Primary Causes of Conflict In Teams

1. Primary Causes of Conflict In Teams Personal Structural Communicative

2. Why is conflict integral to the • functioning of a team? • avoids groupthink • provides opportunity for member input • results in better decision-making • promotes creativity • leads to greater acceptance of decisions • provides opportunity for member input • can increase team cohesiveness

3. Conflict: An Important Dimension In Successful Management Teams Cognitive (C) conflict vs. Affective (A) conflict

4. Effective teams engage in ‘C’ conflict and have norms that encourage open discussion of issues. In teams with ‘C’ conflict, members are assertive but practice empathy and understanding of team members’ positions and feelings [emotional intelligence]

5. ‘C’ conflict is found in “Creator” teams ‘A’ conflict is found in “Destroyer” teams ‘C’ conflict occurs in Creator teams because they view the differences their diverse members bring as cognitive resources to be capitalized upon ‘A’ conflict occurs in Destroyer teams because they view the differences their diverse members as threats they need to personally fight against

6. Teams using the mapping, bridging, and integrating steps are more likely to have ‘C’ conflict because upfront they: • acknowledge differences • understand differences • accept differences • find ways to use differences as benefits

7. Teams that are well designed, have achieved emotional intelligence and are able to operate with ‘C’ conflict are able to argue but get along Tactic Strategy Base discussion on facts Focus on issues, not members Develop multiple alternatives Rally around goals Frame decisions as collaborations Inject humor into the process aimed at achieving best solution Maintain balance of power Establish sense of equity and fairness in the process Resolve issues w/o forcing consensus

8. We all use different strategies for handling conflict in different situations with different people. However, it is also true that some people tend to have a natural orientation for relying on, or avoiding, some conflict strategies.

9. Conflict strategies or techniques tend to fall into 5 main types All have a ‘time and place’ for use in teams All have implications when used in teams It is important to understand when the situation warrants individual team members’ use of a given conflict strategy

10. Avoiding[unassertive/uncooperative] Accommodating[unassertive/cooperative] Competing [assertive/uncooperative] Compromising [intermed. assertive/cooperative] Collaborating [assertive/cooperative]

11. Each conflict strategy has advantages & disadvantages when used in a team, as well as short-term and long-term implications

12. How do team members know which • strategy to use? • Issue importance • Maintenance of the relationships • Time constraints • Personalities of the team members • Norms of the team