It is painfully obvious that teams are composed of individuals who have different skill sets and personalities. This will often lead to conflict. While most of us seek to avoid conflict, it is important to realize that it can serve as an opportunity for growth and better outcomes if it is managed properly.
In an excellent book for leaders, Pastoral Leadership, written by Dr. Dan Ebener, the author cites various scriptural passages that demonstrate that conflict exists in all communities, even the early Christian communities. Dr. Ebener identifies two distinct types of conflict; task conflict and relationship conflict.
Task conflict is when two individuals have a different approach to a task. He mentions that small to moderate amounts of task conflict can be healthy as it will lead to multiple perspectives that can result in a better overall outcome once resolution is reached.
On the other hand, relationship conflict is when individuals begin to attack each other rather than focusing on the problem to be addressed. Relationship conflict can often arise when the leader has failed to address the underlying task conflict and allows it to escalate into personal attacks.
Conflict follows a relatively typical pattern as it develops and escalates. It starts with awareness – that is one party becomes aware of the other party’s actions or plans that are different and may cause difficulty to the first party. These thoughts can then lead to negative emotions causing a reaction. That reaction leads the individual to develop intentions as they plan how they will respond to the perceived activity of the first party. Emotions move us to reactions which lead to action. This action will likely result in the other party responding with their own set of reactions/actions that they deem an appropriate response.
It is apparent that this cycle can become an endless loop of escalating tension and potentially damaging outcomes. Obviously, it can also spill over and have a detrimental effect on others on the team. While everyone on the team hopes that the conflict can be amicably resolved between the two parties this may not occur as often as hoped for.
The leader should not immediately rush in to resolve every conflict on the team but should do their best to closely monitor the situation. If the involved parties can resolve it between themselves, it will be teaching them a valuable skill. Having said that, the tension cannot be allowed to fester for too long. At the appropriate time, it then becomes the responsibility of the leader to intervene in an attempt to restore harmony for the sake of the broader team. Most people do not want to get involved but if the conflict is avoided or merely ignored it will not be resolved in a beneficial manner.
There are several well-known actions that one can take to help resolve conflict. These will be addressed over the next several posts so as to provide leaders with a good understanding of conflict resolution as well as the toolbox needed to successfully get involved.