Monday, March 21, 2011

4 Steps To Resolving Conflicts On Your Team


Harvard Business Review's Answer Exchange shares some great tips for resolving conflicts on your team:

The First & Most Fundamental Step: Define the root cause of the conflict. You do this by asking the following questions:

  • Why are team members arguing with one another?
  • Is there a deeper personality conflict here?
  • Is one member being stubborn?
  • Does one member always insist on getting his or her way?

The answers to these questions will help you discover whether the root cause is a behavior or a situation. After doing that, proceed to the following THREE steps:

  1. Negotiate a resolution. Look for a solution that works for all members of your team; dictating a resolution to a team conflict can backfire. Point out the importance of agreeing to disagree on certain issues. Encourage members to find common ground and explore new possibilities.
  2. Encourage active listening. Allow the disagreeing parties to voice their feelings, and ask questions about why they feel as they do. Ask people to behave in ways that demonstrate interest in what others are saying. For example, avoid doodling, fidgeting, and interrupting while others are speaking. Model active listening behaviors, such as asking questions that encourage speakers to expand on their points, or referring back to points made earlier and building on those ideas.
  3. Remind team members to forgive. Once your team has resolved a conflict, remind people to forgive one another for any hurt feelings or damaged egos. Encourage forgiveness by practicing forgiveness yourself. Don't hold a grudge. Don't harbor ill will after a conflict has been resolved. And remember to apologize when you've done something wrong.

Reference

Harvard Business Review (2010). HBR Answers Exchange. Retrieved from http://answers.hbr.org/

Thanks to Steve Nguyen  / WorkplacePsychology

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