Conflict
Resolution
The key elements in the art of working together are how to deal with
change, how to deal with conflict, and how to reach our potential... the needs
of the team are best met when we meet the needs of individual persons. --
Max DePree
Working and Playing Well with Others
On paper, your situation looks perfect -- a great balance of
skills and experience, a reasonable schedule and achievable goals. When you add
the "human factor" (the actual team members) to the equation, conflict
can occur on any level. Barriers to the team's success can come from just about
anywhere -- an inflexible corporate tradition, disagreement about project goals
and/or processes, or the overall vision for the game. Internal and external
forces can cause problems within the team. Work pressure, jealousy,
self-protection and inflexibility can all disrupt the team.
Sometimes team members outside the company (possibly
consultants) will blatantly disregard company rules and traditions. There are
ways to work within even the most rigid system, but the team has to respect and
acknowledge that a system exists. No matter how senior or well connected a team
member is, be prepared to call them out, preferably in private, if they are not
performing, not supporting the team or openly causing dissention.
Whatever the cause, figure out whether problems are localized
(one or two people) or a sign of general dissatisfaction. If the team's morale
is low, work will suffer and you'll have no choice but to rethink your
strategy, the team's structure, and what can be done to get things back on
track as quickly as possible.
Although many situations can be resolved
informally, head-on conflict still occurs. Look for ways to use conflict
constructively. Encourage open communication and the free flow of information
to help prevent misunderstandings. Make yourself available and approachable. Be
sure that the team is fully aware of and respects each other's talents and
experience. Help the team find a way to change obstructive group behavior.
- Be
alert to the warning signs of dissention
- Resolve
disputes among team members by replacing emotional responses with
rational, open-minded ones
- Alleviate
confusion with dispassionate fact-finding and open dialogue
- Use
team-building activities to check the team's overall mood but be alert for
signs that the entire team is in agreement about the problems (like "Sure,
they'll spend money on an off-site but we can't get raises")
Even after speaking directly with troublemakers, further
action may be needed. Be as positive as you can and search for common ground to
start rebuilding team relations. Spend a little time studying whether the
intrinsic team structure might be contributing to the problem!
- Are
roles within the team unclear, causing overlap of responsibility?
- Is the
workload fairly distributed, or are certain individuals feeling
overburdened and stressed?
- Identify
people who are (a) trying to take control (i.e., who holds the marker
during the meeting? Who sits at the head of the table? Who name-drops
references to conversations with management?), (b) promoting their own agenda
and/or (c) bullying other team members.
If after all of this, the problem still exists, you may need
to call for arbitration from HR or remove people for the good of the team and
the project. The strength of any team is only as good as its individual
characters.
Personal conflict between team members is everyone's problem
and needs to be addressed the moment it arises. Provide an opportunity for
everyone to talk to you directly about the situation but know that some people
may use this as a chance to undermine others. It's your job to figure out who
and what is causing the conflict.
It's important for a manager to figure out what triggers the
conflict, how each person sees the end result, and what compromises need to be
made in order to resolve this dispute. Is
it one person? Is it a power struggle between factions? Is it a lack of
training or lack of information about company procedures? Is senior management
at fault? (Probably not much you can do about that one unless you're in that
level yourself, and if that's the case, it's best not to foster an adversarial
relationship even if that's how you yourself perceive it).
|
DO
|
DON'T
|
|
Be
honest about how you see the situation
|
Show
favoritism to any person or faction
|
|
Try
to see the problem from the team's view
|
Lose
your temper with team members
|
|
Try
to reason with the troublemaker(s)
|
Continue
to support impossible or inflexible team members
|
|
Use
the problem as a way to strengthen the team
|
Lose
sight of project and team goals
|
|
Be
positive and pro-active
|
Take
sides
|
|
Use
all available resources including outside help
|
Send
it to management to be solved without trying to fix it on your level first
|
|
Act
in a calm but timely manner
|
Ignore
the problem until it breaks the team
|
|
Have
periodic meetings and one-on-ones with your team
|
Put
off confrontation in hopes that problems will go away by themselves
|
|
Printer-Friendly Version
People keep writing about how to manage a team better, but since I'm not a manager myself, I could really use an article on how to be managed. Especially: how to deal with my personal perception of my managers doing a poor job. The most important question is, in my opinion: how do I tell whether I'm a reformer or a troublemaker?
Assume I'm right in a given situation -- how do I make my boss listen to me at all, let alone agree with me? How do I deal with "false agreement", when manager agrees to introduce certain solution, but then sabotages the actual implementation thereof, either by inaction or contradictory decisions?
What do I do when my boss complains about overall quality of my work but refuses to give actual qualification (e.g. he keeps saying "your concept art is ugly", but never says "there's too much red in this picture")?
How do I confront a boss who's clearly doing a bad job? I used to have a boss who would come to the office at 2pm. There was a weekly meeting scheduled for 12:30pm, but it was never held, because the boss was never present. Clearly, someone should have talked to him about it, but how do you do that without getting fired?
How do I deal with coworkers who complain about their superiors in private, but refuse to speak openly about their issues, because they "don't want to lose their jobs"? How do I make my coworkers more active without appearing to be trying to take over?
What do I do when there's a genuinely good idea that requires every single person on the team to change their habits just a little? What if I'm tasked with making sure the idea works as intended, but I'm not allowed to require anyone to do their part?
How do I get around my superior's quirks? I mean, managers are just people, and people are never perfect. I used to have a boss who was some 190cm tall, with low, loud voice and intimidating personality. He almost never answered e-mail. And he was perfectly capable of mocking his employees publicly when they failed to meet his expectations. How do you deal with issues like this in a civilized manner that doesn't turn the team into a powder keg?
Most people I've worked with so far have a simple solution: they just don't care about their work. At least that's what they say. I would send them a link to some good article on the matter, but I don't have any.
Excellent article.