7 Steps in Handling Conflicts for Successful Team Collaboration

Many teams who were perceived as underdogs have won championships because they focused on the team goal rather than their own individual goals. The key to collaboration is the ability of team members to work interdependently. Of course, all team members are different from one another. In fact, some teams are purposely designed to maximize the differences among team members. These differences can often lead to friction, tension, and conflict. Conflicts are forks in the road to high performance. How conflicts are handled determine whether a team stagnates or moves to an even higher level of results. When conflict happens, use the following steps to help team members overcome the conflict:

1. Identify the real conflict and the specific team members involved.
2. Communicate with each other. This means each team member has a chance to talk about his or her thoughts and feelings and is also willing to listen to other team members.


3. Handle the conflict head on and out in the open. This means each team member must be willing to deal with and discuss difficult issues.
4. Get team members thinking about potential solutions. Don’t judge ideas at this point, just get as many ideas out on the table as possible.
5. To resolve most conflicts, get team members to make at least a small compromise on the various issues. Negotiate a solution that is acceptable to everyone.
6. Make a commitment. Each team member must commit to the negotiated compromise solution. This means they will give 100 percent effort to make the solution work. 
7.  Follow up to be sure all team members are fully cooperating and putting forth their best effort to make the solution succeed.

 

Article written by Richard J. Hohmann Jr., Lead Coach for Innovative Leadership, a strategic partner with Fitzpatrick, Bongiovanni, & Kelly, PC, and also a member of the Collaboration Team for Leadership Management International.  Richard can also speak at your next organization’s meeting, to invite him to speak call 609-390-2830, For Business Coaching Solutions click here: http://www.ILDV.org/coaching_overview.asp