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Greetings!
This edition's Leadership Problem: Resolving Conflicts within the Team
How many types of conflict can a team leader have to deal with among team members?! At least as many as there are people on the team...and more!
Conflict can become a daily happening without warning, disputes flaring up unexpectedly and over things that will surprise you. Very often the conflicts seem trivial, based on nothing! But of course, they surface from somewhere don't they?
Maybe it's been a long-simmering-below-the-radar dispute between two team members, perhaps someone came into work that day with lingering issues on the home front, someone new has joined the group or assignments have altered - pick any topic, any situation and it has the potential to cause disruption among team members!
Consider these situations:
Workload
- Team Member (TM) Y says, "Team Member X isn't carrying his weight - I have to pick up all the slack."
- TM X responds with, "I do everything I'm supposed to do - no one is going to give me extra work with the time I work now."
Vacation Schedules
- TM A complains that, "TM B got to select vacation schedules first last year - I should get first shot at it this year."
- TM B responds, "We've had reservations at a special resort for over a year now and we won't change the date."
Supplies and Resources to Do the Job
- Team C: "We're short so many of the things we need to do this job that we've stockpiled stuff secretly so we'll be able to have what we need when we need it."
- Team D: "That's so unfair - we're all short what we need - how are we supposed to provide customer service if supplies are hidden away?"
On and on it can go: appropriate business attire, differing goals, so-called "status symbols", personality differences, competition; as many conflicts as there are team members.
So how does the team leader resolve differences, get people focused on the work and create successful outcomes? And the team leader does need to take responsibility for leading a process that will bring resolution. We all understand what failure to address the issue can mean: ongoing trouble, lingering resentments, loss of respect for the team leader, unproductive work results. No resolution becomes a contagion within the team - and it WILL spread!
Resolution will involve a conversation with the affected team members where the team leader is strong in:
- Listening
- Asking effective questions
- Facilitating a conversation so everyone is heard
- Creating an action plan
- Follow-up
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