What types of conflict are there? And how do I as a manager recognize a conflict in my team at an early stage?
Conflicts within a team not only put a strain on the employees concerned, but can also jeopardize entire projects and business developments. Managers who recognize conflicts early have an advantage. The longer a conflict smoulders, the more difficult it is to resolve it.
Digitalization, globalization, demographic change, the increasing importance of knowledge and innovation, and then there's coronavirus: leading in times of constant change is a real challenge for team leaders. Because where there is a lot of movement, collisions can also happen. Or to put it another way: there is a lot of potential for conflict.
How do I recognize a conflict in my team at an early stage and how can I resolve it? What types of conflict are there? And what can I do as a manager if I can't reach an agreement? With four examples from everyday working life.
Does your team member disagree with you about what the next step in the project should be? Congratulations! This is a factual conflict. This is about differences of opinion based on different experiences and points of view.
The factual conflict is usually a conflict that can be resolved quickly because no emotions are (yet) involved. The employees involved should therefore sit down together as quickly as possible to discuss the conflict with objective arguments and find a solution. As harmless as a factual conflict can be at the beginning, it can quickly escalate and slide onto an emotional level.
Have you been annoyed by your team member's behavior for weeks and are therefore assigning them unpleasant tasks? And now your employee feels unfairly treated and visibly uncomfortable? Then you've landed in the middle of a relationship conflict!
Causes of relationship conflicts include antipathy and personal prejudices between team members. Different working styles or behaviors can be annoying. These conflicts are usually accompanied by strong emotions and are stressful for everyone involved.
You receive feedback from the customer that everything was okay when the project was completed. For you, this means that the customer is satisfied with the result. However, your manager interprets the customer's feedback to mean that the task was not completed well and is dissatisfied with the result. So two people have very different perceptions.
The perception and evaluation of words and situations is very individual from person to person. Do you think that completing the task as quickly as possible means completing it next week? For your colleague, however, this clearly means that you should put the task aside for the next two days. Neither party is aware of any guilt here. Your own perception is that you are in the right and have kept to the agreements.
You were first an employee and now you've been promoted to team leader? An employee expects you to back them up as their boss during their next presentation to a customer? But someone else wants to manage their projects independently? Your team has very different expectations of you and your role in the company.
If you do not meet the expectations of your team members, this can lead to a conflict of roles. It all depends on how well you can change your role. If you do not fulfill these roles, this can lead to conflict and further disputes. The clearer you are about your different roles and possible expectations, the more you can avoid conflicts in this context.
Do you want to see better results, land more clients and contracts? But your team wants a better work-life balance and more flexible working hours? It can quickly happen that these two different goals collide. A conflict is then not far away.
This conflict can also arise between individual team members if goals and priorities are not coordinated and agreed. This type of conflict is difficult to resolve because it requires both parties to take a step towards each other.
The distribution conflict is a classic workplace conflict: your employee demands more pay, but you don't agree to a salary increase? An employee feels left out and has the feeling that the others always get the better projects or more praise?
If the conflict arises from a feeling of injustice, it is referred to as a distribution conflict. Team members with less self-confidence are particularly likely to experience a distribution conflict.
If there is a conflict, it should be resolved as quickly as possible. However, this is not always easy. To do this, the manager must first recognize the conflict as such. This is particularly difficult in times when teams are spread across the globe or employees work from home and there is no direct contact.
Signs of conflict in the team can be seen in open or hidden conflicts.
In the foreground, the employee is cooperating and completing their tasks. But if things suddenly get a little louder in the meeting, accusations quickly become the order of the day. A clear sign that a conflict is simmering. And that is dangerous. Because if none of the parties involved resolve the conflict, it can quickly spread to other team members. It becomes even more difficult to resolve the conflict if one of the affected employees has already started looking for conflict partners who support their position.
The open conflict is shown, for example, by:
On the surface, everything seems to be in perfect order and all team members are happy. But this is more appearance than reality. In reality, the air is thick and the tension in the team is clearly palpable: Words are weighed in the balance, colleagues are much more distant than before.
