Conflict is a natural part of collaboration. That’s probably why between 20% and 45% of a manager’s time is spent dealing with it.
Managing conflict is like walking a tightrope: it’s all too easy to fall off. You build your courage and launch a confrontation, only to find the other person fights back or withdraws. Or, you yourself react strongly, and say or do things you later regret.
Since it’s so risky, you might be tempted to avoid difficult conversations altogether, and just hope that underlying problems will vanish. But that’s like leaving a time bomb ticking: at some point it will explode.
Strong leaders can spot conflict early, and confront it in a way that doesn’t make people feel defensive. We need to understand several concepts to do that:
- six-step learning conversation framework
- red and green brain states
- SCARF threats
- human defence mechanisms.
Why is it useful?
Teamwork requires communication. And in a strong team culture, where people feel safe to express their ideas and opinions, communication will naturally involve disagreement.
As you lead, you’ll see all kinds of disagreements, from arguments over decisions, to different opinions of how work should be done, to power struggles — and these are just the beginning.
If you, as the leader, don’t have the skills to identify and help your team navigate conflict, then relationships, productivity, performance, and morale may suffer.
But if you understand the makings of conflict, and the techniques for diffusing it productively, you can help your team gain an advantage from every conflict they face.
