Team Conflict Resolution

A team is made up of a group of people working together to achieve a common goal. Unfortunately, many teams are formed by techniques that are less desirable than hand picking the best of the best. Often team members get assigned to a team because he or she had bandwidth and could take on another project. Additionally, there could be a situation where a team member was assigned because of his or her knowledge of the application or the history of a process. Regardless of how the team ends up with one another the common goal is to create an effective team.

When the project allows the opportunity to hand select team members, there are two choices to be made. The first is to select a team of high performing skilled employees. The other
On the other hand, if conflict is not managed correctly, and the project manager suppresses or suffocates conflict it can lead to project delays, a decline in employee moral and team energy, not to mention the restriction of the flow of ideas. The key to managing conflict is for a team to mediate those conflicts internally. One of the main contributors to conflict in a diverse environment is communication. All team members need to understand the group's communication process, and the team's mediation process. If one or two of the team members do not understand the process or just choose not to follow the defined processes, the benefits of conflict breakdown. A second potential area of conflict occurs when boundaries or lines are crossed. The Project Manager must monitor and enforce these personal boundaries, and each team member must understand and support these
One of the key elements in resolving conflict is to focus on a win-win solution. In conjunction with the win-win approach, another solution is to develop good listening skills. Listen to each side of the conflict, repeat what you think you heard, ask questions, and summarize the problem and the desires of each person. When the issue causing the conflict is clear to everyone involved it is easier to get to a win-win solution. In a time of conflict, the potential for emotions to run high is always there. Managing emotions will help focus the conflict away from "the other person" and on to you. Making statements such as "I feel like the communication could be spread to a wider audience" is much more pleasant and less confrontational than "You did not communicate effectively and to the right audience". Lastly, getting both sides of the conflict to understand the other side and to work toward negotiation and mediation will help to achieve the ultimate goal of a winning solution for both