Week 6: Conflict in teams: a solutions-oriented approach
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Transcript of Week 6: Conflict in teams: a solutions-oriented approach
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Week 6: Conflict in teams: a solutions-oriented approach
Lesley Irvine
Media & Communication
Creative Industries
ITB002 IT Professional Studies
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Doing and Knowing
What you need to know: How teams work together in stressful situations Learn about theory underpinning team dynamics What conflict is and how to resolve it
What you will do: Lecture 6
Conflict in teams Workshop 6
Ethics workshop and team analysis report Practical 6
Developing a professional portfolio
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Conflict
The process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another.
O’Brien, Access Division, McShane and Locker (2003) Information Technology: Professional Studies.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
The conflict process
Sources of ConflictGoalsValuesTasksResourcesRulesCommunication
Conflict perceptions
Conflict Emotions
Manifest Conflict
Conflict styleDecisionOvert behaviours
ConflictOutcomesPositive:DecisionsCohesiveness
Negative:TurnoverPoliticsStressReduced outcomes
.
O’Brien, 2003, p.361
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Conflict spirals
Conflicts are a series of events or episodes that build on each other.
Once the conflict cycle has begun it’s important to recognise it and negotiate effective solutions.
Unmanaged conflict most often spirals upwards and outwards.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Sources of team conflict
Sources of Conflict
Communicationproblems: interests, preferences, values
Incompatible goals and expectations
Different valuesattitudes, and beliefs
Taskinterdependence
Scarce resources or information
Ambiguous rulesor procedures
Ethics Needs
Power and control
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Our shared valuesThe way we get things done
We are passionate about customers.
We have trust and respect for individuals.
We perform at a high level of achievement and contribution.
We act with speed and agility.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Our shared valuesThe way we get things done
We deliver meaningful innovation.
We achieve our results through teamwork.
We conduct our business with uncompromising integrity.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
hp Board calls for creative new ideas
Board funds
most
promising
projects
Selected ideas posted
on network Project managers
bid for projects
Selected proposals invited to make
persuasive oral presentation to Board
VC-Cafe
Work teams form
hp employees
bid for projects
Employees as entrepreneurs
Teams constantly forming,
shifting, disbanding
as projects come and go
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
‘You must make sure you have the mechanisms in place to raise an issue in the first place. If an issue reaches boiling point, it’s a lot harder to manage.’
Project Manager, Information Technology
From the workplace
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
‘If you get bent out of shape every time someone disagrees or asks a question; the group won’t be productive. It’s really hard. I’ve been doing this for years and when someone challenges your idea, it can naturally make you feel a little defensive.’
Events Manager
From the workplace
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
‘It turned into quite an argument about who was right and who was wrong.’
Marketing Manager
From the workplace
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
‘Her style of leadership was very different. Her approach was extremely confrontational. It’s quite amazing how quickly morale declined.’
Secondary School Teacher
From the workplace
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
‘Our team had to disband; we couldn’t finish the project. It got to a stage that any time someone offered an opinion, it was immediately discounted.’
Development Manger, Not-for-profit organisation
From the workplace
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
‘The final report was co-written by someone who had never been on the team and the recommendations lacked any substance. Overall, it achieved absolutely nothing.’
Communication Manager for scientific research
From the workplace
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Task conflict can be productive.
Personal conflict can be destructive.
Productive Conflict
• Positive• Depersonalised• Substance or content oriented• Co-operative
Dysfunctional Conflict
• Negative• Personalised• Emotional• Competitive• Self-oriented.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Handling conflict
Collaborator Compromiser Accommodator Controller/competitor Avoider
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Conflict management
Be a collaborator: think win-win for the team.
Ask questions to reduce ambiguity and misunderstanding.
Discuss the issues, including the process issues.
Avoid dominating the group.
Involve everyone and work to a consensus.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Conflict in teams
Common causes of conflict
Unequal work distribution. Problems with organisation. Failure to produce what is promised. Differences in understanding goals and tasks. Differences in perceptions of ‘quality’ Absenteeism. Dominance. Listening problems – lack of understanding.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Conflict in teams
Common causes of conflict
Failure to produce what is promised.
Differences in perceptions of ‘quality’
Listening problems – lack of understanding.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Why Don’t People Listen?Hugh Mackay (1994)
Listeners generally interpret messages in ways that make them feel comfortable and secure.
When people’s attitudes are attacked head-on, they are likely to defend those attitudes and, in the process, reinforce them.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Why Don’t People Listen?Hugh Mackay (1994)
People who are insecure in a relationship are unlikely to be good listeners.
People are more likely to listen to us if we also listen to them.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Why Don’t People Listen?Hugh Mackay (1994)
People are more likely to support a change which affects them if they are consulted before a change is made.
Lack of self-knowledge and unwillingness to resolve our internal conflicts makes it harder for us to communicate with other people.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Sources of conflict in teams
Minimise destructiveconflict
Clarify rulesAnd procedures
Improve communication and understanding
Reduce task interdependence
Increase support to each other
Gain member support for all decisions
Gain agreement on how you will proceed
Emphasise long-term & short-term goals
Emphasise group similarities.
Share power and control
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Communication and Negotiation
Love and business are identical, a matter of negotiation.
Christina Stead, Letty Fox, Her Luck (1946)
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
What determines human communication?
We all have a natural tendency to judge.
When we form an impression of others, we are influenced by our own set of beliefs and values.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
What determines human communication?
People often do not mean what you understand them to say.
People routinely fail to interpret what you say in the way you intend.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
What determines human communication?
Communication is like soft clay which
can be shaped and reshaped as
different receivers make sense of it.
Putnis and Petelin (1998)
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
What determines human communication?
Conversations are often serialised monologues, with people not so much listening but thinking about what they will say next.
Bryan Bell, ttp://bbll.com/ch02.html
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Resolving conflict
Identify what you each understand is the task to be achieved.
Discuss how this is to proceed. Critique the task, rather than criticise the person.
Gain agreement at every stage. Discuss how all members can get what they
want. Isolate the issues that seem irreconcilable.
Assess their importance to the common goals.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Resolving conflict
Assess the value of the conflicting issues to the achievement of the team goals. If they are important they must be addressed.
Talk through the issues to diagnose what is going on. Be as specific as possible.
Eliminate unimportant differences. Analyse people’s interest. What is motivating their position?
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Resolving conflict
Find points in common within each difference. Work out compromises.
Agree on a solution that is positive and specific.
Work for fairness, equity and balance. Be generous and helpful. Recognise
positive aspects as well as negative ones. Maintain a sense of humour and
perspective.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Resolving conflict
Choose specific strategies most appropriate to the particular conflict.
There are at least three possible ways to approach the situation:
Ignore it.
Approach it indirectly or privately.
Confront the issue and negotiate a satisfactory solution.
ITB002 IT Professional Studies Faculty of Information TechnologyFaculty of Creative Industries
Resolving conflict
Keep sight of common goals. Make suggestions about what can be done to improve.
The solution doesn’t have to be perfect – it just has to work for you, so that the project can go forward.