If your team colleagues also display a certain irony, are cynical or even stop communicating important information to you or other colleagues, you can assume that you are dealing with a hidden conflict.
The hidden conflict manifests itself, for example, through:
The word �good� is open to interpretation. It can be helpful to discuss when a task has been completed well and when it has not. Develop common measurement criteria. The responsibility here clearly lies with the manager, who must initiate this. Ask for clarification.
On the other hand, you should take a closer look and ask yourself: What is driving the colleague to rate your work lower? Here, the manager must enter into a discussion with the parties involved in order to resolve the conflict � possibly also mediatively with external support.
This is quite a difficult situation - just as difficult as when you have a conflict with your manager. Think about what is important to you: what can I put up with and what could happen in the worst case scenario if I address the conflict?
Try to find out how you feel about this yourself: How do you feel about it and how do you envision working together? Can you share your perception (from a first-person perspective) without expecting a solution straight away: �I'm sitting here between two stools. I regularly experience it this way and that. And it's not very helpful for me to work well.
These are often long-term conflicts, as the disputing parties do not have any resolution skills at hand. You can also confide in someone from the HR department and describe the situation if the conflict is very difficult. It may be useful to bring in a mediator.
This also sounds like a conflict that has been going on for a long time and may have already come full circle in the team. Long-standing conflicts cannot be resolved overnight. A lot of time is needed here.
Here too, my advice is to share your perceptions with your manager and tell them how you feel (first-person perspective). It is the manager's job to find ways for the team to talk again. Here too, a mediator or someone from the HR department can provide support.
It is important to establish very clear communication processes here if reports are to be made to three different authorized persons. What rights, duties and competencies do the individual managers have, i.e. what roles do they have within the project outside of their role as a manager? Defining this together with the managers would be a first step.
The longer the conflict festers, the more social interaction suffers. The quarrelling colleagues or entire teams talk to each other less and less, work more and more by the book and the working atmosphere suffers. Nobody is prepared to go the extra mile and think outside the box. With dissatisfied employees, there are usually also dissatisfied customers.
Resolving a conflict always takes longer than starting one. This is why managers are well advised to recognize conflicts quickly and try to de-escalate them. At a certain point, people go into a state of inner resignation and withdraw.
You should ensure that your team is conflict-free, especially when projects are in progress. Conflicts during an ongoing project can pose obstacles and make it difficult to achieve goals
Look for the conversation! That's a great door opener. Communication doesn't have to be wrapped in absorbent cotton. Speak clearly about conflicts and what you perceive: "I perceive it this way and that way!" Make it clear that you want to resolve the conflict and provide help.
And: take note of the different perspectives! Also to develop an understanding for the disputing parties.
Caution: From level 4, a solution to the conflict is already a long way off! If the conflict is moved away from the conflict partners and brought to other colleagues, then it becomes difficult. Because then people don't want to resolve a conflict, they want to win and see the other party lose. Morale and trust have already been lost in places at level 4.
The nine escalation levels are helpful to see exactly where you are in the conflict and what you need to resolve it and whether you are resolving it alone or with help.
The fronts are hardened, stage 4 of the escalation stage is already far behind and a solution seems impossible: now it is just a matter of finding the lowest common denominator together with the disputing parties so that everyone remains able to work. Basically, the question is then: How can the employment contract be adhered to?
If this is also not possible: As a manager, make a decision in the interests of the company � if possible, taking into account the interests of the conflict partners. If there is no way out, a final step may be for one of the parties to the conflict to leave the company.
Whatever conflict you are facing, you must be aware of this: Time is a decisive factor for success and this time is spent above all by the leader.
Literature tip: Glasl, Friedrich (1994): Conflict management. A handbook for managers and consultants. Bern: Haupt.
Sabine Pahlke was a manager in a wide variety of companies for 20 years and has herself experienced and resolved several conflicts in her teams.
Today she is a systemic supervisor and, on behalf of pme Familienservice , supports teams and managers who are facing change processes or conflicts, for example.