Conflict and disagreement are inevitable in most teams. But this shouldn’t surprise anyone. From time to time, people who work together are going to disagree about what and how things get done.
Although almost anything can lead to conflict - casual remarks that unintentionally offend a team member or fighting over scarce resources - the primary cause of team conflict is disagreement over team goals and priorities. Other common causes of team conflict include disagreements over task-related issues, interpersonal incompatibilities, and simple fatigue.
Though most people view conflict negatively, the key to dealing with team conflict is not avoiding it, but rather making sure that the team experiences the right kind of conflict. Cognitive conflict is strongly associated with improvements in team performance, whereas affective conflict is strongly associated with decreases in team performance. By contrast, affective conflict often results in hostility, anger, resentment, distrust, cynicism, and apathy.
There are several ways teams can have a “good fight.” First, work with more, rather than less, information. Second, develop multiple alternatives to enrich debate. Focusing on multiple solutions diffuses conflict by getting the team to keep searching for a better solution. Positions and opinions are naturally more flexible with five alternatives than with just two.
Third, establish common goals. Remember, most team conflict arises from disagreements over team goals and priorities. Therefore, common goals encourage collaboration and minimize conflict over a team’s purpose.
