Conflict – a threat or a resource? How to resolve conflict in a team

• Facts and figures
• How to distinguish a destructive conflict from a constructive one. Microsignals – hints
• Algorithm of actions if the conflict is in an acute phase
• What it takes to effectively manage conflict as a third party
• "Hygiene" of destructive conflict. Systematic work on conflict prevention
• How to Turn Differences into a Resource – Practices and Recommendations

Author: Yana Melville, consultant of the company "Zemlya Stratega", leading business trainer, executive coach, master of facilitation, head of the training department for coaching and non-directive management.

Ichak Adizes says that if there are no conflicts in an organization, it is dead. But what do we say about an organization with too many conflicts? And where is the line between a conflict-resource, which is fuel for the further development of the company, and a conflict-threat, which is important to work with both in the acute phase and in preventive measures? Let's look into this in detail in this article.

Facts and figures

A joint study by SberUniversity and the recruiting platform hh.ru* revealed that over the past year and a half, the number of conflicts in the workplace has increased significantly – this was noted by 35% of respondents, including those from the IT industry.

46% face conflicts in their immediate work with their colleagues and employees, with 28% of conflicts arising from a poor understanding of the current corporate systems.

It is also an interesting fact that 37% note that the outflow of personnel occurs largely due to existing internal contradictions.

The study shows that some conflicts stem from personal animosity, and the main reasons are disrespect for the efforts of colleagues, coercion to perform other people's tasks, and jealousy of other people's successes.

We, as consultants, are faced with the request for management team alignment every day. This is dictated by the fact that the team cannot successfully implement strategic goals, stumbling over the lack of mutual understanding, trust and quality communication.

How to distinguish a destructive conflict from a constructive one. Microsignals – hints

First, let's figure out what conflict is and what it serves.

Conflict is a clash of divergent goals, interests, positions, opinions or views. That is, certain differences are revealed in a conflict. This is the classic definition.

It is important to distinguish between a destructive conflict (in which the intentions and efforts of the parties are aimed at destroying the relationship and causing some kind of damage to the other party – psychological or physical) and a constructive conflict (where the intentions and efforts of the parties are aimed at maintaining the relationship by finding a solution that satisfies everyone).

Microsignals that may indicate the transition of a constructive conflict into a destructive one:

• ignoring requests (written or oral);
• solving problems “over the head”;
• regular sarcasm (when one person regularly makes caustic jokes at the expense of another), in society this is often called “trolling”;
• formal tone in communication;
• an exaggeratedly polite manner of communication.

The leader’s task is to notice such micro-signals in time and find out the reasons for such behavior in personal meetings with the participants in the conflict.

What IT managers should consider: if the job does not involve regular active personal communication with people and the person is not very sociable and does not build relationships well, then he may not even realize that his conflict with another person is becoming destructive. This is exactly why a third party is needed – a colleague or manager who can tactfully draw attention to the appearance of such microsignals.

What can constructive conflict serve:

1. The differences that have emerged indicate the need to find a comprehensive solution and take a closer look at the problem.

2. Often, conflict allows us to see hidden aspects that influence the context and quality of the result.

3. Conflict demonstrates importance, commitment to something and determines the motivation for interaction between the parties.