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDKJTOhtYiQ

Insperity HR. (n.d.). 6 practical pointers for creating constructive conflict at work. https://www.insperity.com/blog/constructive-conflict/

Schwalbe, K. (2017). Introduction to project management (6th ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Schwalbe Publishing.

Shonk, K. (2022, August 18). Collaborative leadership: Managing constructive conflict. Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School. https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/leadership-skills-daily/collaborative-leadership-managing-constructive-conflict/

Sinek, S. (2021, August 18). The problem does not equal the person [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKj4FA5EY5Q