Teamwork and Conflict

Nelson (1995) He offers this list of high potential areas from which negative conflict issues commonly arise:

1. Administrative Procedures: If the team lacks good groundwork for what it's doing, its members will not be able to coordinate their work.

2. People Resources: If the team does not have enough resources to do the job, it is inevitable that some will carry too heavy a load. Resentment, often unexpressed, may build, so it is crucial that team leaders ensure adequate resources.

3. Cost overruns: Often inevitable, cost overruns become a problem when proper measures are not taken. The whole team should know early on when cost becomes a problem so additional funding can be sought by the team. This way the problem can be resolved before it grows into a problem for management.

4. Schedules: The schedule is highly consequential to the team's project and should be highly visible. All members should be willing to work together to help each other meet their deadlines.

5. Responsibilities: Each team member must know what areas are assigned and who is accountable for them.

6. Wish Lists: Stick to the project at hand and avoid being sidetracked into trying to fit other things into it. Wait and do the other things you would like to do after successful completion of the original project.

Because every team is different, disputes that arise will be too. However, Stulberg (1987) recognizes patterns common to all controversies. He calls them the Five-P's of Conflict Management:

1. Perceptions: People associate conflict with negative responses such as anger, fear, tension, and anxiety. Rarely do we perceive any benefits from being involved in a dispute. Our negative perceptions impact our approach in resolving conflict as we strive to eliminate the source of these negative feelings.

2. Problems: Anyone can be involved in a conflict, and the amount of time, money, and equipment needed for resolution will vary according to its complexity.

3. Processes: There are different ways to go about resolving disputes: Suppress the conflict, give in, fight, litigate, mediate, etc.

4. Principles: We determine the priorities of all resolution processes on the basis of an analysis of our fundamental values regarding efficiency, participation, fairness, compliance, etc.

5. Practices: Power, self-interest, and unique situations are all factors relating to why people resolve disputes the way they do.

Fisher et al. (1995) offers a similar five-step approach to resolving conflict.

1. Acknowledge that the conflict exists.

2. Gain common ground by putting the conflict in perspective with the goals and purpose of the team.

3. Seek to understand all angles of the disagreement, keeping in mind that understanding is different from agreement.

4. Attack the issue, not each other. Channel anger and hostility into problem solving and action planning.

5. Develop an action plan describing what each person will do to solve the problem.

How Work Teams Cope With Conflict

Resolving conflict constructively is the most critical of team skills. Without this ability, the team cannot develop the trust and bonding that allows moving from the Storming stage into peak performance. Conflict resolution is not a stand-alone skill. There are specific techniques and attitudes that are helpful, but conflict resolution interrelates with other skills.

Communication Skills

Good communication skills prevent conflict or destructive escalation. Many of us do not communicate well. Sometimes our body language does not fit our verbal messages creating a cognitive dissonance in the listener. We may personalize issues. We may criticize people rather than actions, behaviors, or situations.

Listening effectively is the other half of good communication. The most common deficiency is letting our mind race ahead of the speaker’s voice. We may use this speed difference